Paul Themba Nyathi is a Zimbabwean opposition politician, the director of elections for the Arthur Mutambara-led faction of the Movement for Democratic Change and a member of the

Pan-African Parliament The Pan-African Parliament (PAP), also known as the African Parliament, is the legislative body of the African Union. It held its inaugural session in March 2004. The Parliament exercises oversight, and has advisory and consultative powers, ha ...

from Zimbabwe. Nyathi was a teacher who joined the Zimbabwe African People's Union of Joshua Nkomo, fighting against the white-minority government of Ian Smith. He became a provincial executive member and was arrested and imprisoned in 1976. He was released in 1979 just prior to majority rule and the establishment of Zimbabwe. He was a member of the ZAPU central committee from 1979 until the party's Unity Accord with ZANU in 1987 created ZANU-PF. Nyathi has three sons, Ndumiso, Nicholas and Jabulani, two daughters Zibi and Sibongile. In 1999 Nyathi became a founder member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, and a member of the national executive. Nyathi won the Matabeleland South constituency of

Gwanda North Gwanda is a town in Zimbabwe. It is the capital of the province of Matabeleland South, one of the ten administrative provinces in the country. It is also the district capital of Gwanda District, one of the seven administrative districts in t ...

for the MDC in the Zimbabwean parliamentary election of 2000 winning 72% of the vote. In 2004 he was elected by the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe as one of five members of the

where he became rapporteur for the

Committee on Gender, Family, Youths, and People with Disabilities The Committee on Gender, Family, Youths and People with Disabilities is one of the ten permanent committees of the Pan-African Parliament. It concentrates on issues concerning women, family and people and children with disabilities. Functions of ...

. Nyathi contested the Matabeleland South constituency of Gwanda in the

Zimbabwe parliamentary elections of 2005 Parliamentary elections were held in Zimbabwe on 31 March 2005 to elect members to the Zimbabwe House of Assembly. All of the 120 elected seats in the 150-seat House of Assembly were up for election. (In addition, there were 20 members appointed ...

, where he

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

to the Zanu-PF candidate by only 6%. In October 2005 he supported contesting the Senate elections, a move opposed by MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai. This led to a split in the MDC, and Nyathi joined the pro-Senate faction of Arthur Mutambara. In December 2005 his passport was seized and he was barred from leaving Zimbabwe.Under Siege: Zimbabwe's Human Rights Activists
''Worldpress.org'', 2006-05-07, retrieved 2007-09-07 In December 2006 he was charged with "''distributing subversive literature''", after delivering MDC leaflets which said the security forces were struggling to pay for food because they are poorly paid.
''Independent on Line'' via ''zimbabwesituation.com'', 2006-12-13, retrieved 2007-09-07

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nyathi, Paul Living people Members of the Pan-African Parliament from Zimbabwe Members of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe Year of birth missing (living people)

See also

References