Prisca Mupfumira, or Priscah Mupfumira, is a

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

an politician and former government minister under President

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...

. When the President was replaced by

Emmerson Mnangagwa Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa (, American English, US: (); born 15 September 1942) is a Zimbabwean politician who has served as President of Zimbabwe since 24 November 2017. A member of ZANU–PF and a longtime ally of former President Robert Muga ...

, she was the first serving

ZANU–PF The Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) is a political organisation which has been the ruling party of Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. The party was led for many years under Robert Mugabe, first as prime ministe ...

minister to be arrested for corruption.

Life

In 2013, Anna Simbanegavi, Fortune Charumbira and Mupfumira were promoted to the "Standing Orders and Rules Committee" (SORC). In 2014, Mupfumira became the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Services. She was appointed by Mugabe to replace

Nicholas Goche Nicholas Tasunungurwa Goche (born 1 August 1946) is a Zimbabwean politician. He is the former Minister of Transport. Previously he was Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.

, who had been accused of trying to kill the President as part of a coup. President Robert Mugabe reshuffled his cabinet in early July 2017, pointedly not including his wife. The Minister of Information, Jonathan Moyo, was moved to another ministry. He was not replaced, but Mupfumira was made responsible, even though she was still at the Ministry of Labor. Also, in July 2015, an American trophy hunter killed "Cecil the Lion" in Zimbanbwe using a bow and arrow. The event was said to be legal and became of interest to animal rights around the internet creating a global news story. Mupfumira, when questioned about Cecil's killing, asked, "What lion?" On 9 October 2017,

Patrick Zhuwao Patrick Zhuwao (; born 23 May 1967) is a Zimbabwean businessman, farmer, and politician. He served as Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare between October and November 2017. He was expelled from the ruling ZANU–PF party during ...

was appointed Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare of Zimbabwe. He announced on 10 November that government employees would be receiving bonuses. By the end of November 2017, Robert Mugabe had been swept aside and the new President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced his cabinet. He rewarded some leading soldiers who had assisted his move to power, but he did not sweep away Mugabe's former team. Mupfumira was part of the 22 minister cabinet and was named the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry. After the 2018 parliamentary elections, Mupfumira was returned to cabinet, in the role of Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry. In July 2019, she was arrested in connection with $94 million that was missing from a pension fund. She was the first ZANU–PF minister to be arrested by the new President

. She did not lose her place in the cabinet for two weeks. She spent two months in jail before she was released on bail in September 2019. Meanwhile, a former vice-president,

Phelekezela Mphoko Phelekezela Mphoko (born 11 June 1940) is a Zimbabwean politician, diplomat, businessman and former military commander who served as Second Vice-President of Zimbabwe from 2014 until 2017, as well as Zimbabwe's ambassador to Russia, Botswana an ...

, was also arrested for alleged corruption. In February 2020, she and Ngoni Masoka, the ex-permanent secretary in the Ministry of Public Service and Social Welfare, were appealing decisions in the Zimbabwean courts related to the charges against them.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mupfumira, Prisca Living people ZANU–PF politicians Government ministers of Zimbabwe 21st-century Zimbabwean women politicians 21st-century Zimbabwean politicians Year of birth missing (living people)