Isaak Stanislaus Gorerazvo Mudenge (17 December 1941 – 4 October 2012) was 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 who served in the government of Zimbabwe as

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

from 1995 to 2005 and as Minister of Higher Education from 2005 to 2012.

Life and career

Author

Mudenge was a professional historian focusing on African history in general and specializing in pre-colonial Zimbabwean history. He published several books in this regard.

United Nations Ambassador

Mudenge gave

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

a tour of the

Great Zimbabwe Great Zimbabwe is a medieval city in the south-eastern hills of Zimbabwe near Lake Mutirikwi and the town of Masvingo. It is thought to have been the capital of a great kingdom during the country's Late Iron Age about which little is known. Con ...

in 1985.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Zimbabwe

Mudenge said that through 1995 and 1996 the only western leader who would "even answer the phone" was "British Prime Minister

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...

" who Mudenge said was "a total gentleman." He added that French President "

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...

acts like we don't exist." British Prime Minister

gave £40 million to Zimbabwe in the early 1990s in order to carry out land reform in Zimbabwe.

ZANU PF Secretary for Political Affairs

As ZANU-PF Secretary for Political Affairs, Mudenge kept in touch with his foreign contacts from his previous government roles. Stating "from December of 1990 to January of 1993 I was in pretty constant touch with the British Conservative Party leadership, and I always felt we worked well together. Those were a great few years for our cooperation with the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Higher Education

In a cabinet reshuffle on 16 April 2005, following the March 2005 parliamentary election, he was replaced as Minister of Foreign Affairs by

Simbarashe Mumbengegwi Simbarashe Simbanenduku Mumbengegwi (born 20 July 1945.) is a Zimbabwean politician and diplomat currently serving as Minister of State for Presidential Affairs and Monitoring Government Programmes. Previously he was acting Foreign Minister for ...

and was appointed as Minister of Higher Education instead."MP's sworn in, new ministers appointed"
SADOCC, 16 April 2005. This was considered a demotion and followed Mudenge's support for

Jonathan Moyo Jonathan Nathaniel Mlevu Moyo (born 12 January 1957) is a Zimbabwean politician who served in the government of Zimbabwe as Minister of Higher Education from 2015 to 2017. He was previously Minister of Information and Publicity from 2000 to 2005 ...

in opposition to

Joyce Mujuru Joice Runaida Mujuru ( née Mugari; born 15 April 1955), also known by her nom-de-guerre Teurai Ropa Nhongo, is a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Vice-President of Zimbabwe from 2004 to 2014. Previously she had served as a ...

within ZANU-PF. Within ZANU-PF, he aligned himself with the Masvingo (

Mnangagwa Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa (, 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 Mugabe, he held a ser ...

) faction, which was antagonistic to the Mujuru faction due to wrangles concerning ascendancy to the presidency if Mugabe leaves office.

Member of Parliament

Mudenge was nominated by ZANU-PF as its candidate for the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

seat from

Masvingo North Masvingo is a city in south-eastern Zimbabwe and the capital of Masvingo Province. The city is situated close to Great Zimbabwe, the national monument from which the country takes its name and close to Lake Mutirikwi, its recreational park, ...

constituency in the March 2008 parliamentary election. According to official results, he received 4,799 votes, defeating the candidate of the

Movement for Democratic Change Movement for Democratic Change or MDC may refer to: * Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC–T), the former main opposition party in Zimbabwe ** Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai Congress 2006, the second MDC–T congress ...

(MDC), who received 4,450. When the ZANU-PF–MDC

national unity government A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nati ...

was sworn in on 13 February 2009, Mudenge was retained as Minister of Higher Education. He remained in that post until he died in October 2012. He was placed on a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

sanctions list in 2002 and on the

United States sanctions After the failure of the Embargo Act of 1807, the federal government of the United States took little interest in imposing embargoes and economic sanctions against foreign countries until the 20th century. United States trade policy was entirely a ...

list in 2003. He remained on the lists until his death. Notably he was not sanctioned by the

.Blocking property of persons undermining democratic processes or institutions in Zimbabwe.
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mudenge, Stan 1941 births 2012 deaths Members of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe ZANU–PF politicians Education ministers of Zimbabwe Foreign ministers of Zimbabwe University of Zimbabwe alumni Alumni of the University of York Alumni of SOAS University of London People from Masvingo Province