Sydney Tigere Sekeramayi (born 30 March 1944) 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 ...
an politician who served in the government of Zimbabwe as Minister of Defence between 2013 and 2017. He has been a minister in the Cabinet since independence in 1980, serving as
Minister of Defence
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
from 2001 to 2009 and Minister of State Security from 2009 to 2013.
During the
Rhodesian Bush War
The Rhodesian Bush War, also called the Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Liberation, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe-Rhodesia).
The conflict pitted three for ...
, Sekeramayi was the
Zimbabwe African National Union
The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) was a militant organisation that Rhodesian Bush War, fought against White people in Zimbabwe, white minority rule in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU). ZANU sp ...
's representative in Sweden. After the war he served as the Minister of National Security, Deputy Secretary of Health Minister for National Security, and Minister for Transport and Welfare.Zimbabwe: Reports of failed coup in Zimbabwe 11 June 2007. AllAfricaDashwood, Hevina Smith. ''Zimbabwe: The Political Economy of Transformation'', 2000. Page 105.Hill, Geoff. ''The Battle for Zimbabwe: The Final Countdown,'' 2003. Page 293.Great Britain Foreign and Commonwealth Office. ''A Year Book of the Commonwealth,'' 1986. Page 426.
It was announced on 27 November 2017 that the Zimbabwe cabinet had been dissolved by Mugabe's successor
Emmerson 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 se ...
Rupiah Banda
Rupiah Bwezani Banda (19 February 1937 – 11 March 2022) was a Zambian politician who served as the fourth president of Zambia from 2008 to 2011, taking over from Levy Mwanawasa, who died as the sitting president. Banda was an active participan ...
, the International Secretary of the Zambia Students Union. Banda established contact between Sekeramayi and the NIB. In June 1964 he moved from Czechoslovakia to Lund, Sweden, on an NIB scholarship. He studied
genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...
at the
University of Lund
, motto = Ad utrumque
, mottoeng = Prepared for both
, established =
, type = Public research university
, budget = SEK 9 billion In Lund he studied with
Alexander Chikwanda
Alexander Bwalya Chikwanda (24 December 1938 - 3 May 2022) was a Zambian politician. He was a member of the National Assembly during the 1960s and again in the 2010s, also serving as Minister of Finance from 1973 to 1976 and again from October 20 ...
of the
United National Independence Party
The United National Independence Party (UNIP) is a political party in Zambia. It governed the country from 1964 to 1991 under the socialist presidency of Kenneth Kaunda, and was the sole legal party in the country between 1973 and 1990. On 4 ...
of
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...
.Sellstr̀eom, Tor. ''Sweden and National Liberation in Southern Africa'', 2002. Page 323.
In 1969 Sekeramayi requested assistance from SIDA in his function as Secretary-General of the Zimbabwe Students' Union in Europe. He coordinated
Herbert Chitepo
Herbert Wiltshire Pfumaindini Chitepo (15 June 1923 – 18 March 1975) led the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) until he was assassinated in March 1975. Although his murderer remains unidentified, the Rhodesian author Peter Stiff says tha ...
and
Richard Grove
Richard Hugh Grove (21 July 1955 – 25 June 2020) was a British historian, environmental activist, and one of the contemporary founders of environmental history as an academic field. His prizewinning book, ''Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansi ...
's visits to Sweden. In 1976 he moved to
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
.
In the 1980s he participated in the
Gukurahundi
The ''Gukurahundi'' was a genocide in Zimbabwe which arose in 1982 until the Unity Accord in 1987. It derives from a Shona language term which loosely translates to "the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains".
Duri ...
massacres.Patrick Burnett and Firoze Madatally Manji. ''African Voices on Development and Social Justice: Editorials from Pambazuka News 2004'', 2005. Page 227.
In 2001 Defense Minister Moven Mahachi died in a car crash and Sekeramayi became the new Defense Minister. In 2005 William Mervin Gumede mentioned Sekeramayi as one of several leading politicians who may succeed Mugabe as
President of Zimbabwe
The president of Zimbabwe is the head of state of Zimbabwe and head of the executive branch of the government of Zimbabwe. The president chairs the national cabinet and is the chief commanding authority of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.
The i ...
because of their support among the military.Gumede, William Mervin. ''Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC,'' 2005. Page 193.
He is considered a close ally of
Emmerson 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 se ...
, formerly the Speaker of Parliament, and
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 ...
.Situation Report: Future power plays in Zimbabwe Institute for Security Studies
Sekeramayi won 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 gove ...
seat from
Marondera East
Marondera East is a constituency represented in the National Assembly of the Parliament of Zimbabwe, located in Marondera District in Mashonaland East Province. Its current MP since the 2023 general election is Vimbayi Mutokonyi of ZANU–PF.
H ...
constituency, in
Mashonaland East Province
Mashonaland East, informally Mash East, is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of 32,230 km2 and a population of approximately 1.35 million (2012). Marondera is the capital of the province.
Geography
Districts
Mashonaland East i ...
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 congres ...
(MDC) candidate
Iain Kay
James Hamilton Iain Kay (born 1949) is a Zimbabwean farmer and politician who served in the House of Assembly from 2009 to 2013. Previously, he was a commercial farmer near Marondera, Mashonaland East Province. He was also the subject of violent ...
with 19,912 votes against Kay's 10,066 votes; this victory was questioned on the grounds that the total number of votes was said to exceed voter turnout.
In the ZANU-PF primaries for the March 2008 parliamentary election, Sekeramayi again sought the party's nomination as its candidate for the House of Assembly seat from Marondera East, but was defeated. He was instead nominated as ZANU-PF's candidate for the Senate from Marondera-Hwedza in Mashonaland East. Sekeramayi won this seat according to official results, receiving 24,571 votes against 17,370 for Jane Chifamba of the MDC-Tsvangirai faction and 6,994 for Molai Penelope of the MDC-Mutambara faction.
On 7 January 2009, ''The Herald'' reported that Sekeramayi had been appointed as Acting Minister of Mines and Mining Development following the dismissal of Amos Midzi, who failed to win a seat in the 2008 election. When the
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 nat ...
was sworn in on 13 February 2009, Sekeramayi became Minister of State Security. He was at this point in time seen as a likely Mugabe successor who is less controversial.
Following the dissolution of the Cabinet of Zimbabwe in 2017, it was announced that Mnangagwa allowed only Patrick Chinamasa and Simbarashe Mumbengegwi to remain as acting ministers of Finance and Foreign Affairs respectively until the appointment of a new cabinet.
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 de ...
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 ...