Christopher Hatikure Mutsvangwa (born 24 May 1955) is a Zimbabwean politician, diplomat and businessman. A veteran of 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 ...

, Mutsvangwa served the government of independent Zimbabwe and the ZANU-PF party in a number of roles, including as Director-General of the

Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) is the state-owned broadcaster in Zimbabwe. It was established as the Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation (RBC), taking its current name in 1980. Like the RBC before it, the ZBC has been accused of bein ...

, Ambassador to China, head of the

Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) is a Zimbabwean organisation established by former guerrillas of the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) and Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) who served durin ...

, and Veterans' Welfare Minister. In March 2016 he was suspended from ZANU-PF for 3 years for "gross misconduct and disloyalty" and fanning factionalism in the party.Tendai Mugabe
Latest: Mutsvangwa suspended
''Herald'', Published: 14 December 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2017 He has been accused of being a key figure in the 2017 Zimbabwean coup d'etat.

Early life and education

Christopher Hatikure Mutsvangwa was born on 24 May 1955 at Salisbury Central Hospital in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

(now Harare).
He Abandoned Law School in Pursuit of Independence
"The Herald". Published 24 July 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2017" He spent his early childhood in the Salisbury suburb of

Mbare Mbare is a suburb in the south of Harare, Zimbabwe. Founded in 1907 as a township, it includes an informal settlement. Mbare Musika is the largest farm produce market in Zimbabwe. History Mbare was the first township, now known as a high dens ...

before returning to his family's home region near Chief Nyamweda,

Mashonaland Central Mashonaland Central is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of 28,347 km² and a population of 1,152,520 (2012 census), representing about 8.5% of the total Zimbabwe population. Geography Background Bindura is the capital of the ...

. He did his primary education at Masawi and Marirangwe schools, and began his secondary studies at

Kutama College Kutama College (officially St Francis Xavier College) is a private Catholic independent boarding high school near Norton, Zimbabwe in the Zvimba area, 80 kilometres southwest of Harare. Grown out of a Mission station founded in 1914 and run by th ...

before completing his A-Levels at St Augustine's High in Penhalonga . Mutsvangwa was among just seven black students selected to enter the Faculty of Law of the then

University of Rhodesia The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is a public university in Harare, Zimbabwe. It opened in 1952 as the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and was initially affiliated with the University of London. It was later renamed the University ...

in 1975, but left shortly thereafter to join

ZIPRA Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) was the military wing of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), a Marxist–Leninist political party in Rhodesia. It participated in the Rhodesian Bush War against white minority rule of Rhode ...

in Mozambique. He later completed his university education in the United States, receiving a BS in Management and Information Systems from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

in 1984 and an MBA from St. John's University in 1990.

Political career

Mutsvangwa entered public life as a diplomat, serving at postings in Brussels under Ambassador Solomom J. Mahaka to the

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 ...

and New York to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

under

Stan Mudenge Isaak Stanislaus Gorerazvo Mudenge (17 December 1941 – 4 October 2012) was a Zimbabwean politician who served in the government of Zimbabwe as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 2005 and as Minister of Higher Education from 2005 to 2012. ...

. In 1989, he was part of the UN observer team that monitored Namibia's first general elections, which were won by

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...

, led by

Sam Nujoma Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma, (; born 12 May 1929) is a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first President of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and the first ...

. Mutsvangwa left diplomatic service in 1990. In 1991, Mutsvangwa was appointed Director-General of the

. He stepped down in 1994 to return to the private sector, serving as an executive in the telecommunications industry. Returning to politics in 2000, he was elected ZANU-PF Party Secretary for

Harare Province Harare Metropolitan Province () is a province in northeastern Zimbabwe. It comprises Harare, the country's capital and most populous city, and two other municipalities . Originally part of Mashonaland Province, in 1983 the province was divided in ...

. In 2002 he was appointed Zimbabwean Ambassador to China, tasked with deepening the country's foreign policy reorientation away from the West towards China. He served for four years until 2006, leaving under a "cloud of controversy" due to party infighting. In 2012 he was appointed Chairman of the Mineral Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe. In the 2013 elections he was returned as MP for

Norton Norton may refer to: Places Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada * Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan *Norton Parish, New Brunswick **Norton, New Brunswick, a ...

. He was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and then the first Minister for Welfare Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Former Political Detainees and Restrictees. Following his expulsion from ZANU-PF he was recalled from Parliament.

2017 coup d'etat

An ally of ousted Vice President

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 ...

, Mutsvangwa praised Army General

Constantino Chiwenga Constantino Chiwenga (born Constantine Guveya Dominic Nyikadzino Chiwenga) (born 25 August 1956), is a Zimbabwean politician and former army general currently serving, since 2017, as the First Vice-President of Zimbabwe under President Emmerson ...

for "a bloodless correction of gross abuse of power" and hoped that the army would restore a "genuine democracy" and Zimbabwe as a "modern model nation" following the 2017 coup d'état. Mutsvangwa was said to be involved in negotiations for a transitional government with Mnangagwa and

Morgan Tsvangirai Morgan Richard Tsvangirai (; ; 10 March 1952 – 14 February 2018) was a Zimbabwean politician who was Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 2009 to 2013. He was President of the Movement for Democratic Change, and later the Movement for Democratic ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mutsvangwa, Christopher 1955 births Living people Ambassadors of Zimbabwe to China