Retired

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

George Mutandwa Chiweshe (born June 5, 1953) is the Chairperson of the

Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is an independent Chapter 12 institution established in terms of Section 238 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe; which is responsible for the management and administration of Zimbabwe's electoral processes. It was ...

Biography

He was born in the

Mazowe Mazowe is a village in Mashonaland Central province in Zimbabwe. Notable people *John Bredenkamp * Fortune Chasi * Chenhanho Chimutengwende *Paul Tangi Mhova Mkondo * Auxilia Mnangagwa *Grace Mugabe *Joseph Msika Joseph Wilfred Msika (6 Dece ...

district of

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 ...

, just northeast of

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

. Chiweshe attended Tendayi Primary School in 1961 and subsequently Fletcher Secondary School in 1969. Chiweshe obtained his law degree at the

University of Zimbabwe 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 o ...

in 1988. Chiweshe joined

ZANLA Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) was the military wing of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), a militant African nationalist organisation that participated in the Rhodesian Bush War against white minority rule of Rhode ...

in 1975 after fleeing from the then University of Rhodesia as a law student. He trained in Mozambique. Chiweshe deputised the present Zimbabwe National Army General

Constantine 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 ...

; and commanded to the likes of the late Zimbabwean hero Brigadier General Charles Tigwe Gumbo. His ''nom de guerre'' was "

Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

." Chiweshe rose through the ranks to political commissar. After independence, Chiweshe joined the Ministry of Justice as a prosecutor in 1980 and became a magistrate three years later. He later joined the

Zimbabwe National Army The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) is the primary branch of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces responsible for land-oriented military operations. It is the largest service branch under the Zimbabwean Joint Operations Command (JOC). The modern army has ...

in April 1983 as a major and rose through the ranks from Major to Brigadier General (Judge Advocate General) in 1996. Chiweshe retired from the army in April 2001 after being appointed to the bench by President

Robert Gabriel 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 ...

. In September 2004 Chiweshe was appointed Chairman of the Delimitation Commission of Zimbabwe by Mugabe, a move that was criticised by the opposition

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 ...

as a ploy by ZANU PF to rig the March 2005 parliamentary elections. In January 2005, Chiweshe was appointed Chairman of the new Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (a body that supervises and co-ordinates all elections in Zimbabwe), where he presently serves. Since 2005, he is placed 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 May 2010, President Mugabe swore in George Chiweshe, former chairman of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission as Judge President. This appointment brought about massive protests by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

References

1953 births Living people Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army personnel Zimbabwean military personnel Zimbabwean politicians University of Zimbabwe alumni {{Africa-mil-bio-stub