Ignatius Morgen Chiminya Chombo (born 1 August 1952) 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 who was Finance Minister of Zimbabwe in 2017. Previously he has served in the

Cabinet of Zimbabwe The Cabinet of Zimbabwe is the executive body that forms the government of Zimbabwe together with the President of Zimbabwe. The Cabinet is composed of the President, the Vice-Presidents, and ministers appointed by the President. Until 1987, the Ca ...

as Minister of Home Affairs from 2015 to 2017, Minister of Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development from 2000 to 2015.

Political career

During his time as Minister of Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development, a forcible slum clearance operation,

Operation Murambatsvina Operation Murambatsvina (''Move the Rubbish''), also officially known as Operation Restore Order, was a large-scale Zimbabwean government campaign to forcibly clear slum areas across the country. The campaign started in 2005 and according to Unit ...

, was carried out. He claimed the operation was about restoring order. Chombo was nominated as ZANU-PF's 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 Zvimba North, in

Mashonaland West Mashonaland West is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of 57,441 km² and a population of approximately 1.5 million (2012). Chinhoyi is the capital of the province. Districts Mashonaland West is divided into 7 districts: * Chegutu * ...

, in the March 2008 parliamentary election. He won the seat with 6,784 votes in the initial count, defeating two candidates of the Movement for Democratic Change: Ernest Mudimu ( MDC-T), who received 1,701 votes, and Magama Shelton ( MDC-M), who received 944 votes. The MDC challenged this result, and a recount in April showed Chombo with an improved margin of victory: he gained 155 votes in the recount, Mudimu gained 13 votes, and Magama lost 28 votes. 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, Chombo was retained as Minister of Local Government. President

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 Z ...

moved Chombo to the post of Minister of Home Affairs on 6 July 2015. In October 2017, he was appointed as

Finance Minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

in a cabinet reshuffle. Chombo, Mugabe, and other prominent ZANU-PF politicians were detained by the Zimbabwean military during the

2017 Zimbabwean coup d'état In November 2017, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was removed as president and party leader of ZANU-PF and was replaced by Emmerson Mnangagwa. On the evening of 14 November 2017, elements of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) gathered arou ...

. It was alleged that he was close to the

Generation 40 Generation 40 (G40) was a faction of the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF). The G40 was an informal group of ZANU–PF politicians working on generation change by replacing the older officials of the party. The group p ...

faction led by former First Lady

Grace Mugabe Grace Ntombizodwa Mugabe (' Marufu; born 23 July 1965) is a Zimbabwean entrepreneur, politician and the widow of the late President Robert Mugabe. She served as the First Lady of Zimbabwe from 1996 until her husband's resignation in November 201 ...

. After Mugabe resigned as President of Zimbabwe, allegations emerged that Chombo had been taken to hospital following his treatment in custody. Chombo's lawyer states he was beaten in custody; the police deny this. Chombo faces charges for alleged corruption dating back more than a decade. On 19 November 2017, Chombo was expelled from ZANU–PF by the party's central committee. Other prominent G40 politicians, including

Saviour Kasukuwere Saviour Kasukuwere (born 23 September 1970) is a Zimbabwean politician who served in the government of Zimbabwe as Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and National Housing between October and November 2017. He was also the ZANU–P ...

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 ...

Walter Mzembi Walter Mzembi (born 16 March 1964) is a Zimbabwean politician. He previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry. He was the Member of the House of Assembly for Masvingo South ( ZANU-PF). It was ...

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 ...

, Shadreck Mashayamombe, Makhosini Hlongwane,

Innocent Hamandishe Innocence is a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence is to the lack of legal guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime. In other contexts, it is a lack of experience. In relation ...

Samuel Undenge Samuel Undenge (Born 1956) is a Zimbabwean politician. He is the former Energy and Power Development minister. Until 2018 he was a member of parliament from the Chimanimani East constituency in Manicaland Province. He was formerly the Minister of ...

, and

Sarah Mahoka Sarah Mahoka (March 23, 1966 – February 17, 2022) was a Zimbabwean politician. Mahoka was a member of parliament for Hurungwe East. Death Mahoka died February 17, 2022, as the result of an automobile accident. She was travelling towards Karo ...

were also expelled from the party. It was also announced on 27 November 2017 that new Zimbabwe 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 ...

, who succeeded Mugabe following the coup d'état, had appointed Patrick Chinamasa as the acting Minister of Finance. He was placed on 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

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 ...

lists in 2003.

Court cases

He was taken into police custody on 24 November 2017 and appeared on the next day over accusations of corruption and abuse of power during his tenure as Minister of Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development. Per the state prosecutor, he faces three counts of corruption, including attempt to defraud the Zimbabwean central bank in 2004. New charges of corruption were brought against him on 14 December. According to his lawyer Lovemore Madhuku, the case refers to accusations of illegally resettling people evicted by the government on privately owned land and then demanding bribe from the owner to make them leave.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chombo, Ignatius Members of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe Living people 1952 births Finance Ministers of Zimbabwe Government ministers of Zimbabwe ZANU–PF politicians University of Zimbabwe faculty Rhodesian people