Walter Mzembi (born 16 March 1964) 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. He previously served 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 co ...

and Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry. He was the

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of 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 ...

for Masvingo South ( ZANU-PF). It was announced on November 27, 2017, that Simbarashe Mumbengegwi was now the acting Foreign Minister of Zimbabwe. In October 2020, it was revealed Mzembi was among those who fled to South Africa before their criminal trials could be completed.

Early life

Mzembi was born to a

Ndebele Ndebele may refer to: *Southern Ndebele people, located in South Africa *Northern Ndebele people, located in Zimbabwe and Botswana Languages * Southern Ndebele language, the language of the South Ndebele *Northern Ndebele language Northern ...

mother and a Karanga

Shona Shona often refers to: * Shona people, a Southern African people * Shona language, a Bantu language spoken by Shona people today Shona may also refer to: * ''Shona'' (album), 1994 album by New Zealand singer Shona Laing * Shona (given name) * S ...

father.

Career

When the ZANU-PF–

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 ...

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 February 13, 2009, Mzembi became Minister of Tourism. Since 2007, he is 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 de ...

sanctions list. He helped organize the

UNWTO The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations specialized agency entrusted with the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism. Its headquarters are in Madrid, Spain. UNWTO is the leading internat ...

co-hosted by Zimbabwe and

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 ...

in August 2013. In 2017 Mzembi was the candidate of the African Union for the position of the 2018-21 Secretary-General of the

World Tourism Organization The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations specialized agency entrusted with the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism. Its headquarters are in Madrid, Spain. UNWTO is the leading internati ...

. On 19 November 2017, Mzembi was expelled from ZANU–PF by the party's central committee. Other prominent G40 politicians, including

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 ...

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,

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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 ...

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and

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were also expelled from the party. His predecessor,

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 ...

, would also become acting Minister of Foreign Affairs on 27 November 2017 as well. He resurfaced at a scheduled parliamentary seating on the 28 November 2017 where he seemed jovial and loyal to the new leadership. He first went to greet First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa followed by handshakes with several other MPs.

Corruption case, departure from Zimbabwe and extradition request

Mzembi was arrested on 5 January 2018 and appeared in court on the next day where he was granted bail. The case has however dragged with his lawyers citing his ill health. He was however seen in a video circulating on social media appearing fit. He was arrested over allegedly misuse of resources meant for a tourism conference in 2013. On October 12, 2020, it was revealed Mzembi fled to South Africa before his criminal trial could be completed and that Zimbabwe's national prosecutors met with South Africa Prosecutor-General Kumbirai Hodzi to seek extradition of both Mzembi and Saviour Kasukuwere on corruption charges. However, Hodzi hesitated and demanded that the proposed extraditions be based on the Extradition (Designated Countries) Order of 1990. Zimbabwe's prosecutor general stated that both Mzembi and Kasukuwere “had their cases before the courts, but they fled before their trials were completed.”

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mzembi, Walter 1964 births Living people Members of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe Government ministers of Zimbabwe Foreign ministers of Zimbabwe Northern Ndebele people Shona people