Emmerson Mnangagwa - Parliamentary and Ministerial Career

Parliamentary and Ministerial Career

He became the first Minister of National Security from 1980 to 1988, and after General Peter Walls left the country under dubious circumstances related to making plans for a coup, he took over as Chairman of the Joint High Command. The task involved responsibility for the integration of ZANLA, ZIPRA and Rhodesian Army. From 1988 to 2000, he was Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and Leader of the House. This was the period following the Unity Accord. He was appointed Acting Minister of Finance for 15 months from 1995 to 1996 and was also Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs for a short period. His tenure as Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs saw him setting up the Judicial College and the Small Claims Court to address the critical shortage of magistrates, prosecutors and other judicial officers in the country. He also introduced several amendments to various Acts and the Constitution.

Mnangagwa was defeated in the 2000 parliamentary election by Blessing Chebundo of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Kwekwe constituency, but Mugabe appointed him to one of the unelected seats in Parliament. Following the election, he was elected as Speaker of Parliament on July 18, 2000. It was during his time as Speaker of Parliament that the UN investigation into illegal exploitation of natural resources from the Congo recommended a travel ban and financial restrictions upon him for his involvement in making Harare a significant illicit diamond trading centre. In the March 2005 parliamentary election, he was again defeated by Chebundo in Kwekwe, and Mugabe again appointed him to an unelected seat. His campaign manager blamed this defeat on the Mujuru faction, saying that it had "manipulated the situation" so that the MDC could win the seat and thereby undermine Mnangagwa. In the March 2008 parliamentary election, he stood as ZANU-PF's candidate in the new Chirumanzi–Zibagwe rural constituency and won by an overwhelming margin, receiving 9,645 votes against two MDC candidates, Mudavanhu Masendeke and Thomas Michael Dzingisai, who respectively received 1,548 and 894 votes.

Mnangagwa was Mugabe's chief election agent during the 2008 presidential election, and it was reported that he headed Mugabe's campaign behind the scenes. When a national unity government was sworn in on February 13, 2009, Mnangagwa became Minister of Defense.