Amos Midzi

Service/Career

Midzi began his political career in 1977 whilst he was enrolled at the University of Rhodesia. He was arrested for taking part in the liberation struggle. He spent three years in political detention.^[2] Midzi was elected into parliament in 1980. In 1982, he became the deputy minister of Transport until 1984.

In the Zimbabwe 1985 Parliamentary Election, Mukuvusi returned to Parliament"

• Amos Bernard Muvengwa Midzi of Zanu PF - 41 200 votes.
• David Charles Zvinaiye Mukome of UANC - 3 587 votes.
• Sottayi Tapfumaneyi Davidson Katsere of PF-ZAPU - 2 136 votes.
• James Noah Chitungo of ZANU - 295 votes.

From 1984 to 87, Amos Midzi was the Deputy Minister of Youth, Sport, and Culture. He would be posted to Cuba as Zimbabwe's ambassador from 1987 to 1993. In 1993, Midzi was assigned to the position of Zimbabwe's ambassador to the United States of America. ^[2] In March 2002, Midzi ran for the position of mayor of Harare in a tightly contested race. He lost the seat to Elias Mudzuri who was running for the Movement for Democratic Change which was led by Morgan Tsvangirai. ^[2] Between 2004 and 2007, he was minister of Mines and Mineral Development. Midzi attempted another comeback in the March 2008 parliamentary elections but lost again to the MDC.^[2]

In the 2013 Elections, (see A History of Zimbabwean Elections) Epworth returned to Parliament:

• Amos Midzi of Zanu PF with 15 468 votes or 61.26 percent,
• Eliah Jembere of MDC–T with 7 951 votes or 31.49 percent,
• Nicholas Sibanda of MDC–N with 1 332 votes or 5.28 percent,
• 3 others with 497 votes or 1.97 percent.

Total 25 248 votes

Events

Positions Held

1. ZANU-PF Harare Provincial Chairman (2001-2014)
2. Minister of Mines and Mining Development (2004-2007).
3. Member of Parliament for the National Assembly- Epworth, Harare.
4. Minister of Energy and Power Development (2002-2004).^[5]
5. Ambassador to the United States of America (1993- 1999).
6. Ambassador to Cuba (1987-1993).
7. Deputy Minister of Transport (1982-1984).
8. Deputy Minister of Youth, Sport, and Culture (1984-1987).
9. Zanu PF Central Committee (1984-1989).^[2]

He was married to Hilda Alice Midzi and the two had children together.^[6]

Spygate Saga

The Sunday Mail of 5 October 2014 carried a headline which said “Amos Midzi Fingered in Spygate Saga”. The state owned newspaper reported that the party’s provincial chairperson for Harare Province was among the legislators understood to have had suspicious contact with a CIA spy housed at the US Embassy in Harare. Midzi was the second provincial chairperson to be implicated in the scandal after Mashonaland West Province chairperson Temba Mliswa had already admitted to entertaining a spy from the U.S.^[7] For this reason, Midzi anjd other 11 MPs became to be known as the Zanu-PF Dirty Dozen.^[7]

Chipangano

Within Zanu PF, in 2012, top chefs were now out to force the dismantling of a group (Chipangano) that had since assumed a life of its own outside the party — a rag-tag band that was making a living out of Zanu PF’s name but had since mapped its own survival route. Supposed handler Amos Midzi, disowned the group but Zanu PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa confirmed Chipangano existed and blasted Midzi for lying to the people. ^[8]

Mutasa challenged provincial chairman Ambassador Amos Midzi, to make sure the group was stopped from tarnishing the image of the party. “We hear that there are some people who are harassing commuters and commuter operators in the name of the party. Cde Midzi if you tell me that you don’t know that group, I will tell you that you are lying. Instead, I want to know what is not ending it.” In his response, Ambassador Midzi acknowledged that there were problems with rank marshals, but said some of them were not under Zanu-PF. ^[9]

Picture Gallery

• 

  Commissioning a borehole in Harare

• 

  Speaking to journalists at a press conference

• 

  Chatting with Grace Mugabe and Oppah Muchinguri during the "Meet The People" rallies at City Sports Centre in Harare

• 

  Shaking hands with Godfrey Gomwe while the First Lady looks on

• 

  With fellow ZANU-PF Member Christopher Chigumba in Harare

Factionalism allegations

Amos Midzi was believed to be aligned to the Joice Mujuru camp. As a result, a "vote of no confidence" was passed (this was a common method used to rid the ZANU PF party of Joice Mujuru aligned politicians) on 6 November 2014, marking his exit from the party structures. He was also accused of influencing other senior party officials to oppose the entrance of Grace Mugabe into mainstream politics.

Corruption Allegations

Midzi was linked to several scandals in his political career. In 2012, he was accused of stealing money from desperate home seekers in the Harare South areas of Mbare and Waterfalls.^[10] The home seekers who bought stands through their allegiance to Zanu PF had their houses razed down by city authorities a few weeks after they were allocate stands.

It is believed that Midzi together with other party leaders took advantage of irregularities in the city department of housing to allocate stands illegally to people. Midzi has also been close associated with a violent youth wing called Chipangano which is based in the Mbare suburb of Harare.^[11]

In January 2015, war veterans and residents from Hopley and Ushewekunze suburbs brought up the issue of corruption against Midzi stating that he got into power by being corrupt. They claimed that Midzi together with Savanhu and Shadreck Mashayamombe had long been promoting corruption in Harare South. They argued that for the past decades, they were forced not to report because these so called and now defunct Zanu PF heavy weights were untouchable. ^[12]

Rape Allegations

It has been reported that Midzi, Savanhu and Mashayamombe utilised the Chipangano gang which was led by Jim Kunaka to terrorise girls. One informant, identified as Sarudzai Mutetwa explained that these party heavy weights used to take girls at night under the pretext of night camps and raped them. ^[12] On the basis of this, residents from suburbs in Harare South had since began to campaign for the ouster of Midzi and his accomplice from being Members of Parliament (MPs) on the basis that they have been working against the principles of the party. The matter was reported to Ignatius Chombo who vowed to present it to Mugabe. ^[12]

Suspension from Zanu PF

Midzi was suspended in early 2015 by the ZANU-PF politburo.He was accused of fanning factionalism and being loyal to the deposed vice president Joice Mujuru. He was given a five-year suspension.^[13]

Further Reading

References