Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga

Service/Career

In 1989 she was Co-Founder and Coordinator of Women And AIDS Support Network also a founding member of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA)."She is one woman whose commitment and determination struck me," said NCA chairman and long-time fellow activist Lovemore Madhuku. Her mentor and inspiration was Margaret Dongo, a former liberation struggle guerrilla. Misihairabwi-Mushonga was Dongo’s polling agent and was elected as a Councillor in Harare in 1996. Mushonga joined the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Party when it started in 1999. When the MDC party split in 2005, she remained with the smaller MDC formation led then by professor Arthur Mutambara Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-M). She was elected Deputy Secretary-General of that party. In 2009 she was appointed Minister of Regional Integration and International Cooperation in the Government of National Unity (GNU). In the 2011 MDC-M congress she was elected the party's Secretary General, a position she will held up to the next congress in 2016. She was the MDC-M chief representative at (JOMIC)Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee and (COPAC) the Constitutional Parliamentary Committee a committee that was in charge of writing the Zimbabwean constitution.^[2]

In the 2000 Elections, (see A History of Zimbabwean Elections) Glen Norah returned to Parliament:

• Priscilla Misihairabwi of MDC with 17 866 votes,
• Thomas Magwirokona Mapanzure of Zanu PF with 3 517 votes,
• Jonathan Marimbire of UP with 159 votes,
• Nogget Martha Muchenje of ZUD with 147 votes,
• Davison Mandega of ZANU (Ndonga) with 119 votes,
• Admire Denenga, Independent, with 0 votes.

In the 2013 Elections, (see A History of Zimbabwean Elections), sixty seats were allocated to women, under the 2013 Zimbabwe Constitution. They were divided into 6 per province, based on a party's share of votes in the province. The parties produced lists of candidates before the elections. Successful candidates are listed in bold. Only parties which had successful candidates are listed. Vote counts for these seats may vary slightly from the official provincial vote totals due to some multiple candidates votes.

Matabeleland South

MDC–N	MDC–T	Zanu PF
Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga	Nomathemba Ndlovu	Abigail Damasane
Sibekithemba Njani	Sipho Dube	Alice Ndhlovu
Elizabeth Ndhlovu	Patricia Ndlovu	Rossy Mpofu
Thokozile Sibanda	Peggy Ncube	Marah Ngwenya
Helenic Ncube-Socks	Moreblessing Tembo	Rennie Kibi
Thokozile Moyo | Beauty Kerr	Patricia Muhadi

Positions Held

Misihairairambi was a Member of the National Assembly from 2002-2005 for Glen Norah. While there, she also served as the shadow Foreign Minister for the Movement for Democratic Change. She was a Matabeleland South Member of the National Assembly and MDC Secretary General. Between 2009 and July 2013, she was minister of Regional Integration and International Cooperation. In 2005-2011 was Deputy Secretary-General of MDC-M. ^[3] She was the member of the National Assembly for Umzingwane Constituency.

Events

Appointment As Ambassador

Misihairabwi-Mushonga was appointed Zimbabwe's ambassador to Sweden by Emmerson Mnangagwa in September 2021. Before the appointment, Misihairabwi-Mushonga was the MDC-T proportional representation MP for Matabeleland South in 2018. Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga was also the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education and previously chaired the Public Accounts Committee.

In Sweden, she replaced Alice Mashingaidze who was appointed Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Germany. ^[4][5]

Further Reading

References