Eddison Zvobgo

While in the USA he addressed United Nations committees on several occasions as the official ZAPU representative during the days before the split in the nationalist ranks.^[1]

Zvobgo left Rhodesia after he got the US scholarship. He came back in 1964 and resumed politics but was soon jailed at Wha Wha prison in Midlands. After serving his prison sentence he was restricted at the new Sikombela Camp with other ZANU leaders. He remained there until November 1965 when, in the days immediately before UDI, he was sent to Salisbury Prison under the emergency legislation. While in prison Zvobgo studied for the University of London’s law degree LL.B. and graduated in 1970. In total he was jailed for 6 years during this period. He then began reading for the Bar examinations which he passed in 1971 while still in detention.^[1]

When he got released in 1971 Zvobgo was appointed Deputy Secretary-General in December 1971. In 1972 he was admitted to the Bar and at once began practising in Salisbury. ^[1] He however left abruptly and went back to the USA, this time to study Law at Harvard Law School. He later taught criminal law as an associate professor at Lewis University College, in Illinois. ^[2] Zvobgo was joined in the USA by his wife Julia, who had been studying in the UK.

Edson Zvobgo was appointed Principal Overseas Representative of the ANC on his arrival in USA, but in August 1973, he resigned from the ANC saying that he was still Deputy Secretary-General of ZANU and that this organisation was "waging a heroic armed struggle". He feared that Abel Muzorewa would not be ruthless enough in negotiations with Ian Smith. ^[1]

In 1976, Zvobgo left the USA, joining Robert Mugabe and others in Mozambique to wage a war against Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front (RF) white minority government. It has been said that Zvobgo played a key role in ZANU in the conferences and diplomatic exchanges that led to independence.

Service / Career

Before Independence

Zvobgo was one of the founding members of ZANU and spokesperson of the Patriotic Front at the Lancaster House Conference in late 1979.

Zvobgo at the Lancaster House Conference

During the deliberations at the conference Zvobgo was part of the negotiating team and he was very popular with the press for his sentiments. He was the spokesperson for the Patriotic Front during the conference and he proved to be very effective. ^[3] When Zvobgo thought that Lord Carrington, who was chairing the conference, was applying too much presure on the Patriotic Front as compared to others like Abel Muzorewa and Ian Smith, Zvobgo argued that

If Carrington carries on the way he has begun, plotting with puppets, we will go back to war.^[3]

Zvobgo also caused a stir 10 days before the Lancaster House Conference when he insinuated that the then British Prime Minister Thatcher was having an affair with "Satan Botha" (PW Botha, former Apartheid era premier in South Africa). ^[3]

Political Career After Independence

In the 1980 elections, he won a seat in Parliament for Masvingo, which he continued to hold until his death. ^[2] Zvobgo also held various senior government posts including Minister of Local Government and Housing (until 1982), Minister of of Justice (until 1985) aand Minister of Parliamentary and Constitutional Affairs in 1987, during which time he made several amendments that gave Mugabe more powers as president of the country.^[2] He heralded Zimbabwe’s first Cabinet and headed key portfolios until his demise. Among them are the Local Government and Housing ministry until 1982, and the Justice ministry until 1985.

In the Zimbabwe 1985 Parliamentary Election, Masvingo South returned to Parliament:

• Eddison Jonas Mudadirwa Zvobgo of Zanu PF - 42 672 votes.
• Jemitias Hungwe Matende of PF-ZAPU - 291 votes.

In the 1990 Parliamentary Election (see A History of Zimbabwean Elections) Masvingo South returned to Parliament:

• Eddison Zvobgo of Zanu PF, unopposed.

When he was appointed Parliamentary and Constitutional Affairs minister in 1987, he tinkered with the Constitution and gave absolute power to the President, reportedly in anticipation that he would take over from the Head of State, Robert Mugabe. When the promise of him taking over was not fulfilled by Mugabe, Zvobgo fell out with his boss and was bold enough to publicly challenge the Zanu PF stranglehold on civil liberties. Zvobgo frankness came at a price. In 1992, an outraged Mugabe demoted him to a less strategic position of Mines minister. In 1996, Zvobgo Snr broke his legs in a car accident. This accident was considered suspicious by many. After the accident, he was again demoted to Minister Without Portfolio and Mugabe thought he would tame him and buy his loyalty.

In the 2000 Parliamentary Election (see A History of Zimbabwean Elections) Masvingo South returned to Parliament:

• Edson Jonasi Zvobgo of Zanu PF with 14 954 votes,
• Zachariah Isaac Rioga of MDC with 5 544 votes,
• Mwenzi Isaiah Shumba, alias Mwasvayamwando, of Zanu PF with 22 676 votes.

Still, he continued criticising Mugabe and in 2000, he was dropped from the Cabinet. ^[4]

In the 2002 presidential elections, he refused to campaign for Mugabe, but did not endorse the opposition challenger Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). He also voiced his opposition to the sweeping media law, passed the same year, calling it "the most serious assault on our constitutional liberties since independence".[2] In the 2002 elections when the existence of the "Zvobgo wing" in Masvingo became publicly known, he refused to campaign for President Mugabe and criticised new public order laws and draconian measures to curtail freedom of expression in the media. He became the subject of an internal party disciplinary inquiry in 2003 after being accused of disloyalty and of holding talks with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.^[4] The allegations of disloyalty were eventually dropped.^[2]

Despite his criticism, Zvobgo eventually voted for the legislation, which was used to close off Zimbabwe's only privately owned daily newspaper, The Daily News, and to arrest at least 31 independent journalists.

He became the subject of an internal party disciplinary inquiry in 2003 for his refusal to campaign for Mugabe and after describing the laws as a weapon to stifle opposition to the government, but allegations of disloyalty were eventually dropped.

Following the death of Edson Zvobgo on 22 August 2004, a by election was held 9 October 2004. The result, Masvingo South returned to Parliament:

• Walter Mzembi of Zanu PF. Declared elected unopposed.
  

A candidate from Zimbabwe Youth in Alliance had submitted nomination papers which were technically deficient.

Events

Further Reading

Business Interests

Zvobgo owned properties in the tourism sector, the Chevron Hotel and the Flamboyant Hotel in Masvingo.

Famous Zvobgo Quotes

• On the need for ruthlessness in negotiations with the Ian Smith white minority government around 1973, Zvobgo said:

  "Whites must be led down the garden path. Morality does not come into it"^[1]

• When reports began filtering through of Zanu PF’s lead in Zimbabwe’s first elections in 1980, Zvobgo announced at the press centre at Meikles Hotel:

  It is no longer a question of whether we will win, but only by what margin^[3]

• Before a packed parliament in January 2002, he launched a scathing attack on the Jonathan Moyo-inspired Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill, declaring 20 of its clauses unconstitutional. He described the Bill as

  the most calculated and determined assault on our liberties, which are guaranteed by the constitution^[3]

  He said the proposed law was . . . ill-conceived and dangerous and why Moyo’s ministry wanted to grant themselves frightening powers.

  Ask yourself whether it is rational for a government in a democratic and free society to require registration, licences and ministerial certificates in order for people to speak. It is a sobering thought^[3]

Trivia

• Zvobgo was one of the few Zanu-PF leaders of his time to recognise and apologise for the Matabeleland massacres commonly referrred to as Gukurahundi.^[4]
• While in detension in Rhodesia, Zvobgo wrote a number of poems using the psydoneym "Muzeze" which were published in volume called "Madetembere". One such poem called "A Time To Rise".

  A Time To Rise
  
  It’s six, my son, and time to rise;
  The sun has shot through the darkness
  And the long day spreads before you like a kaross;
  Start now, dear son; the journey is long.
  There will be thunder and hailstorms
  Although the weather appears calm
  for the moment; beware of shelters
  Offered you; rather brave it and be a Man.
  Should you fall, rise with grace, and without
  Turning to see who sees, continue on your road
  Precisely as if nothing had ever happened;
  For those who did not, the ditches became graves.
  If ever you fall in love with some woman,
  Ask if she can walk at your pace to the end
  Of the road. . .

References