Ziyambi Ziyambi

At the time the divorce was filed, Ziyambi had been estranged from his wife Florence Ziyambi, nee Mhizha, a lawyer and former deputy Prosecutor-General for seven years. In his claim filed at the High Court, Ziyambi asked for a decree of divorce saying the couple had not lived together as husband and wife since 2014. ^[3]

School / Education

No information was found on his Junior or High School, or any tertiary education.

Service/Career

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

• Ziyambi Ziyambi of Zanu PF with 12 728 votes or 85.11 percent,
• Herbert Munangatire of MDC–T with 1 666 votes or 11.14 percent,
• Locadia Mupambwa of MDC–N with 560 votes or 3.74 percent,

Total 14 954 votes

He would be appointed as the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs thereafter in September 2013. ^[4]

He contested in the July 2018 elections and won. Retaining his position as Member of Parliament of Zvimba West.

Following the 23-24 August 2023 elections, President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced his new cabinet on 11 September 2023. The Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs is headed by Ziyambi Ziyambi with deputy Obert Mazungunye. ^[5]

Events

Factionalism in Zanu-PF 2014

During the height of the ZANU PF factional wars, Ziyambi was elevated to the post of Acting Provincial Chair for Mashonaland West, from Deputy Chairperson, after the 'vote of no confidence' had been passed on Themba Mliswa. ^[6] He would be subsequently removed from the Provincial Chairman's position in mid-July 2015 following accusations of dishonesty and failure to plan for the election of a substantive committee. ^[7]

It was rumoured that the removal of Ziyambi was also making way for Philip Chiyangwa ^[7] but he would eventually be replaced by his deputy Keith Guzah in an acting capacity.^[8]

During his tenure as Deputy of Home Affairs, he was involved in several initiatives, chief among them being to reform the force which had come under criticism for allegedly harassing motorists. He also maintained that the ministry did not sanction the throwing of spikes by members of the force. ^[9]

Covid-19 Battle

In January 2021 it was reported that Ziyambi was battling for his life in the ICU of a Harare hospital. The report followed the deaths of Joel Biggie Matiza and Sibusiso Moyo. The two had succumbed to Covid-19.^[10]

Foreign Currency Auction System

Delays in foreign currency payments to companies under the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe auction facility, of up to two months, caused alarm, and led to a court case in June 2021. The foreign currency auction system, introduced in 2020 by the central bank was hailed as a ‘game-changer’ in alleviating shortages of forex and boosting transparency and efficiency in the foreign currency market. However, during the Wednesday National Assembly question-and-answer session, MPs accused government of lying that it had disbursed money to the affected companies, adding that some of them had gone for a month without getting their dues. Harare North MP Rusty Markham (MDC Alliance) said: “Last week, we were told by the Deputy Minister of Finance (Clemence Chiduwa) that all the money due from the auction system had been paid. Has this, indeed, happened, and have the banks paid their customers? What is government policy to ensure that customers are given the allocations they applied for?” Markham said in his research with big banks, he discovered that they were eight weeks behind in the allocation of foreign currency through the facility. But Dzivarasekwa MP Edwin Mushoriwa (MDC Alliance) said government had given the impression that all was in order in the foreign currency auction system.

Leader of government business in the National Assembly, Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi in response said government policy was that those accessing the funds through the facility would be notified by their banks.
Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda ruled that the Finance minister should investigate the problems and ensure corrective action is taken to deal with the delays. ^[11]

Alleged Relationship with Zorodzai Maroveke

On 21 June 2021, Temba Mliswa alleged that Dr Zorodzai Maroveke was in a romantic relationship with Ziyambi Ziyambi.^[12] He released a series of screenshots of his chats with an alleged informant. View the screenshots below:

• 

  Cake allegedly baked by Dr Zorodzai Maroveke for Ziyambi Ziyambi on his birthday

• 

  Message from Temba Mliswa's informant giving details of Ziyambi Ziyambi's alleged relationship with Dr Zorodzai Maroveke

FAZ/2023 Primary elections

It has been reported in May 2023 that President Emmerson Mnangagwa created a parallel structure, to run internal polls of his party, Zanu PF. It is run by the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) and will influence the outcome of the upcoming elections in August.

Zanu PF’s primary elections were held in March and showed massive rigging and vote-buying. At the core of the scandal was the Forever Associates Zimbabwe (FAZ), run by CIO deputy director Retired Brigadier-General Walter Tapfumaneyi, which took this role over from Heritage Trust that ran the national elections in November 2018. The Zanu PF primaries included some surprises, such as Mnangagwa’s closest ally Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi and Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs minister Mary Mliswa-Chikoka, not being elected. ^[13]

References