Edson Zvobgo
| Edson Zvobgo | |
|---|---|
| 1st Minister of Local Government & Housing, Zimbabwe | |
|
In office 18 April 1980 – 18 April 1982 |
|
| President | Canaan Banana |
| Prime Minister | Robert Mugabe |
| Preceded by | None |
| Constituency | Masvingo, Masvingo Province |
| 2nd. Minister of Justice, Zimbabwe | |
|
In office 18 April 1982 – 18 April 1985 |
|
| President | Canaan Banana |
| Prime Minister | Robert Mugabe |
| 1st Minister of Parliament & Constitutional Affairs, Zimbabwe | |
|
In office 18 April 1985 – 18 April 1992 |
|
| President | Robert Mugabe |
| Minister of Mines, Zimbabwe | |
|
In office 18 April 1992 – 18 April 1996 |
|
| President | Robert Mugabe |
| Minister Without Portfolio, Zimbabwe | |
|
In office 18 April 1996 – 18 April 2000 |
|
| President | Robert Mugabe |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
2 October 1935 Fort Victoria, Southern Rhodesia (now Masvingo, Zimbabwe) |
| Died | 22 August 2004 (aged 68) Harare, Zimbabwe |
| Nationality | Zimbabwean |
| Political party | ZANU PF |
| Spouse(s) | Julia Tukai Zvobgo (1937–2004) |
| Children | 7 children (Kerina, Edson Jnr., Tsungi, Jonasi, Esther, Tendai, Farai Emily) |
| Residence | Glen Lorne, Harare & Masvingo |
| Alma mater | Tufts University; Harvard University |
| Occupation | Nationalist; Politician ; M.P. – Masvingo South (18 April 1980 – 22 August 2004); Hotelier |
| Profession | Lawyer; Academic |
Edson Jonasi Zvobgo (2 October 1935 – 22 August 2004) was a founder of Zimbabwe's ruling party Zanu-PF, was the Patriotic Front's spokesman at the Lancaster House in late 1979, a Harvard-trained lawyer, and a poet.
His name is often misspelled by the media, either as Eddison instead of Edson or Zvogbo instead of Zvobgo.
He was born in then Southern Rhodesia in 1935, near Fort Victoria (now Masvingo), where his father was a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1960, Zvobgo won a scholarship to Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts aged 25. After taking a bachelor's degree there in 1964, he returned home to be arrested and detained for political activism against white rule in Rhodesia, along with Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo.
Zvobgo was freed in 1971, and he spent a period in exile in Canada. He then studied law at Harvard and international relations at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, followed by a position as associate professor teaching criminal law at Lewis University College in Illinois.
Zvobgo played a key role in international negotiations at Lancaster House that ended the bitter bush war and led to British-sponsored all race elections ahead of independence in 1980. He was the Zanu-PF spokesman, and impressed many in the international press with his quick repartee and astute analysis of the negotiations. In the 1980 elections, he won a seat in parliament for Masvingo, which he continued to hold until his death.
An influential member of Zimbabwe's first fully independent cabinet, Zvobgo was minister for local government and housing until 1982, and minister for justice until 1985. As minister of parliamentary and constitutional affairs, in 1987 he made several amendments to the Constitution that concentrated power in the hands of the president and moved Zimbabwe towards a one-party state.
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