Joseph Msika
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The Right Honourable Joseph Msika |
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| Vice-President of Zimbabwe | |
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In office 23 December 1999 – 4 August 2009 Serving with Simon Muzenda, Joice Mujuru |
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| President | Robert Mugabe |
| Prime Minister | Morgan Tsvangirai |
| Preceded by | Joshua Nkomo |
| Succeeded by | John Nkomo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 December 1923 Chiweshe, Southern Rhodesia |
| Died | 4 August 2009 (aged 85) Harare, Zimbabwe |
| Political party | Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front |
Joseph Wilfred Msika (6 December 1923 – 4 August 2009) was a Zimbabwean politician who served as Vice-President of Zimbabwe from 1999 to 2009.
Msika was born in the Chiweshe district of Southern Rhodesia. He attended Howard and Mt Selinda institutes, where he trained to become a carpentry teacher. He then moved to Bulawayo, where he worked as a carpenter and ran a fish-and-chip shop.
Later, Msika was a teacher at Usher Institute and became active in nationalist politics, working with nationalists such as Masotsha Ndlovu and Benjamin Burombo. He joined the Rhodesia Textile and Allied Workers' Union around 1944 or 1945.
Msika was elected as National Treasurer of the African National Congress in 1957; it was subsequently banned, at which point Msika became Secretary for Youth in the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), its successor organisation. As a result of his political activities, he was detained at Khami Maximum Security, Selukwe and Marandellas prisons from 1959 to 1961. He joined the National Democratic Party in 1961 and was elected a councillor.
In 1963, Msika was elected as ZAPU Secretary for Youth Affairs, and after the NDP was banned he became Secretary for External Affairs of the People's Caretaker Party.
Police arrested Msika in 1964 while he was in the home of Josiah Mushore Chinamano, and was detained at Gonakudzingwa Restriction Camp. In 1979, Msika was a member of the delegation to the Lancaster House Agreement that forged independence for Zimbabwe.
In 1980, Msika was included in the first post-independence government as Minister of Natural Resources and Water Development; he was one of three representatives of ZAPU in the Cabinet, along with Joshua Nkomo and George Silundika. He was also nominated to the Senate with backing from the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) of Prime Minister Robert Mugabe. He was dismissed from the government in 1982, when ZANU accused ZAPU of plotting to seize power. Msika was Vice-President of ZAPU from 1984 to 1987, and he was elected to the House of Assembly in 1985 from Pelandaba constituency. Following that election, he was appointed as Minister of Public Construction and National Housing.
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