Nathan Shamuyarira
| Nathan Shamuyarira | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Minister of Foreign Affairs of Zimbabwe | |
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In office 22 December 1987 – 15 March 1995 |
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| President | Robert Mugabe |
| Vice President | Joshua Nkomo & Simon Muzenda |
| Preceded by | Witness Mangwende |
| Succeeded by | Stan Mudenge |
| Minister of Information (Zimbabwe) | |
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In office 18 April 1980 – 22 December 1987 |
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| President | Canaan Banana |
| Prime Minister | Robert Mugabe |
| Succeeded by | Witness Mangwende |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
29 September 1928 Southern Rhodesia |
| Died | 4 June 2014 (aged 85) Harare, Zimbabwe |
| Nationality | Zimbabwean |
| Political party | ZANU-PF |
| Spouse(s) | Dorothy Mandimika |
| Alma mater | Princeton University |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Journalist, Academic |
| Religion | Methodist |
| Website | http://www.colonialrelic.com/nathan-shamuyarira/ |
Nathan Shamuyarira (29 September 1928 – 4 June 2014) was a Zimbabwean nationalist who at different times fought on behalf of and helped lead FROLIZI, ZANU, and ZAPU. He later served as the Information Minister of Zimbabwe and as the Information Secretary of ZANU PF. He was writing President Robert Mugabe's biography at the time of his death.
Nathan Shamuyarira implanted the policy of vetting foreign journalists, renewing their licences every month. This was a way of weeding out government and Zanu PF critics. Very few people realised the dark side of this policy until too late when opposition politics was being neutered
Musa Shamuyarira, Nathan's brother, was as a student in the United States and member of the MAZAZI Student Union in the 1960s was very close to the CIA affiliated American Society of African Culture and it appears that he attempted to involve Nathan in the organisation as well.
In March 2005 he referred to prominent government critic and archbishop Pius Ncube as a
In June 2006 he accused the International Crisis Group think tank of calling for a coup against President Robert Mugabe in the Zimbabwe's Continued Self-Destruction paper. The article, which advocated unity among the opposition political parties, warned of "greater insecurity and violence" prior to the 2008 presidential election. Shamuyarira said the ICG had "sponsored violence" by the Movement for Democratic Change.
In October 2006 Shamuyarira sparked outrage when he praised the Gukurahundi, a series of state-sponsored massacres in the 1980s, in response to the South African government's attempts to infiltrate Zimbabwe with disgruntled units of ZAPU, called Super ZAPU, as part of Operation Drama. These elements also killed white farmers to grab international headlines. Nathan Shamuyarira stated, that the "actions of the North Korea-trained Five Brigade that killed around 3000 civilians and militants in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces during political disturbances in the 1980s were not regrettable as [the Five Brigade was] doing a job to protect the people. It was because the dissidents were killing people, that Gukurahundi went to correct the situation and protect the people. We killed vana Gwesela (the Gweselas) in my own province in Mashonaland West, in Sanyati. We killed him because he played havoc. In Matabeleland, they (vana Gwesela) killed the Shona-speaking teachers; it's not true to say the Ndebeles were the only victims. Europeans in Mat South fled their farms and went to hide in the city."Max Mnkandla, President of the Zimbabwe Liberators' Peace Initiative, and politician Jonathan Moyo also strongly condemned his comments. Mnkandla stated that Shamuyarira's comments showed he is "not only suffering from 1880s hangover – the feeling that the Ndebele also did the same to the Shonas – it also shows that Shamuyarira is now old and should retire."
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Wikipedia