Amos Midzi

The Honourable Ambassador
Amos Midzi
MP
Minister of Mines and Mining Development
In office
February 2004  January 2009
President Robert Mugabe
Personal details
Born (1952-07-04)July 4, 1952
Rhodesia and Nyasaland
Died June 9, 2015(2015-06-09) (aged 62)
Marirangwe, Zimbabwe
Political party Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front
Religion Roman Catholic

Amos Bernard Muvengwa Midzi (July 4, 1952 – June 9, 2015) was a Zimbabwean politician who served in the Cabinet successively as Minister of Energy and Power Development and Minister of Mines and Mining Development from 2002 to 2009.

Midzi was appointed as Ambassador to the United States in 1993, before he was a member of the ZANU PF politburo .[1] He ran as the ZANU-PF candidate for Mayor of Harare, the capital, in March 2002, but was defeated by Elias Mudzuri of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Midzi received 56,796 votes against 262,275 votes for Mudzuri.[2] On August 25, 2002, he was appointed as Minister of Energy and Power Development;[3][4] subsequently he was appointed as Minister of Mines and Mining Development on February 9, 2004.[5] He has also served as ZANU-PF Chairman for Harare.[6]

Midzi was nominated as ZANU-PF's candidate for the House of Assembly seat from Epworth, a suburb of Harare, in the March 2008 parliamentary election.[7] He was defeated by the MDC's Jembere Elias, receiving 4,758 votes against 6,220 votes for Elias.[8]

The Herald reported on January 3, 2009, that Midzi had been dismissed from the Cabinet earlier in the week, along with 11 other ministers, because he no longer held any seat in Parliament.[9]

Reports of Midzi's death on June 9, 2015, were immediately labelled as suicide. [10]

On June 9. 2015 following Midzi's death, it was also reported that foul play was suspected amid reports that his car keys were missing [11]

References

  1. List of Zimbabwean ambassadors to the United States, U.S. Department of State website.
  2. "MDC takes Harare and Chitungwiza", SADOCC, March 15, 2002.
  3. "Zimbabwe's cabinet after the shuffle", Sapa-AFP (IOL), August 25, 2002.
  4. "ZIMBABWE: New government without Makoni", SADOCC, August 25, 2002.
  5. "Mugabe rewards loyalists in new Cabinet", New Zimbabwe (zimbabwesituation.com), February 9, 2004.
  6. Cris Chinaka, "'Listen to our problems, Mr Mugabe'", Reuters (IOL), March 13, 2005.
  7. "Zimbabwe: Zanu-PF Names Poll Candidates", The Herald (allAfrica.com), February 15, 2008.
  8. "Zimbabwe election results 2008", Newzimbabwe.com, April 2, 2008.
  9. "Losing Ministers Axed", The Herald (allAfrica.com), January 3, 2009.
  10. "Ambassador Amos Midzi found dead", New Zimbabwe, June 9, 2015.
  11. "Fired Midzi dies, foul play suspected", My Zimbabwe News, June 9, 2015.


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