Christopher Mutsvangwa

Christopher Hatikure Mutsvangwa (born 24 May 1955) is a Zimbabwean politician, diplomat and businessman. A veteran of the Rhodesian Bush War, Mutsvangwa served the government of independent Zimbabwe and the ZANU-PF party in a number of roles, including as Director-General of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, Ambassador to China, head of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, and Veterans' Welfare Minister. He is married to Senator Monica Mutsvangwa.

In March 2016, he was suspended from ZANU-PF for 3 years for "gross misconduct and disloyalty" and fanning factionalism in the party. He has been accused of being a key figure in the 2017 Zimbabwean coup d'etat.

Mutsvangwa and his wife have parroted anti-Ndebele sentiments, with his wife mocking victims of the Gukurahundi Genocide.

Early life and education Christopher Hatikure Mutsvangwa was born on 24 May 1955 at Salisbury Central Hospital in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (now Harare). He spent his early childhood in the Salisbury suburb of Mbare before returning to his family's home region near Chief Nyamweda, Mashonaland Central. He did his primary education at Masawi and Marirangwe schools, and began his secondary studies at Kutama College before completing his A-Levels at St Augustine's High in Penhalonga .

In 2012, he was appointed Chairman of the Mineral Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe. In the 2013 elections, he was returned as MP for Norton. He was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and then the first Minister for Welfare Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Former Political Detainees and Restrictees. Following his expulsion from ZANU-PF he was recalled from Parliament.

2017 coup d'etat An ally of ousted Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mutsvangwa praised Army General Constantino Chiwenga for "a bloodless correction of gross abuse of power" and hoped that the army would restore a "genuine democracy" and Zimbabwe as a "modern model nation" following the 2017 coup d'état. Mutsvangwa was said to be involved in negotiations for a transitional government with Mnangagwa and Morgan Tsvangirai.