Lovemore Madhuku

Lovemore Madhuku is a Zimbabwean politician and democracy activist who is best known for being one of the founding members of the National Constituent Assembly ((NCA)), a pro-democracy group. An active civil society worker, Madhuku served as NCA's President from 2001 to 2011. During his tenure as the President, he aimed at bringing forth a new autonomous constitution in Zimbabwe that would get rid of the one-party rule of Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe since 1987.

The highlight of his career came when the NCA defeated a constitution introduced by Mugabe in the national referendum in 2000. Ever since Madhuku has been trying to bring to an end the autocratic rule and establish a democratic constitution in Zimbabwe. He has been appointed as a full-time professor at the University of Zimbabwe since 2011. Madhuku penned the famous textbook, 'An Introduction to Zimbabwean Law' which gives an insight into Zimbabwean legal system.

Background and academic career Madhuku was born on 20 July 1966 in Chipinge, Zimbabwe. He attended the University of Zimbabwe (UZ), receiving a Bachelor of Law degree in 1990. He then travelled to the UK to study at the University of Cambridge, receiving a Master of Law in 1994 and a doctorate in 1999. In 2010, he published a book titled An Introduction to Zimbabwean Law. He was made a full professor at UZ in 2011.

Activism Madhuku is a founding member of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), a pro-democracy group allied with the Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai. Mugabe described Madhuku's activities as "opportunism", stating: "There are some fraudulent human rights campaigners like Lovemore Madhuku and his NCA who, when broke, intentionally provoke the police in order to get arrested and raise money from the donors. As such, they easily attract the attention international media line CNN, BBC over nothing. That's the Madhuku survival strategy for you". Police assaulted him again in March 2007, breaking his arm and leaving him with cuts to the head and body.

He was summoned to court again in 2011 for his leadership of 2004 protests, drawing international criticism.

Madhuku was re-elected as the NCA's chair in 2006 under controversial circumstances, as he had amended its constitution to extend his term of office. He completed his final term as the group's chair in 2011. He was unable to attend the ceremony due to the proposing banning of the NCA, and sending Nyarota to accept it on his behalf. together with Godfrey Nyamukuwa