Emmerson Mnangagwa

Emmerson Mnangagwa
Official portrait, 2017
3rd President of Zimbabwe
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 November 2017
Vice President	Constantino Chiwenga Kembo Mohadi
Preceded by	Robert Mugabe
President and First Secretary of ZANU-PF
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 November 2017
Preceded by	Robert Mugabe
First Vice-President of Zimbabwe
In office 12 December 2014 – 6 November 2017
President	Robert Mugabe
Preceded by	Joice Mujuru
Succeeded by	Constantino Chiwenga
Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
In office 11 September 2013 – 9 October 2017
President	Robert Mugabe
Deputy	Fortune Chasi
Preceded by	Patrick Chinamasa
Succeeded by	Happyton Bonyongwe
In office 31 December 1989 – 1 July 2000
President	Robert Mugabe
Preceded by	Eddison Zvobgo
Succeeded by	Patrick Chinamasa
Minister of Defence
In office 13 February 2009 – 11 September 2013
President	Robert Mugabe
Preceded by	Sydney Sekeramayi
Succeeded by	Sydney Sekeramayi
Minister of Rural Housing and Social Amenities
In office 9 April 2005 – 13 February 2009
President	Robert Mugabe
Deputy	Joel Biggie Matiza
Succeeded by	Fidelis Mhashu
Speaker of Parliament
In office 18 July 2000 – 9 April 2005
Preceded by	Cyril Ndebele
Succeeded by	John Nkomo
Minister of State for National Security
In office 1980–1988
Prime Minister	Robert Mugabe
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Sydney Sekeramayi
Member of Parliament
In office 13 May 1980 – 2014
Succeeded by	Auxillia Mnangagwa
Constituency	Midlands (1980–1985) Kwekwe East (1985–1990) Kwekwe (1990–2000) Appointed (2000–2008) Chirumanzu–Zibagwe (2008–2014)
Personal details
Born	Dambudzo Mnangagwa (1942-09-15) 15 September 1942 (age 81) Shabani, Southern Rhodesia (now Zvishavane, Zimbabwe)
Political party	ZANU–PF (1987–present)
Other political affiliations	UNIP (1959–1962) ZAPU (1962–1963) ZANU (1963–1987)
Spouses	Jayne Matarise ​ ​ (m. 1973; died 2002)​ Auxillia Kutyauripo
Relations	Tongai Mnangagwa (nephew)
Children	18[1] (including David)
Education	University of London (LLB) University of Zambia Egyptian Military Academy
Signature

Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa (US: /mənəŋˈɡɑːɡwə/ ^ⓘ mə-nəng-GAH-gwə, Shona: [m̩naˈᵑɡaɡwa]; born 15 September 1942) is a Zimbabwean politician who is serving as President of Zimbabwe since 24 November 2017. A member of ZANU–PF and a longtime ally of former President Robert Mugabe, he held a series of cabinet portfolios and was Mugabe's Vice-President until November 2017, when he was dismissed before coming to power in a coup d'état. He secured his first full term as president in the disputed 2018 general election. Mnangagwa was re-elected in the August 2023 general election with 52.6% of the vote.^[2][3]

Mnangagwa was born in 1942 in Shabani, Southern Rhodesia, to a large Shona family. His parents were farmers, and in the 1950s he and his family were forced to move to Northern Rhodesia because of his father's political activism. There he became active in anti-colonial politics, and in 1963 he joined the newly formed Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army, the militant wing of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU). He returned to Rhodesia in 1964 as leader of the "Crocodile Gang", a group that attacked white-owned farms in the Eastern Highlands. In 1965, he bombed a train near Fort Victoria (now Masvingo) and was imprisoned for ten years, after which he was released and deported to the recently independent Zambia. He later studied law at the University of Zambia and practised as an attorney for two years before going to Mozambique to rejoin ZANU.^[4] In Mozambique, he was assigned to be Robert Mugabe's assistant and bodyguard, and accompanied him to the Lancaster House Agreement which resulted in Zimbabwe's recognised independence in 1980.

After independence, Mnangagwa held a series of senior cabinet positions under Mugabe. From 1980 to 1988, he was the country's first Minister of State Security, and oversaw the Central Intelligence Organisation. His role in the Gukurahundi massacres, in which thousands of Ndebele civilians were killed during his tenure, is controversial. Mnangagwa was Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs from 1989 to 2000 and then Speaker of the Parliament from 2000 until 2005, when he was demoted to Minister of Rural Housing for openly jockeying to succeed the aging Mugabe. He returned to favour during the 2008 general election, in which he ran Mugabe's campaign, orchestrating political violence against the opposition Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai. Mnangagwa served as Minister of Defence from 2009 until 2013, when he became justice minister again. He was also appointed First Vice-President in 2014 and was widely considered a leading candidate to succeed Mugabe.

Mnangagwa's ascendancy was opposed by Mugabe's wife, Grace Mugabe, and her Generation 40 political faction. Mugabe dismissed Mnangagwa from his positions in November 2017, and he fled to South Africa. Soon after, General Constantino Chiwenga, backed by elements of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and members of Mnangagwa's Lacoste political faction, launched a coup. After losing ZANU–PF's support, Mugabe resigned, and Mnangagwa returned to Zimbabwe to assume the presidency.

Mnangagwa is commonly nicknamed "Garwe" or "Ngwena" (Shona: "The crocodile).^[5][6] It came initially from the name of the guerrilla group he founded, but later came to denote his political shrewdness. Reflecting this, the pro-Mnangagwa faction within ZANU–PF is named Lacoste after the French clothing company, known for its crocodile logo.^[7][8] He is also known in his home province of Midlands as "the Godfather".^[9] Mnangagwa was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018.^[10]