Webster Shamu
Encyclopedia
Webster Kotiwani Shamu is a Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...

an politician, currently serving as Minister of Publicity and Information. He was previously Minister of State for Policy Implementation, and he is a Member of Parliament representing Chegutu
Chegutu
Chegutu is a town in the Mashonaland West province, northern Zimbabwe and is 110km southwest of Harare on the main Harare-Bulawayo road . According to the 1992 Population Census, the town had a population of 30,191...

 constituency.

Background

Webster Shamu has also been known as Charles Ndlovu, having changed his name during the liberation war (1972–1980), as did many others who used pseudonyms to mask their identities.

He was appointed as Minister of State for Policy Implementation on February 9, 2004.

Shamu, as Minister of State for Policy Implementation, presented President Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...

 with a present of a nile crocodile
Nile crocodile
The Nile crocodile or Common crocodile is an African crocodile which is common in Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Egypt, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Gabon, South Africa, Malawi, Sudan, Botswana, and Cameroon...

, to be part of the museum being built for the president.

Shamu is among a host of individuals not allowed to travel to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 because the US government feels he has worked to undermine democracy in Zimbabwe.

He has business interests in common with Charles Davy, the father of Chelsy Davy
Chelsy Davy
Chelsy Yvonne Davy is a Zimbabwean National who was the on-off girlfriend of Prince Harry of Wales from early 2004 to May 2010.- Early life :...

, the former girlfriend of Prince Harry, through Davy's HHK Safaris, which incorporates Shamu's Famba Safaris. HHK Safaris and Shamu were investigated for illegal ivory trading
Ivory trade
The ivory trade is the commercial, often illegal trade in the ivory tusks of the hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, mammoth, and most commonly, Asian and African elephants....

 in 2007.

The People's Voice

He was the editor of the ZANU-PF weekly news publication, the People's Voice, until he stepped down in 2004 to take up his post as the Minister of Policy Implementation in the President's office.

2000 parliamentary election

Shamu controversially won the Chegutu constituency in 2000 parliamentary election. His adversary in the election, Philemon Matibe, who ran on an MDC ticket, was one of the few black commercial farmers to lose a farm after the elections, to a mob purportedly hired by Shamu.

Minister of Industry and International Trade

Shamu has appeared at the forefront praising the work of Gideon Gono
Gideon Gono
Gideon Gono is the current Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and former CEO of the Jewel Bank, formerly known as the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe...

 to revive the economy of the country, although all these efforts appear to have been in vain.

2008 parliamentary election

Shamu was nominated by ZANU-PF as its candidate for the House of Assembly
House of Assembly of Zimbabwe
The House of Assembly of Zimbabwe is the lower chamber of the country's bicameral Parliament. It was the unicameral legislative body from 1989 until late November 2005, when the Senate was re-introduced....

 seat from Chegutu East constituency in the March 2008 parliamentary election
Zimbabwean parliamentary election, 2008
A parliamentary election was held in Zimbabwe on March 29, 2008 to elect members to both the House of Assembly and the Senate of the Zimbabwean parliament...

. According to official results, he easily won the seat, receiving 9,222 votes against 2,724 for the candidate of the MDC faction led by Morgan Tsvangirai
Morgan Tsvangirai
Morgan Richard Tsvangirai is the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. He is the President of the Movement for Democratic Change - Tsvangirai and a key figure in the opposition to President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe on 11 February 2009...

 and 1,218 votes for the candidate of the MDC faction led by Arthur Mutambara
Arthur Mutambara
Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara is a Zimbabwean politician. He became the President of the Movement for Democratic Change-Mutambara faction in February 2006. He has worked as the Managing Director and CEO of Africa Technology and Business Institute since September 2003...

.

When the ZANU-PF–MDC national unity government
Zimbabwe Government of National Unity of 2009
The Government of National Unity refers to Zimbabwe's coalition government that was formed on 13 February 2009 following the inaugurations of Morgan Tsvangirai as Prime Minister and Thokozani Khuphe and Arthur Mutambara as Deputy Prime Ministers...

 was sworn in on February 13, 2009, Shamu became Minister of Information and Publicity. After taking office, he fell into a dispute with Nelson Chamisa
Nelson Chamisa
Nelson Chamisa is a Zimbabwean politician and member of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe for Kuwadzana, Harare. His charismatic speeches and eloquence saw him rise to become the Secretary for Information and Publicity for the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change , and former national...

, the Minister of Information Communication Technology, regarding which ministry should deal with telecommunications. The Herald reported on April 10, 2009, that President Mugabe had assigned responsibility for telecommunications to the Ministry of Transport, headed by Nicholas Goche
Nicholas Goche
Nicholas Tasunungurwa Goche is a Zimbabwean politician, currently serving as Minister of Transport. Previously he was Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare....

.
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