Dr. Samuel Creighton Mumbengegwi (23 October 1942 – 14 June 2016) was a Zimbabwean politician who served for a time as Minister of Higher Education and as ZANU-PF Chairperson. He was the brother of the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Simba Mumbengegwi.
Political career Mumbengegwi served for a time as Minister of Higher Education and as ZANU-PF Chairperson for Masvingo. According to the Commercial Farmers Union in 2002, he took over Irvin Farm from its white owners as part of land reform."Mugabe's cronies snatch prize white farms", The Sunday Independent (IOL), April 27, 2002. He was subsequently appointed as Minister of Industry and International Trade in August 2002,"ZIMBABWE: New government without Makoni", SADOCC, 25 August 2002. and he was appointed as the Minister of State for Indigenisation and Empowerment in 2005. On 6 February 2007 he was moved to the position of Finance Minister, replacing Herbert Murerwa."Mugabe retains old guard during shuffle", Reuters (IOL), February 7, 2007.
In the ZANU-PF primaries for the March 2008 parliamentary election, Mumbengegwi sought the party's nomination for the Chivi-Mwenezi Senate constituency in Masvingo Province, but he was defeated by Josiah Hungwe, a former Governor of Masvingo Province. Mumbengegwi disputed the result and the ZANU-PF national election directorate ordered the vote to be held over again, but Mumbengegwi was defeated for a second time, winning 4,906 votes against 8,736 votes for Hungwe, and therefore Hungwe received the ZANU-PF nomination."Zimbabwe: Hungwe Wins Chivi-Mwenezi Election Re-Run", The Herald (allAfrica.com), February 28, 2008.
The Herald reported on 3 January 2009 that Mumbengegwi had been dismissed from the Cabinet earlier in the week, along with 11 other ministers, because he no longer held any seat in Parliament."Losing Ministers Axed", The Herald (allAfrica.com), 3 January 2009.
He was put on the United States sanctions list in 2003 and remained on the list until his death.Blocking property of persons undermining democratic processes or institutions in Zimbabwe.
Death He died on 14 June 2016 at Avenues Clinic in Harare due to an unknown ailment. At the time of his death, he was a lecturer at the Great Zimbabwe University in the Education faculty.
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