Prime Minister of Zimbabwe

Prime Minister of the Republic of Zimbabwe
Coat of arms of Zimbabwe
Appointer	President of Zimbabwe
Formation	18 April 1980 11 February 2009
First holder	Robert Mugabe
Final holder	Morgan Tsvangirai
Abolished	31 December 1987 11 September 2013

The Prime Minister of Zimbabwe was a political office in the government of Zimbabwe that existed on two separate occasions. The first person to hold the position was Robert Mugabe from 1980 to 1987 following independence from the United Kingdom. He took office when Southern Rhodesia became the Republic of Zimbabwe on 18 April 1980. This position was abolished when the constitution was amended in 1987 and Mugabe became President of Zimbabwe, replacing Canaan Banana as the head of state while also remaining the head of government. The office of Prime Minister was restored in 2009 and held by Morgan Tsvangirai until the position was again abolished by the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe.

History of the office

Original office

Zimbabwe's prime ministerial office owes its origins to the country's predecessor states. The position began with George Mitchell who became Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia in 1933. All subsequent predecessor-states continued with the post until Abel Muzorewa who became Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979 under the Internal Settlement. The Lancaster House Agreement brought an independence constitution which made provision for a parliamentary system, with a President as head of state and a Prime Minister as head of government. The presidency was mostly ceremonial; real power was vested with the Prime Minister.

The 1980 election resulted in a ZANU–PF victory with Robert Mugabe becoming Prime Minister and Canaan Banana President. Mugabe and Banana were returned to office in the 1985 election.

However, in 1987 the government revised the constitution and made the presidency an executive post. The Prime Minister's post was abolished, and its functions were effectively merged with those of the president. Mugabe ascended to the presidency.

Restored office

Main article: 2008–09 Zimbabwean political negotiations

The restoration of the office of Prime Minister in 2009 was a result of a power-sharing agreement made in September 2008 between Mugabe's ZANU–PF and rival candidate Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC–T after the 2008 presidential election and later run-off. Mugabe remained president while Tsvangirai was sworn into the office of Prime Minister on 11 February 2009. Executive authority was shared between the president, the prime minister and the cabinet, with ZANU–PF and the MDC–T sharing portfolio ministries. It was the Prime Minister's role to chair the council of ministers and act as the Deputy Chairperson of Cabinet and also oversee the formulation of government policies by the Cabinet. In addition, the prime minister was a member of the National Security Council, chaired by the president and sat alongside the heads of the armed forces, intelligence, prison services and police. According to section 20.1.8 of the 1980 Constitution of Zimbabwe (No. 19) Amendment, the Prime Minister, Vice-Presidents and Deputy Prime Ministers became ex officio members of the House of Assembly without needing to represent parliamentary constituencies, and the party of a constituency-based MP who concurrently served in any of the above offices held the right to nominate non-constituency members to such offices. The post of prime minister did not hold the full executive powers it held during the 1980s and the President remained head of the cabinet. In 2012 Tsvangirai claimed that the power-sharing agreement was not being honoured and that he was not being consulted by the President over some appointments. The government held a referendum in March 2013 to approve a new constitution. As a result, the post of Prime Minister was abolished from 11 September 2013. Tsvangirai and Mugabe both contested the general election in July 2013 for the single post of President. Mugabe was elected.

Key

Political parties

•   Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU)
•   Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC–T)

Prime Ministers of Zimbabwe (1980–1987; 2009–2013)

No.	Picture	Name (Birth–Death)	Elected	Took office	Left office	Political Party	President
style="background:Template:Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front/meta/color; color:white;"| 1		Robert Mugabe (1924–)	1980 1985	18 April 1980	31 December 1987	ZANU	Canaan Banana (1980–1987)
Post abolished (31 December 1987 – 11 February 2009)							Robert Mugabe (1987–2017)
style="background:Template:Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai/meta/color; color:white;"| 2		Morgan Tsvangirai (1952–)	2008	11 February 2009	11 September 2013	MDC–T
Post abolished (11 September 2013 – present)							Phelekezela Mphoko (Acting) (2017–present)

Rank by time in office

Rank	President	Time in office
1	Robert Mugabe	7 years, 257 days
2	Morgan Tsvangirai	4 years, 212 days

Living former prime ministers

There are two living former Prime Ministers of Zimbabwe (as of 27 December 2024):

• 
  Robert Mugabe
  (1980–1987)
  (1924-02-21) February 21, 1924
• 
  Morgan Tsvangirai
  (2009–2013)
  (1952-03-10) March 10, 1952

See also

• List of Presidents of Zimbabwe
• Prime Minister of Rhodesia
• Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia

External links

• Zimbabwe Prime Minister Online