Joyce Mujuru (born 1956) is a Zimbabwean politician, who serves as a vice-president of the Zanu-PF party, alongside fellow vice-president Joseph Msika and president Robert Mugabe, taking a position left vacant following the death of Simon Muzenda. This puts her in line to succeed Mugabe, if he retires in 2008. Along with her husband, Solomon Mujuru, and other Zanu-PF party members, she is the subject of personal sanctions imposed by the United States. [1] 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) has been the ruling party in Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, led by Robert Mugabe, first as Prime Minister with the party simply known as ZANU, and then as President from 1988 after taking over ZAPU and renaming the party ZANU... Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe KCB (born February 21, 1924) has been the head of government in Zimbabwe, first as Prime Minister and later as first executive President, since 1980. ... Simon Vengai Muzenda (October 28, 1922 – September 20, 2003) was a Shona from the Karanga group, a Zimbabwean politician who served as a deputy prime minister and vice president under president Robert Mugabe, a Shona Zezeru. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Solomon Mujuru, also known as Rex Nhongo, the leader of Robert Mugabes guerrilla forces during the independence war. ...

Mujuru was born in Zimbabwe's northeastern district of Mt. Darwin, a Shona from the Zezeru language group. (Many Zanu-PF party leaders, including Mugabe and Msika, are also from this area.) After completing two years of secondary education, she decided to join Zimbabwe's war of liberation. She downed a helicopter with a machine gun on February 17, 1974 after refusing to flee. Shona (IPA: ) is the name collectively given to several groups of people in Zimbabwe and western Mozambique. ... February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1974 calendar). ...

"Incredibly, I hit the machine and there was a lot of black smoke and it crashed. A big explosion followed," she was quoted as saying of the incident in which all the occupants of the helicopter perished.

She took the nom-du-guerre Teurai Ropa (spill blood), and then rose to become one of the first women commanders in Mugabe's ZANLA forces. In 1977 she married Solomon Mujuru, known then as Rex Nhongo, deputy commander-in-chief of ZANLA. ZANLA or the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army was the armed wing of the Zimbabwean political movement ZANU (the Zimbabwe African National Union) and participated in the Second Chimurenga against white minority rule in Rhodesia. ... Solomon Mujuru, also known as Rex Nhongo, the leader of Robert Mugabes guerrilla forces during the independence war. ...

The Mujurus now live on a 3,500-acre requisitioned farm, Alamein, 45 miles south of Harare, which has been found by the Supreme Court in Zimbabwe to have been illegally requisitioned from the farm owner. [2]

Government career

At independence in 1980, Mujuru became the youngest cabinet minister in Mugabe's cabinet, taking the portfolio of sports, youth and recreation. She fitted secondary school in between her busy schedule after she was appointed minister. 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... A Cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of government, typically representing the executive branch. ...

As minister of telecommunications, she tried to stop Strive Masiyiwa from establishing his independent cellphone network Econet [3]. Masiyiwa had been given an ultimatum by the cabinet to sell his imported equipment to his rivals. On March 24, 1997, Mujuru decided to issue Zimbabwe's second cellular telephone license to the previously unknown Zairois consortium Telecel [4], cutting out Masiyiwa. The Zairois consortium included her husband Solomon and President Robert Mugabe's nephew Leo. After many legal fights, Masiyiwa won his licence in December 1997, while Telecel's was cancelled. Strive Masiyiwa is a Zimbabwean businessman and cellphone pioneer, founding Econet Wireless. ... March 24 is the 83rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (84th in Leap years). ... 1997 (MCMXCVII in Roman) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 1998, Mujuru was named among senior officials who looted the Zimbabwe War Victims Compensation Fund. 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

Vice-presidency

The ruling party women’s league, resolved at its annual conference held in September 2004 to put forward a female candidate for the party’s vice-presidency, a position left vacant following the death of Simon Muzenda. It has been designated the: International Year of Rice (by the United Nations) International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO) 2004 World Health Day topic was Road Safety (by World Health Organization) Year of the Monkey (by the Chinese calendar) See the world in... Simon Vengai Muzenda (October 28, 1922 – September 20, 2003) was a Shona from the Karanga group, a Zimbabwean politician who served as a deputy prime minister and vice president under president Robert Mugabe, a Shona Zezeru. ...

Mugabe bowed to pressure from a ZANU-PF faction led by Mujuru's husband, General Solomon Mujuru, to give a woman the second vice-presidency post -- effectively sidelining speaker of parliament Emerson Mnangagwa, widely seen as his favoured heir. This Zanu-PF reshuffle was dubbed “the night of the long knives” by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. [5]

External links

• http://www.sundaytribune.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=2367172
• http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1388612,00.html
• http://www.btimes.co.za/98/1018/world/world03.htm
• http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=13267
• http://www.chico.mweb.co.za/mg/za1/24mar-news.html
• http://www.mujuru.com/