Zimbabwe: Wilson Khumbula

Updated February 2002

Wilson Khumbula of Zanu Ndonga is MP for Chipinge South. He is the only MP elected in the 2000 parliamentary elections not representing Zanu PF or the MDC.

He seems for all intents and purposes to be a survivor. In August of 2001 his position within the party was hotly disputed by colleagues. Whatever the actual cause of the dispute, Khumbula retained his leadership and blamed the MDC for all the internal feuding. His claim was that the MDC was attempting to "destroy and swallow" Zanu Ndonga.

Khumbula's opinions of Zanu PF are no more flattering. He once announced in parliament that "current Zanu PF leadership" was responsible for the deaths of its own field commanders. The implication being that questionable tactics have been used within Zanu PF throughout its history. Khumbula's promotion of his own party is interesting. He employs language that has almost biblical allusions. He referred to Zanu Ndonga's founder, Ndabaningi Sithole as "too Christian, he looked after puppies with milk".