On this day African Nationalist, Simon Muzenda was born in Gutu, Zimbabwe. His parents were peasant farmers, but he was then raised by his grandmother. Muzenda started his primary education at the age of 14 and later studied to become a school teacher. He at some point worked in South Africa and came back to Zimbabwe when worked as a clerk at a plywood factory. He met people of influence like Benjamin Burombo who influenced him to take part in politics and he played a huge role in the liberation struggle.
On this day the late Zimbabwean politician Simon Muzenda died at the age of 80.
On this day in 1955, politician Joice Mujuru (born Runaida Mugari) was born in Mt Darwin in Zimbabwe. Mujuru joined the Rhodesian Bush War as a teenager and was nicknamed “Teurai Ropa” because of her war tactics. In 1977, she got married to the late Solomon Mujuru. Post independance she was appointed Minister of Sports, Youth and Recreation. Following the death Simon Muzenda who was then Vice-president in 2004, Mujuru became his successor. In 2014, after being accused of plotting against then President Robert Mugabe, she was dismissed as vice-president and ousted from the ZANU-PF party the following year. She went on and formed another political party called Zimbabwe People First.