George Chiweshe

Who is George Chiweshe?

Retired Brigadier General George Mutandwa Chiweshe is the Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. He was born in the Mazowe district of Mashonaland Central, just northeast of Harare. Chiweshe attended Tendayi Primary School in 1961 and subsequently Fletcher Secondary School in 1969. Chiweshe obtained his law degree at the University of Zimbabwe in 1988.

Chiweshe joined ZANLA in 1975 after fleeing from the then University of Rhodesia as a law student. He trained in Mozambique. Chiweshe deputised the present Zimbabwe National Army General Constantine Chiwenga; and commanded to the likes of the late Zimbabwean hero Brigadier General Charles Tigwe Gumbo. His nom de guerre was "Yasser Arafat." Chiweshe rose through the ranks to political commissar. After independence, Chiweshe joined the Ministry of Justice as a prosecutor in 1980 and became a magistrate three years later. He later joined the Zimbabwe National Army in April 1983 as a major and rose through the ranks from Major to Brigadier General in 1996. Chiweshe retired from the army in April 2001 after being appointed to the bench by President Robert Gabriel Mugabe.

In September 2004 Chiweshe was appointed Chairman of the Delimitation Commission of Zimbabwe by Mugabe, a move that was criticised by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change as a ploy by ZANU PF to rig the March 2005 parliamentary elections. In January 2005, Chiweshe was appointed Chairman of the new Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, where he presently serves.