Nyasha Chikwinya

Who is Nyasha Chikwinya?

Nyasha Chikwinya is a Zimbabwean politician with the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front. She was elected to the House of Assembly in 1995, representing the Harare North constituency, but lost her seat in the 2000 elections, coming in second with just 4,852 votes, compared to 18,976 for Trudy Stevenson of the Movement for Democratic Change. In 2002, she led the only all-women's delegation to the All Africa Trade Fair in Cairo, Egypt, during which stone carvers, stone sculptors, weavers, and producers of batik fabrics brought product samples from Zimbabwe. She expressed enthusiasm for intra-African trade, but bemoaned the high duties imposed by Egyptian customs. In 2004, she was charged with public violence after allegedly having incited 12 youths to assault Charles Mpofu, a member of the Zimbabwe National Army, with whom she was having a dispute over the management of a housing co-operative; the youths assaulted Mpofu's wife and damaged $5.1 million of property. Her attempt in the 2005 elections to regain her seat representing the Harare North constituency was a failure, garnering only 5,134 votes to 11,262 for incumbent Stevenson. However, as of 2005, she remained head of Zanu-PF's women's league.