Fast facts about our V.P Khupe. She is a holder of a degree in Information Technology from Turin College in Italy. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies. Contrary to widely-held belief, Khupe is extremely popular in the MDC. Khupe has deep roots in the trade union movement. She served in the Zimbabwe Amalgamated Railway Union (Zaru) from the 80s, where she cut her teeth in trade union politics in 1987. In 1991 she was elected secretary for the ZCTU Women’s Advisory Council and also a General Council member of the ZCTU. Khupe, 49, a single mother of three — twins aged 28 and a teen daughter aged 18 — is known for her plain-spoken approach and penchant for speaking from the cuff, and she has taken the traditional vice presidential candidate’s role of political attack dog with amazing gusto. She is a loyal deputy to Tsvangirai and has wormed her way into the hearts of MDC supporters because of the powerful personal story she shares, for her deep knowledge of women affairs, and for her long record of exemplary service in the trade union movement. In October of 2010, she was elected president for the United Nations Aids/Global Women Power Network for Africa — an arm of the powerful world body responsible for creating a new and sustainable network of female legislators and ministers from Africa to fight HIV/Aids and implement the agenda for accelerated country action at national and regional levels. A leader in the 8th Zimbabwe House of Assembly, she cuts a figure of a proud person to those who do not know her. But she is in fact a very decent, caring and humble mother. Khupe’s overwhelming endorsement with little effort that left her challengers languishing way down in the polls, was an endorsement that really matters. Although politicians cultivate and covet such endorsements for their value as publicity and evidence of momentum, Khupe’s actual power is real. She did not need to do hours of blabber to win casual uncommitted voters. Critics say she owes her position to gender and her tribe. Like Zanu PF, the MDC has maintained a delicate tribal balancing act in its presidium, ensuring the vice president is Ndebele. But besides this requirement, Khupe is actually very popular if the last MDC congress is anything to go by.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 19:09:05 +0000
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