Bernard Chidzero
Encyclopedia
Bernard Thomas Gibson Chidzero (1 July 1927 - 8 August 2002) was a Zimbabwean economist, politician, and writer. He served as the independent Zimbabwe's second finance minister.
an, James Kangolwa Imfa Idzalero, was originally from Ntchisi, in Malawi who walked to Rhodesia, in 1913, stopping over on tea estates in Southern Malawi as well as perform menial labor on the Beira-Dondo railway line. His mother Agnes Munhumumwe was from the Shona
.
Bernard Chidzero was raised in the Seke area of Chitungwiza
. He was schooled at primary school in Seke and then at Kutama College
(a prestigious Roman Catholic high school), where he played in the school band alongside fellow pupil Robert Mugabe
. Chidzero converted to Catholicism while at Kutama. He then attended St. Francis College in Mariannhill
in South Africa
.
Chidzero obtained a degree in psychology
from Pius XII Catholic University College in Lesotho
, an MA in political science
from the University of Ottawa
, and in 1958 a Ph.D in political science from McGill University
in Montreal, where he married a French-Canadian woman.
He then undertook two years post-graduate study at Nuffield College, Oxford
. Early on Chidzero became interested in African politics and as a Pan Africanist he became friends, in the London African circuit, with giants like Jomo Kenyatta
, Kwame Nkrumah
, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, Tseretse Khama and others.
novel Nzvengamutsvairo (the name has been translated from Shona
as "Mr Lazy-Bones" or "Broom-Dodger") which detailed the condition of workers on Rhodesian farms and set out his vision of an integrated, racially-tolerant society.
Armed with a grant from the Ford Foundation
, Chidzero returned to Rhodesia in 1960, intending to teach at the University of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
; his offer to work there was withdrawn when the segregated university discovered the interracial nature of Chidzero's marriage.
Chidzero joined the United Nations
in 1960. He began in the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
as an economic affairs officer in Addis Ababa
and from 1963 to 1968 as an assistant to the UN Technical Assistance Board in Kenya
. From 1968 to 1980 Chidzero worked for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD): from 1968 to 1977 he was the Director of Commodities and between 1977 and 1980 he served as UNCTAD's Deputy Secretary General
After the 1965 Unilateral Declaration of Independence by Ian Smith
, Chidzero played a role in the early liberation struggle negotiations for Zimbabwe. He was part of the advisory team when Joshua Nkomo
leader of Zimbabwe African People's Party visited London. The collapse of those talks, resulting in the split of ZAPU and Zimbabwe African National Union
, ZANU also marked a watershed in Chidzero's political allegiances. Increasingly, he teamed up with his former school- and band-mate Mugabe
.
Aware of an impending war of liberation in Zimbabwe, in 1970, Chidzero bought a farm in Malawi and moved his father and kinsfolk out of Rhodesia. And on 21st December, 1972 the first armed attack on a Rhodesian white settler took place in Centenary, Zambezi River escarpment . Meanwhile, during a visit to Malawi in 1972, Chidzero made overtures to his Pan African 'brother' and 'friend' Hastings Kamuzu Banda to settle in Malawi when his United Nations tenure would expire. Hastings Kamuzu Banda's response was an unequivocal refusal. Still, the farm in Malawi continued to serve, with the Malawi Government turning a blind eye, as an active Zimbabwean cell and staging point for many recruits heading for Morogoro training bases, in Tanzania.
Following the Lancaster House Agreement
Chidzero returned to Zimbabwe and, in 1980, he became the Minister of Economic Planning and Development. In the 1985 election he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Harare
, representing ZANU-PF. Following the election he was promoted to be the Minister of Finance, succeeding Tichaendepi Masaya.
He was Chairman of the Development Committee of the World Bank from 1986 to 1990. He was a member of the World Commission on Environment and Development
. Back home he designed and implemented the Zimbabwean version of the Structural Adjustment Programme; in the process earning himself the wrath of certain ZANU-PF stalwarts who considered his economic programs ill-timed and denying them access to 'rewards of their war effort'.
In 1990, aware of the disaster that the Zimbabwean economy was headed for and vilified and accused for SAP's 'failures' by those within the ruling party, a frustrated Chidzero ran for election to the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations. Chidzero was supported by the United Kingdom
and many Commonwealth
countries, but was defeated by Boutros Boutros-Ghali
.
Chidzero's health began to fail in 1993 and he stepped down as finance minister in 1995. Bernard Chidzero died in the Avenues Clinic in Harare in 2002. He is buried in the Heroes Acre
in Harare.
Early life and education
Bernard Thomas Gibson Chidzero was the eldest of seven children. His father, a MalawiMalawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
an, James Kangolwa Imfa Idzalero, was originally from Ntchisi, in Malawi who walked to Rhodesia, in 1913, stopping over on tea estates in Southern Malawi as well as perform menial labor on the Beira-Dondo railway line. His mother Agnes Munhumumwe was from the Shona
Shona people
Shona is the name collectively given to two groups of people in the east and southwest of Zimbabwe, north eastern Botswana and southern Mozambique.-Shona Regional Classification:...
.
Bernard Chidzero was raised in the Seke area of Chitungwiza
Chitungwiza
Chitungwiza — known colloquially as Chi Town — is a high-density dormitory town in Zimbabwe. The town is approximately 30 kilometres south of the capital, Harare. It was formed in 1978 from three townships: Seke, Zengeza, and St Marys.- Background :...
. He was schooled at primary school in Seke and then at Kutama College
Kutama College
Kutama College , is an all-boys high school located near the town of Norton in the Zvimba area, 80 kilometres southwest of the Zimbabwean capital Harare...
(a prestigious Roman Catholic high school), where he played in the school band alongside fellow pupil Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
. Chidzero converted to Catholicism while at Kutama. He then attended St. Francis College in Mariannhill
Mariannhill
Mariannhill is a little suburb near Pinetown in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa....
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
Chidzero obtained a degree in psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
from Pius XII Catholic University College in Lesotho
Lesotho
Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...
, an MA in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
from the University of Ottawa
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
, and in 1958 a Ph.D in political science from McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
in Montreal, where he married a French-Canadian woman.
He then undertook two years post-graduate study at Nuffield College, Oxford
Nuffield College, Oxford
Nuffield College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is an all-graduate college and primarily a research establishment, specialising in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. It is a research centre in the social sciences...
. Early on Chidzero became interested in African politics and as a Pan Africanist he became friends, in the London African circuit, with giants like Jomo Kenyatta
Jomo Kenyatta
Jomo Kenyattapron.] served as the first Prime Minister and President of Kenya. He is considered the founding father of the Kenyan nation....
, Kwame Nkrumah
Kwame Nkrumah
Kwame Nkrumah was the leader of Ghana and its predecessor state, the Gold Coast, from 1952 to 1966. Overseeing the nation's independence from British colonial rule in 1957, Nkrumah was the first President of Ghana and the first Prime Minister of Ghana...
, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, Tseretse Khama and others.
Career
In 1957 Chidzero published a ShonaShona
Shona may refer to:*Shona people, a Southern African people*Shona language, a Bantu language spoken By Shona people*Eilean Shona, a Scottish island*Shona...
novel Nzvengamutsvairo (the name has been translated from Shona
Shona language
Shona is a Bantu language, native to the Shona people of Zimbabwe and southern Zambia; the term is also used to identify peoples who speak one of the Shona language dialects: Zezuru, Karanga, Manyika, Ndau and Korekore...
as "Mr Lazy-Bones" or "Broom-Dodger") which detailed the condition of workers on Rhodesian farms and set out his vision of an integrated, racially-tolerant society.
Armed with a grant from the Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
, Chidzero returned to Rhodesia in 1960, intending to teach at the University of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
University of Zimbabwe
The University of Zimbabwe in Harare, is the oldest and largest university in Zimbabwe. It was founded through a special relationship with the University of London and it opened its doors to its first students in 1952. The university has ten faculties offering a wide variety of degree programmes...
; his offer to work there was withdrawn when the segregated university discovered the interracial nature of Chidzero's marriage.
Chidzero joined the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
in 1960. He began in the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa was established in 1958 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council to encourage economic cooperation among its member states following a recommendation of the United Nations General Assembly.It is one of five regional commissions.The ECA...
as an economic affairs officer in Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
and from 1963 to 1968 as an assistant to the UN Technical Assistance Board in Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. From 1968 to 1980 Chidzero worked for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development was established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body. It is the principal organ of the United Nations General Assembly dealing with trade, investment, and development issues....
(UNCTAD): from 1968 to 1977 he was the Director of Commodities and between 1977 and 1980 he served as UNCTAD's Deputy Secretary General
After the 1965 Unilateral Declaration of Independence by Ian Smith
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith GCLM ID was a politician active in the government of Southern Rhodesia, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1948 to 1987, most notably serving as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 1 June 1979...
, Chidzero played a role in the early liberation struggle negotiations for Zimbabwe. He was part of the advisory team when Joshua Nkomo
Joshua Nkomo
Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo was the leader and founder of the Zimbabwe African People's Union and a member of the Kalanga tribe...
leader of Zimbabwe African People's Party visited London. The collapse of those talks, resulting in the split of ZAPU and Zimbabwe African National Union
Zimbabwe African National Union
The Zimbabwe African National Union was a militant organization that fought against the standing government in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union...
, ZANU also marked a watershed in Chidzero's political allegiances. Increasingly, he teamed up with his former school- and band-mate Mugabe
Mugabe
Mugabe can refer to:*Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe.*Sally Mugabe, first wife of Robert Mugabe.*Grace Mugabe, second wife of Robert Mugabe.*Omugabe , a title given to kings of Ankole of Uganda.*Mugabe Were, a Kenyan politician....
.
Aware of an impending war of liberation in Zimbabwe, in 1970, Chidzero bought a farm in Malawi and moved his father and kinsfolk out of Rhodesia. And on 21st December, 1972 the first armed attack on a Rhodesian white settler took place in Centenary, Zambezi River escarpment . Meanwhile, during a visit to Malawi in 1972, Chidzero made overtures to his Pan African 'brother' and 'friend' Hastings Kamuzu Banda to settle in Malawi when his United Nations tenure would expire. Hastings Kamuzu Banda's response was an unequivocal refusal. Still, the farm in Malawi continued to serve, with the Malawi Government turning a blind eye, as an active Zimbabwean cell and staging point for many recruits heading for Morogoro training bases, in Tanzania.
Following the Lancaster House Agreement
Lancaster House Agreement
The negotiations which led to the Lancaster House Agreement brought independence to Rhodesia following Ian Smith’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965. The Agreement covered the Independence Constitution, pre-independence arrangements, and a ceasefire...
Chidzero returned to Zimbabwe and, in 1980, he became the Minister of Economic Planning and Development. In the 1985 election he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Harare
Harare
Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
, representing ZANU-PF. Following the election he was promoted to be the Minister of Finance, succeeding Tichaendepi Masaya.
He was Chairman of the Development Committee of the World Bank from 1986 to 1990. He was a member of the World Commission on Environment and Development
Brundtland Commission
The Brundtland Commission, formally the World Commission on Environment and Development , known by the name of its Chair Gro Harlem Brundtland, was convened by the United Nations in 1983...
. Back home he designed and implemented the Zimbabwean version of the Structural Adjustment Programme; in the process earning himself the wrath of certain ZANU-PF stalwarts who considered his economic programs ill-timed and denying them access to 'rewards of their war effort'.
In 1990, aware of the disaster that the Zimbabwean economy was headed for and vilified and accused for SAP's 'failures' by those within the ruling party, a frustrated Chidzero ran for election to the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations. Chidzero was supported by the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and many Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
countries, but was defeated by Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Boutros Boutros-Ghali is an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1992 to December 1996...
.
Chidzero's health began to fail in 1993 and he stepped down as finance minister in 1995. Bernard Chidzero died in the Avenues Clinic in Harare in 2002. He is buried in the Heroes Acre
National Heroes Acre (Zimbabwe)
National Heroes Acre or simply Heroes Acre is a burial ground and national monument in Harare, Zimbabwe. The site is situated on a ridge seven kilometres from Harare along the main Harare-Bulawayo Road. The shrine is a national monument of Zimbabwe...
in Harare.