Ziyambi Ziyambi

Career as a Biomedical scientist 

Mr Ziyambi is a biomedical scientist by profession. He worked for the Public Health Laboratories (PHL) for fifteen years and was head of Immunology and HIV Laboratory. He was instrumental in the formulation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in Zimbabwe. He set up most of the HIV testing facilities at provincial hospitals in Zimbabwe. He left PHL for Population Services International (PSI) to set up New Start Voluntary Counselling Testing and Centres (VCT) laboratories in 2001. He spearheaded the the use of Rapid HIV testing in Zimbabwe. Ziyambi worked for PSI first as the laboratory manager and then he was appointed VCT manager responsible for the overall management of VCT. He then left PSI to form Zundine in 2005. Mr Ziyambi has worked with most of the managers of clinical diagnostic laboratories in Zimbabwe and is well known and respected for his immense contributions especially in the field of HIV testing and monitoring.

Political Career

Ziyambi’s political career took centre stage when he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Zvimba West Constituency in the 2013 elections. He would be appointed as the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs thereafter in September 2013.
During the height of the ZANU PF factional wars, Ziyambi was elevated to the post of Acting Provincial Chair for Mashonaland West, from Deputy Chairperson, after the ‘vote of no confidence’ had been passed on Themba Mliswa. He would be subsequently removed from the Provincial Chairman’s position in mid-July 2015 following accusations of dishonesty and failure to plan for the election of a substantive committee.

It was rumoured that the removal of Ziyambi was also making way for Philip Chiyangwa but he would eventually be replaced by his deputy Keith Guzah in an acting capacity.
During his tenure as Deputy of Home Affairs, he was involved in several initiatives, chief among them being to reform the force which had come under criticism for allegedly harassing motorists. He also maintained that the ministry did not sanction the throwing of spikes by members of the force.

Translated constitution into 16 official languages

In Dec 2017, Ziyambi signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC) to translate the national Constitution into all 16 official languages.

“Government is obligated in terms of Section 7 of the Constitution to promote public awareness of the Constitution by, inter alia, translating it into all officially recognised languages and disseminating as widely as possible.

“It is in accordance with this constitutional directive that government has embarked on a number of programmes and projects to ensure that the majority of our citizens are aware of the provisions of our Constitution,” said Ziyambi.

Leader of Gornment Business

In 2017 President Emmerson Mnangagwa appointed Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Cde Ziyambi Ziyambi as the leader of government business in parliament.

Personal Life

Ziyambi  is married to Florence Ziyambi, the current Deputy Prosecutor-General (DPG). He is brother to Amon Philip Ziyambi, Zimbabwe’s first black train driver