Joana Mamombe

Joana Ruvimbo Mamombe (born 18 June 1993) is a Zimbawean politician, former student leader and a member of Movement for Democratic Change Alliance. She is known to be one of the youngest Zimbawean members of parliament, representing Harare West.[1][2][3]

Early years and education

Mamombe was born in Harare on June 18, 1993. She had her secondary education at Monte Cassino Girls High School where she graduated in 2011. She proceeded to Chinhoyi University of Technology and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Biotechnology. While at the university, she served as Gender Officer for the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU). After graduating from Chinhoyi University of Technology , she furthered at University of Bergen in Norway where she attained a Masters Degree in Molecular Biology.[1][2][4]

Career

Mamombe joined politics after completing her studies in Norway and returning to Zimbabwe in 2018. In that same year, she was elected as the member of parliament representing Harare West under the ticket of the MDC Alliance. After the elections which was held on July 30 2018, she was sworn into office.[1]

Arrest, treason allegation and abduction

On 2 March 2019, she was arrested and charged with treason. It was alleged that she was attempting to overthrow a constitutional elected government led by president Emmerson Mnangagwa, after she led a protest on 14 January 2018.[5][4][3][6][7]

On 13 May 2020 she and two other women, MDC activists Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova, were abducted by masked assailants at a Harare protest against the government's failure to provide for the poor during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two days later, the women were found, badly injured and traumatised, by the side of the road sixty miles from Harare. They reported having been tortured and repeatedly sexually assaulted.[8]

References
  1. Ebatamehi, Sebastiane. "Meet Joana Mamombe, the 25 Year Old Zimbabwean MP | The African Exponent". The African Exponent. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
  2. Clarke, Sheilan. "Young people can be leaders too | My Vote Counts". Retrieved 2019-12-13.
  3. "Joana Mamombe". www.giraffe.org. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
  4. Thornycroft, Peta. "ZIMBABWE CRACKDOWN: Opposition woman MP on treason charge as Zimbabwe hits Mugabe replay button". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
  5. "MDC MP Joana Mamombe arrested, charged with treason". NewZimbabwe.com. 2019-03-02. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
  6. Manayiti, Obey (2019-03-04). "Zimbabwe: Joana Mamombe Arrested". allAfrica.com. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
  7. "MDC Harare West MP charged with treason". Zimbabwe Situation. 2019-03-05. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
  8. Jason Burke and Nyasha Chingono, Zimbabwean MDC activists 'abducted and sexually assaulted', The Guardian, 17 May 2020. Accessed 30 May 2020.
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