General Solomon Mujuru (Rex Nhongo)

Former military general

Date of Birth: 01/05/1949
Died: 15/08/2011

Career: Zimbabwe African People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA), 1960s; Zimbabwe National Liberation Army (ZANLA), 1971; acting commander-in-chief of ZANLA, 1975; Joint leader of Zimbabwe People’ Army (ZIPA) a united force of ZIPRA and ZANLA, 1976; Deputy Secretary of Defence for Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), 1977; Commander, Zimbabwe National Army, 1981; promoted to full General 1992; Member of Parliament for Chikomba, 1994-2000.

Solomon Mujuru rose to prominence under the nom de guerre Rex Nhongo during the 1970s war of independence when he was director of Robert Mugabe's guerrilla forces. After independence in 1980 he became army chief and a general.

A politician and a businessman, he was known as a 'kingmaker', and is said to have been instrumental in Mugabe's success. His wife, Joice Mujuru, is one of Zimbabwe's vice-presidents.

General Mujuru died in a fire at his farmhouse in Beatrice, about 80 kilometres south of Harare, on 15 August 2011.

AC Vol 52 No 17, The kingmaker general dies at Alamein & The police fail to protect

BBC, 16 August 2011
Solomon Mujuru: Obituary of a Zimbabwean 'king-maker'
"He had all the mystique of a liberation war hero that has served him to present-day politics," Patrick Smith, editor of the London-based Africa Confidential magazine, told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.