Thokozani Khuphe

The Right Honourable Thokozani Khuphe MP now Senator
Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe
In office 11 February 2009 – August 2013 Serving with Arthur Mutambara
President	Robert Mugabe
Prime Minister	Morgan Tsvangirai
Vice-President of the Movement for Democratic Change
Incumbent
Assumed office November 2005
President	Morgan Tsvangirai
Preceded by	Position established
Member of Parliament for
Incumbent
Assumed office March 2000
Preceded by	Sithembiso Nyoni
Majority	8,450 (50.8%)
Secretary for Transport of the Movement for Democratic Change
In office 2000–2005
President	Morgan Tsvangirai
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Paurina Mpariwa
Personal details
Born	(1963-11-18) 18 November 1963 Makokoba, Southern Rhodesia
Political party	Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai
Residence(s)	Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Profession	Trade unionist
Website	www.mdc.co.zw

Thokozani Khuphe (born 18 November 1963) is a Zimbabwean politician and the Vice-President of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). She was Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 11 February 2009 to August 2013. She is a senior Member of Parliament for Makokoba constituency.

In 2005 she was elected Vice-President of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) taking over from veteran trade unionist Gibson Sibanda. She is a third term Member of Parliament for Makokoba constituency.

Born in Bulawayo, Khupe graduated from Turin College, Italy in Information Technology and also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies.

Trade union politics

She served in the Zimbabwe Amalgamated Railway Union (ZARU) in 1987. In 1991 she was elected Secretary for the ZCTU Women's Advisory Council and also a General Council member of the ZCTU. In 1999 she participated in the formation of the Movement for Democratic Change party, in which she was elected as a National Executive member responsible for Transport, Logistics and Welfare. In June 2000, she was elected as the Member of Parliament for Makokoba Constituency in Bulawayo.

Parliamentary career

She was a member of the Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee; and on Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation Committee and was elected Vice Chairperson of the Women's Parliamentary Caucus. She is the Parliamentary Deputy Chief Whip of the MDC Party. She sits in the Standing Rules and Orders Committee. She retained the constituency in the March 2005 parliamentary election. She is in the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee of Defense, Home Affairs and National Security and that of Budget, Finance and Economic Development.

In the March 2008 parliamentary election, Khuphe ran for re-election in Makokoba constituency as the candidate of the MDC-Tsvangirai faction, defeating Welshman Ncube, the Secretary-General of the MDC-Mutambara faction. She received 4,123 votes against 2,475 votes for Ncube.

She is a member of the African Parliamentary Network against Corruption.

Electoral history

General Election 2008: Makokoba

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	MDC–T	Thokozani Khupe	4,123	50.8	−25.0
	MDC-M	Welshman Ncube	2,475	37.7	+37.7
	ZANU–PF	Tshinga Judge Dube	2,002	12.5	−11.1
Majority			1,648	10.2	−26.2
Turnout			16,100
	MDC–T hold		Swing

General Election 2005: Makokoba

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	MDC	Thokozani Khupe	12,120	75.8	−8.9
	ZANU–PF	Sihle Thebe	3,777	23.6	+10.6
	Independent	Charles Mpofu	84	0.5	N/A
Majority			8,343	52.2	−19.5
Turnout			15,981	36.4	+0.6
	MDC hold		Swing

General Election 2000: Makokoba

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	MDC	Thokozani Khuphe	20,781	84.7	N/A
	ZANU–PF	Sithembiso Nyoni	3,193	13.0	−51.6
	Independent	Others	552	2.2	N/A
Majority			17,588	71.7
Turnout			24,526	35.8
	MDC gain from ZANU–PF		Swing

External links

• Official website
• The official site is http://www.mdc.co.zw, but it may harm visitors' computers with trojan software.[1]