The Speaker of the National Assembly is the presiding officer of the National Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Zimbabwe. The office has its roots in the colonial period, when the first Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Southern Rhodesia was elected in 1924 following the grant of responsible government. The role continued through the Rhodesia and Zimbabwe-Rhodesia periods and was retained in the Parliament of Zimbabwe after independence in 1980.

A Speaker is elected by secret ballot at the first sitting of the National Assembly after a general election (and whenever a vacancy arises). The election is supervised by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission in accordance with the Standing Orders. Although Speakers have generally been drawn from the majority party, the office is expected to be exercised with impartiality. Upon election, the Speaker is required to resign any party positions and to act independently when presiding. The Speaker remains a member of the National Assembly but ceases to represent a constituency and does not participate in debates except to exercise a casting vote in the event of a tie.

The incumbent Speaker is Jacob Mudenda, who was first elected on 22 August 2013 and has been re-elected in subsequent parliaments.

List of speakers Southern Rhodesia (1923–1964) and Rhodesia (1964–1965) PortraitSpeakerTenureTerm(s)PartyNotes130 May 1924 – 11 March 19351st, 2nd, 3rd, 4thRhodesia Party 1United Party 211 March 1935 – 18 March 19524th, 5th, 6th, 7thUnited Party3Sir Tom Ian Findlay Wilson18 March 1952 – 13 April 19547th, 8thUnited Party4William Addison13 April 1954 – 30 June 19598th, 9thUnited Party530 June 1959 – 28 July 19649th, 10th?628 July 1964 – 196510th, 11thRhodesian Front

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (1953–1963) PortraitSpeakerTenureTerm(s)PartyNotes1Sir Tom Ian Findlay Wilson1953 – 19601st, 2ndFederal PartyUnited Federal Party21960 – 19632nd, 3rdUnited Federal Party

Rhodesia (1965–1979) House of Assembly was unicameral legislature from 1965 to 1970, and the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Rhodesia from 1970 to 1979.

PortraitSpeakerTenurePartyNotes 1Albert Rubidge Washington Stumbles1965 – 31 December 1972Rhodesian Front 2George Holland Hartley27 March 1973 – 1979Rhodesian Front

Zimbabwe Rhodesia (1979) and Southern Rhodesia (1979–1980) PortraitSpeakerTenurePartyNotes 1John Moses Chirimbani8–25 May 1979United African National Council 2John Zwenhamo Ruredzo25 May 1979 – 1979United African National Council

Zimbabwe (1980–present) PortraitSpeakerTenureParliament(s)Party 1 – 19901st, 2ndZANU ZANU–PF 2 – 19953rdZANU–PF 3 14 April 1995 – 20004thZANU–PF 4 – 20055thZANU–PF 5 – 5 March 20086thZANU–PF 6 – 28 June 20137thMDC–T 7 – Incumbent8th, 9th, 10thZANU–PF

Deputy Speakers PortraitDeputy SpeakerTenureParliament(s)Party 1Tsitsi Gezi2018 – Incumbent 9th, 10thZANU–PF

See also Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly National Assembly of Zimbabwe

References