Simon Vengai Muzenda (28 October 1922 – 20 September 2003) was a Zimbabwean politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1980 to 1987 and as Vice-President of Zimbabwe from 1987 to 2003 under President Robert Mugabe. Early life and education Muzenda was born in October 1922 in Gutu District of the Victoria Province of Southern Rhodesia as a son of peasant farmers; Theresa Muchapedzei Chekasi and Muzenda Chekesai Murefu. Muzenda was brought up by his grandmother Mbuya Maweni, who ensured his regular attendance for his primary education at Nyamandi Primary School. Life and career A relatively bright child, he was sent for teacher training after spending his teenage years herding in Makonese Village under Chief Nyamandi, and, following the advice of his tutor, travelled to the Marianhill mission in Natal, South Africa, where he showed proficiency in carpentry. Between completing his carpentry course and furthering his studies, Muzenda became aware of politics during contacts with fellow students, which included several men prominent in black activism South Africa and Rhodesia; after his return to Rhodesia in 1950, he worked in a furniture factory in Bulawayo and became involved with Benjamin Burombo, an activist who was among the earliest to challenge discriminatory laws. After marrying his wife Maud, a nurse, Muzenda moved to the Midlands town of Mvuma in 1955 and started his own carpentry business; he also stayed active in political activism and eventually become administrative secretary of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), attracting the attention of Rhodesian security forces and being imprisoned in Salisbury Central Prison for two years, which he described as a "place of study" later in his life, as it gave him and his fellow inmates the opportunity to complete their educations. In 1964, he was arrested again, this time for possession of a pistol after having been elected deputy organising secretary of ZANU; at this time, Muzenda had become convinced that the only way to overthrow white colonial dominance was an armed revolution, and began organising young blacks to receive military training in other African countries, in the Soviet Union and in China. He was soon imprisoned again and remained in jail until being released under the Anglo-Rhodesia agreement in 1971. Following his release, Simon Muzenda went into exile in Zambia, and later in Mozambique. Failing to draw Joshua Nkomo and his ZAPU movement into a unified political front, he backed Robert Mugabe, who