Byron Hove Explained

Byron Reuben Mtonhodzi Hove (1940-1999) was a Zimbabwean politician who served as justice minister in Zimbabwe Rhodesia with Hilary Squires as co-minister, and subsequently in the post-independence Parliament of Zimbabwe. He supported and participated in Prime Minister Ian Smith's Internal Settlement.^[1] He later served as ZANU-PF MP for Gokwe^[2] until April 1986 when he lost his position for misdemeanors.^[3]

On April 18, 1978, he was unexpectedly fired after he criticized the government for excluding blacks from high-level jobs.^[4]

In 1980 Hove was thrown out of Parliament after he openly criticized the Mugabe administration for corruption, saying, "there are two laws – one for the leaders and one for the people."^[5]

Notes and References

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20071001014929/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,948148,00.html "A Black is Fired"
2. Mangwana, Nick (July 3, 2018). "Compassionate ED soft as wool". The Herald: Zimbabwe.
3. Kalley, Jacqueline Audrey; Schoeman, Elna & Andor, L. E. (1999). Southern African Political History: A Chronological of Key Political Events from Independence to Mid-1997. Page 736.
4. https://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/29/archives/black-justice-minister-dismissed-by-rhodesias-transition-regime.html "Black Justice Minister Dismissed By Rhodesia's Transition Regime; 'Sure to Be Disastrous' Windfall for Guerrillas Rhodesia Dismisses Black Justice Chief"
5. Mwangi, Evan (July 21 2002). "In the mind of a visionary who turned into an autocrat". Lifestyle. Archived from the original on 5 August 2002.