Mnangagwa, Emmerson Dambudzo, 1942?–, Zimbabwean political leader. A guerrilla leader during the struggle against white-minority rule, he received military training in China and was imprisoned (1965–75) by the Rhodesian government. A lawyer and member of the ruling ZANU-PF party, he served under President Robert Mugabe in numerous posts. He was state security minister (1980–88) during the Matabeleland massacre, in which of thousands of Ndebele who supported Mugabe's rival, Joshua Nkomo, were killed, and then was justice minister (1989–2000, 2013–17), acting finance minister (1995–96), parliament speaker (2000–2005), rural housing minister (2005–9), and defense minister (2009–13). He also managed Mugabe's 2008 election campaign, during which Morgan Tsvangirai, Mugabe's main challenger, withdrew as a result of irregularities and violence. As first vice president (2014–17), Mnangagwa was regarded as Mugabe's likely successor. His dismissal, in an apparent attempt by Mugabe to install his wife as his successor, led the military to force Mugabe to resign, and Mnangagwa succeeded him as president. He survived an apparent bomb attack at a rally in June, 2018, then was elected president in July in a relatively close race against a divided opposition.
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