House of Assembly (Zimbabwe)

House of Assembly of Zimbabwe
Type
Type	Lower House
Leadership
Speaker	Jacob Mudenda, ZANU-PF Since 3 September 2013
Structure
Seats	210
250px
Political groups	ZANU-PF (160)   MDC-T (49)   Independents (1)
Elections
Last election	31 July 2013
Meeting place
Parliament House, Harare, Zimbabwe

The House of Assembly of Zimbabwe is the lower chamber of the country's bicameral Parliament. It was the unicameral legislative body from 1989 until late November 2005, when the Senate was re-introduced.

Under the 1980 Constitution, 20 of the 100 seats in the House of Assembly were reserved for the country's white minority, although whites and other ethnic minorities made up only five per cent of the population. These seats were abolished in 1987.

The sixth House of Assembly, formed following elections held on 31 March 2005, had a total of 150 members. 120 members were directly elected in single member constituencies using the plurality (or First-past-the-post) system. The President appointed 12 additional members and 8 provincial governors who held reserved seats in the House. The remaining 10 seats were held by traditional chiefs who were chosen by their peers. All members served five-year terms.

A 2007 law, to take effect after the 2008 election, expanded the House of Assembly to 210 seats and made it a fully elected body. The appointed and ex officio members were transferred to the Senate. The Seventh House of Assembly was opened on August 26, 2008.

  Summary of the 29 March 2008 Zimbabwe House of Assembly election

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular vote
				2005	Dissolution	Elected	#	%
	Movement for Democratic Change - Tsvangirai	Morgan Tsvangirai	204	41	27	100	1,041,176	42.88
	Movement for Democratic Change - Mutambara	Arthur Mutambara	151	-	14	10	202,259	8.39
	Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front	Robert Mugabe	219	78	78	99	1,110,649	45.94
	United People's Party	Daniel Shumba	49	-	-	0	7,331	0.30
	Peace Action is Freedom for All	Abel Ndlovu	6	-	-	0	1,545	0.06
	Federal Democratic Union	Paul Siwala	7	-	-	0	1,315	0.05
	Zimbabwe Progressive People's Democratic Party	Tafirenyika Mudavanhu	8	-	-	0	1,047	0.04
	Zimbabwe African National Union – Ndonga	Wilson Kumbila	2	-	-	0	756	0.03
	Zimbabwe Development Party	Kisinoti Mukwazhe	9	-	-	0	608	0.03
	Patriotic Union of MaNdebeleland	Leonard Nkala	7	-	-	0	523	0.02
	Christian Democratic Party	William Gwata	2	-	-	0	233	0.01
	Zimbabwe African People's Union - Federal Party	Sikhumbuzo Dube	1	-	-	0	195	0.00
	ZURD	Madechiwe Collias	1	-	-	0	112	0.00
	Voice of the People/Vox Populi	Moreprecision Muzadzi	2	-	-	0	63	0.00
	Zimbabwe Youth in Alliance	Moses Mutyasira	1	-	-	0	7	0.00
	Independents		104	1	1	1	54,254	2.25
	Presidential appointees		-	20	20	-	-	-
	Ex-officio members (Chiefs)		-	10	10	-	-	-
Total			773	150	150	210	2,421,973	100%
Source: Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (The Herald)

Jacob Mudenda has been Speaker of the House of Assembly since September 2013.

Previous House of Assembly election results

Political Party	Election Year
	1980	1985	1990	1995	2000	2005
Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF)	57	64	117	118	62	78
Patriotic Front - Zimbabwe African People's Union (PF-ZAPU)	20	15	-	-	-	-
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)	-	-	-	-	57	41
Zimbabwe African National Union - Ndonga (ZANU-Ndonga)	-	-	1	2	1	-
Rhodesian Front (RF)	20	-	-	-	-	-
United African National Council (UANC)	3	-	-	-	-	-
Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe (CAZ)	-	15	-	-	-	-
Independent Zimbabwe Group (IZG)	-	4	-	-	-	-
Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM)	-	-	2	-	-	-
Zimbabwe Youth in Alliance (ZYA)	-	-	-	-	-	-
Zimbabwe People's Democratic Party (ZPDP)	-	-	-	-	-	-
Presidential appointees	-	-	-	-	-	20
Ex officio members (Chiefs)	-	-	-	-	-	20
Independent	-	-	-	-	-	1
Total	100	100	120	120	120	150

See also

• Senate of Zimbabwe - the upper chamber of Parliament
• History of Zimbabwe
• Legislative Branch
• List of national legislatures