Byron Hove

Byron R. Hove (born in 1940) served as Justice Minister in Zimbabwe Rhodesia with Hilary Squires as co-minister. He supported and participated in Prime Minister Ian Smith's Internal Settlement.^[1] He later served as MP for Gokwe until April 1986 when he lost his position for misdemeanors.^[2]

On April 18, 1978, he was unexpectedly fired after he criticized the government for excluding blacks from high-level jobs.^[3]

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.[4]

”

On 4/1/99 information about Byron Hove's life and death was posted in the soc.culture.zimbabwe newsgroup. It was taken that day from the Herald, and read as follows:

   FORMER outspoken Mberengwa West MP and prominent Harare
   lawyer, Dr Byron Reuben Hove, died at St Anne’s Hospital in Harare
   on Sunday evening (January 3. 1999) after a short illness. He was 59.

   At the time of his death, Dr Hove, who was known for his
   outspokenness during the time he was a legislator, was a partner
   with Hove, Dzimba and Associates. He was also vice-president of
   the standing Commission of the International Com-mittee of the Red
   Cross based in Geneva, Switzerland.

   His cousin, Professor Ngwabi Bhebhe, said Dr Hove had only been
   sick for a short time. He had complained of a cold when he came
   back from Geneva a few weeks before the Easter holidays.

   Dr Hove was born at Mnene Mission Hospital in Mberengwa district,
   Midlands. He went to school at Mnene, Chegato, Zimuto and
   Fletcher secondary schools.

   He proceeded to the then University College of Rhodesia and
   Nyasaland, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in
   History.

   In 1969, Dr Hove obtained an LLB in the United Kingdom, where he
   later practised law. In 1978, he was appointed Minister of Justice,
   Law and Order and the Public Service in the short-liv ed
   Zimbabwe-Rhodesia gov-ernment of Bishop Abel Muzorewa. He was
   also the then UANC’s deputy secretary for foreign affairs.

   The former MP begun his political career when he was elected the
   first black president of the Student Representative Council at the
   University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

   He combined student activism and nationalist politics as a member
   of the National Democratic Party. Thereafter, he held various
   positions in the major nationalist parties, including Zapu and Zanu
   (PF).

   After independence, he was elected Zanu (PF) Midlands provincial
   chairman and MP for Mberengwa West.

   Dr Hove also served as chairman of the National Railways of
   Zimbabwe and chairman of the Red Cross of Zimbabwe. Dr Hove was
   survived by his wife, Ivy, and three children.

   He was buried on January 5.at Mwembe in Mberengwa district.

References

1. A Black is Fired, May 15, 1978. TIME magazine
2. Jacqueline Audrey Kalley, Elna Schoeman, and L.E. Andor. Southern African Political History: a chronological of key political events from independence to mid-1997, 1999. Page 736.
3. Black Justice Minister Dismissed By Rhodesia's Transition Regime; 'Sure to Be Disastrous' Windfall for Guerrillas RHODESIA DISMISSES BLACK JUSTICE CHIEF, April 28, 1978. The New York Times.
4. In the mind of a visionary who turned into an autocrat, 2002. The Lifestyle Magazine