Zimbabwe
Description of Work:
In 2005 the MDC split into two factions following a dispute over whether or not to participate in the March 2005 parliamentary election. While MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, Mutambara, and others opposed participation, Welshman Ncube and Gibson Sibanda led a faction that favored participation in the election.

Mutambara was elected president of the breakaway faction in 2006. Many said that the choice to make him a leader was inspired by the fact that he is a Shona, which would help his candidacy across the whole of Zimbabwe. A lot of Mutambara's activism focused on land reform and unification across Zimbabwe.

After being arrested numerous times on account of leading political marches, he had been released without charges after serving a few days in custody.

In 2008, Mutambara and Tsvangirai failed to agree on a single candidate for the March presidential election, instead prompting Mutambara to run in the concurrent parliamentary election. Although he was placed third, Tsvangirai won 99 seats in the parliamentary election which reunited the factions, enabling the MDC to obtain majority in parliament.
As an undergraduate student of Electrical Engineering at the University of Zimbabwe, Mutambara was also a student leader in opposition of the ruling ZANU-PF party. In 1988 and 1989, Mutambara led anti-government protests which led to his arrest and imprisonment.

After completing his doctorate at Britain's Oxford University he went on to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and became professor at several other universities in the United States. He is now known as one of Africa's most prominent scientists.