John Mudiwa Washe Makumbe, often published as John Mw Makumbe, was a Zimbabwean political scientist, political philosopher and activist.
11 Facts About John Makumbe
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John Makumbe was a professor at the University of Zimbabwe for more than 25 years, and a frequent guest lecturer at Michigan State University.
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John Makumbe pursued an academic career in Zimbabwe, where he spent more than 25 years as a professor at the University of Zimbabwe and was an active public intellectual.
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John Makumbe resisted opportunities to leave Zimbabwe, though throughout his career he was a frequent guest lecturer at Michigan State University.
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John Makumbe has been considered a member of a small generation of pro-democracy scholar-activists who earned their PhDs shortly after Zimbabwean Independence and established the instruction of political science and administration at the University of Zimbabwe; other members of this group were Elphas Mukonoweshuro and Masipula Sithole.
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John Makumbe coauthored the 2000 book Behind the Smokescreen with Daniel Compagnon, which studies the defects in Zimbabwe's electoral system that they argue enable the rigging of elections.
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John Makumbe was regularly quoted in or interviewed by international outlets including The Washington Times and The Guardian, as well as in documentaries.
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In 2004, John Makumbe was granted an honorary LLD degree by the University of Birmingham.
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John Makumbe openly joined the Movement for Democratic Change in 2011, announcing his new affiliation at their 12th anniversary celebrations at the Gwanzura stadium.
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John Makumbe had previously been an advisor in the creation of the party's founding documents.
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At the time of his death at the age of 63, John Makumbe had been actively gathering support to challenge the Police Chief Superintendent Oliver Mandipaka to represent the parliamentary constituency of Buhera West, which included his home village of Marenga.