Blessing Chebundo is a Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...

an politician, a Member of Parliament and a leading figure in the opposition Movement for Democratic Change

Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai

The Movement for Democratic Change Zimbabwe is a political party and the largest party in the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe. It is the main formation formed from the split of the original Movement for Democratic Change in 2005.-Foundation:...

 (MDC). He rose to fame by defeating Emmerson Mnangagwa

Emmerson Mnangagwa

Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa is a Zimbabwean politician who has been Minister of Defense since February 2009. He was previously Minister of State Security from 1982 to 1988, then Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs until 2000; he was Speaker of Parliament from July 2000 to 2005 and...

 in a contest to represent Kwekwe

Kwekwe

Kwekwe or Kwe Kwe , formerly spelt Que Que, is a city in central Zimbabwe. It is located in the centre of the country —roughly equidistant from Harare to the northeast and Bulawayo to the southwest. Its population stood at 47,607 in 1982, 75,425 in 1992 and the preliminary result of the 2002...

 constituency in the parliament of Zimbabwe in the 2000 parliamentary election. Mnangagwa, a heavyweight in ZANU-PF, was predicted to easily win the constituency, but Chebundo won the seat despite threats to his life. As an incumbent, he again defeated Mnangagwa and was re-elected in the March 2005 parliamentary election.

Background

Chebundo is a founder member of the Movement for Democratic Change, a political party that was formed in September 1999. He has represented Kwekwe constituency in the Parliament of Zimbabwe

Parliament of Zimbabwe

The Parliament of Zimbabwe consists of two chambers:*The Senate *The House of Assembly...

 since the watershed elections of 2000. Before the formation of the MDC, Chebundo had been the Vice-Chairman of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions

Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions is the dominant central trade union federation in Zimbabwe. The general secretary of ZCTU is Wellington Chibebe and the president is Lovemore Matombo....

 (ZCTU) for the Central Region; he was also National Treasurer of the Zimbabwe Chemical & Allied Workers Union from 1990 to 2000. He served as the MDC's Secretary of Health from 2001 to 2005 and has been a member of its National Executive Committee since 2006.

MDC split

Chebundo initially joined the 'rebels', led by Welshman Ncube

Welshman Ncube

Welshman Ncube is a Zimbabwean politician. He is the President of the Movement for Democratic Change – Mutambara, and since February 2009 has been the Minister of Industry and Commerce. He was elected as a member of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe for Bulawayo North East in the 2000 election and...

, that broke away from the MDC. However, Chebundo eventually rejoined the main MDC, citing the wishes of the members of his constituency in Kwekwe.