Acie Lumumba Biography: Profile, Real Name, Age & Date of Birth, Education & Qualifications, Family, Political Career

Acie Lumumba Biography: Profile, Real Name, Age & Date of Birth, Education & Qualifications, Family, Political Career

Acie Lumumba is a prominent Zimbabwean politician, ZANU PF activist, media personality, and businessperson. Lumumba built up a considerable following in 2017 after he made a series of Facebook Live videos in which he seemed to accurately predict political events before they occurred.

Some initially dismissed him until he made a video in which he boldly “predicted” that President Robert Mugabe would not be in power in 48 hours. The video was made before the Zimbabwe Defence Forces(ZDF) seized power in a military takeover, which resulted in the ouster of Zimbabwe’s first president.

Lumumba is also popular for creating his own Youtube-based shows, The Lumumba Files (#TLF) and #TLFDrive, which also command considerable following among Zimbabweans.

Table of Contents

Real Name

Acie Lumumba’s real name is Lumumba William Gerald Mutumanje.

Age & Date of Birth

Acie Lumumba was born on September 29th 1988. This means that he will be turning 35 in 2023.

How He Got The Moniker’ Acie Lumumba’

He was accused of adopting the name “Acie Lumumba” to insinuate direct descent to Congolese liberation icon Patrice Emery Lumumba.

However, according to businessman, farmer and musician Kuda “Begotten Sun” Musasiwa, Lumumba was given the name “Acie” when he ventured into music as a rapper.

According to Musasiwa, it was actually supposed to be AC, short for African Child.

Writing on Twitter, Musasiwa said,

“Funny Story. @acielumumba used to be a Rapper. That’s when we gave him the nickname “Acie”. It was supposed to be AC “African Child” listen to his album “Where I’m From” by Acie on #deezer when he was 16. Also on Spotify & Apple Music http://deezer.com/track/3720765″

Family Background

Acie Lumumba spent his childhood in Harare’s Hatfield suburb, where he was raised alongside his six siblings.

While his mother is reported to be Zimbabwean, his father’s origins were said to be Congolese.

However, in 2016, Lumumba revealed that the man he had always believed to be his biological father was actually his stepfather.

He claimed that his true father was Emile Munemo, a high-ranking Brigadier General in the Zimbabwe National Army from Chivi in Masvingo.

General Emile Munemo passed away on March 3rd, 2019 and was posthumously declared a National Hero by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Education & Qualifications

Acie Lumumba attended Hatfield Primary School and then proceeded to Prince Edward School for his secondary education.

There are multiple reports that Acie Lumumba claimed to have been awarded a scholarship to attend Harvard University at the age of 16, where he later studied political science and public administration.

However, these claims were later disputed and proven to be false, as Lumumba was never enrolled at Harvard.

In fact, Lumumba’s educational background has been a subject of controversy, with some sources claiming that he never completed his secondary education.

Political Career

Acie Lumumba was appointed as a special advisor to Saviour Kasukuwere, the Minister of Youth, Indigenisation and Empowerment, in 2009.

Later, in 2012, he was designated as the chairman of the Zimbabwe Youth Council Harare province, which provided him with the opportunity to work closely with the community.

Capitalizing on this chance, Lumumba began garnering support at the grassroots level to advance his political agenda. As a result, he won the ZANU PF primary elections in 2013.

At 25 years old, Lumumba was among the youngest candidates to participate in the 2013 harmonized elections. He saw his victory in the primaries as part of ZANU-PF’s initiative, led by President Robert Mugabe, to infuse new and young blood into the revolutionary party.

Despite his efforts, Lumumba ultimately lost the election to Tapiwa Mashakada from the MDC-T party.

Quitting ZANU-PF and Insulting President Robert Mugabe

In May 2016, Acie Lumumba quit the ruling ZANU-PF party. Lumumba cited the party’s disconnection from the struggles of everyday citizens as the reason for his departure. He communicated his decision to (then) Harare provincial chairperson Charles Tawengwa in writing.

During the unveiling of his political party, Viva Zimbabwe, in late June 2016, Acie Lumumba shocked the country when he directed an insult containing the f-word at President Robert Mugabe.

Lumumba was later arrested on June 30th 2016, and charged with undermining the authority of or insulting the President in contravention of Section 33 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act (Chapter 9:23).

However, the charges were later dropped in June 2018, after President Emmerson Mnangagwa came into power following the ouster of Robert Mugabe in November 2017.