Kanengoni-Malinga first entered Zimbabwean politics after graduating from the University of Cape Town.[3] She was elected to the ZANU–PF Provincial Youth Executive in Mashonaland Central Province in 2008, and was voted secretary for gender and culture for the party's National Youth Executive the following year.[3] She was then elected deputy secretary for health and child care, also in the National Youth Executive.[3] In 2014, she switched over from the Youth League to the Women's League, where she became secretary for external relations under Grace Mugabe.[3]
In the 2013 general election, Kanengoni-Malinga ran as the ZANU–PF candidate for the National Assembly constituency of Mazowe Central.[3] She won with 10,823 votes (70%) against Shepherd Mushonga of the MDC–T and Zivanayi Chiweshe of the MDC–N, who received 3,998 and 656 votes respectively.[2] After her election to Parliament, she was included in PresidentRobert Mugabe's cabinet as the Deputy Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture under Minister Andrew Langa.[2][3] The ministry was newly created, its portfolios having previously been the responsibility of the Ministry of Education.[2] She was 31 at the time, making her one of the youngest members of parliament and the cabinet.[2][3] As deputy minister, she was known for taking on corruption in the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA).[3][5] She organized a committee to investigation corruption within ZIFA, which revealed mismanagement and theft of funds by the association's leaders.[3]
In 2015, Kanengoni-Malinga was appointed Minister of State in the Office of the Vice-President of Zimbabwe, and was assigned to Second Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko.[3] Her duties included managing the tasks assigned by President Mugabe to Vice-President Mphoko, and making sure the ministries the vice-president oversees were carrying out their roles effectively.[3]
Kanengoni-Malinga describes herself as a "pan-Africanist, with a little liberal feminism, but certainly not a radical."[3] She describes herself as "driven" by two agendas: female empowerment and "upholding the national flag wherever I go."[3]
Business career
Kanengoni-Malinga and her husband own several businesses in addition to their careers in politics.[2] She owns a soybean farm in Mazowe that employs over 100 people, while her husband owns a mine in Filabusi and manages his father's company, Jabulani Safaris.[2]
Personal life
Kanengoni-Malinga is married to Mpehlabayo Joshua Malinga, the son of former Mayor of Bulawayo and ZANU–PF Politburo member Joshua Malinga.[2] Kanengoni-Malinga is from Mashonaland Central Province and her husband is from Bulawayo; they met at a ZANU–PF party conference in the capital, Harare.[2] Her husband is also involved in politics, having served as secretary of external affairs in the party's Youth League.[3] The couple has four daughters—Nandipha, Unathi, Mbali, and Thando—and resides in Borrowdale, an affluent suburb of Harare.[2] She enjoys traveling, cooking, visiting friends, watching DStv, and following basketball.[2][3]
