Tinashe Gumbo was born in 1976 in Mberengwa, Zimbabwe. He is a PhD Student at the University of KwaZulu Natal under the Centre for Civil Society. He is currently working on a research proposal focusing on the effectiveness of the network model in advocacy work against the illicit financial outflows from the extractive sector in Zimbabwe.
He has experience in politics, economic justice, advocacy and lobbying as well as community development. He is currently employed at Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) as their Policy Research and Advocacy Program Officer responsible for defining advocacy agenda for the organisation, planning, implementation and coordination of advocacy and lobbying programs. He is also responsible for all research work of the organisation. He has led research processes on tax systems in Zimbabwe, debt and development, water issues among other ZIMCODD thematic areas.
He was the Senior Programmes Officer for the Institute for a Democratic Alternative for Zimbabwe (IDAZIM) from 2010 to 2013. Before that he was Economic Justice Officer for the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) from 2003 to 2010, where he worked on human rights issues, advocacy and lobbying on national budget, climate change, elections, debt, constitution making processes, political transition issues and other economic and social justice issues at national, regional and global level. He has also been involved in monitoring and evaluation of the two organisations’ programmes. Tinashe has been engaged as a consultant on a variety of topics by organisations and political parties in Zimbabwe.
He holds a Masters Degree in International Relations and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economic History, both from the University of Zimbabwe. Professionally, he is also a holder of a Diploma in Personnel Management from the Institute of Personnel Management of Zimbabwe (IPMZ) among other short courses on elections, paralegal, conflict management, monitoring and evaluation as well as community development.
Tinashe has been involved in opposition politics in Zimbabwe for the past fifteen years.