Stuart Comberbach

Comberbach was born on 27 September 1952 in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (today Harare, Zimbabwe).[1] He attended the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, graduating in 1974.[2]

After graduating from Wits University in 1974, Comberbach returned to Rhodesia and joined the civil service the same year.[2] He worked under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, serving in Gabon from 1975 to 1979.[1][2] From 1987 to 1994, he was the head of the Zimbabwe Trade Mission in Johannesburg, South Africa.[2] From 1994 to 1999, he served as Zimbabwe's Ambassador to Italy and the Permanent Representative of Zimbabwe to the United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organization.[2] In Rome, he served on the UN Committee on World Food Security.[3] He was Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Industry and International Trade from 1999 to 2002.[2] He offered to resign from the civil service in 2001 when he made it clear that he opposed government price control policies that he believed would destroy the Zimbabwean economy.[4] When Minister of Industry and International Trade Nkosana Moyo resigned unexpectedly in May 2001, Comberbach took over as temporary head of the ministry.[5] At the time, a communication from the US Embassy in Harare described Comberbach as "one of the few senior whites remaining in government" and "a competent technocrat."[5] The report noted his close relationship to leading ZANU–PF politician Nathan Shamuyarira, but described him as a "political lightweight."[5]

From 2003 to 2014, Comberbach served as the Ambassador of Zimbabwe to Japan and South Korea.[2] He also served as Chairman of the African Diplomatic Corps in Japan, an arm of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) from January 2003 and May 2011.[4][6] On 8 May 2015, Comberbach was honoured with the Order of the Rising Sun, along with 5 other foreign recipients at an event held in Tokyo.[6] Later, a conferment ceremony was held in Harare, hosted by Japan's Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Yoshi Hiraishi. Minister of Welfare Services for War Veterans Christopher Mutsvangwa praised Comberbach for receiving the honour.[6] In 2015, Comberbach's successor as Ambassador to Japan, Air Vice-Marshal Titus Abu-Basutu.[7][8]

In September 2014, President Robert Mugabe appointed Comberbach as Senior Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet.[4][8][9] His appointment was announced by Mesheck Sibanda, Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet.[4] At the time, it was reported that he was one of the last white civil servants left in Zimbabwe.[4][9] He was later assigned different areas of focus within the office of the President and Cabinet: in 2015, he became the Permanent Secretary for Corporate Governance, State Enterprises, and Delivery Unit.[2][10] In September 2018, President Emmerson Mnangagwa appointed new advisors, and Comberbach was assigned the new portfolio of Special Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.[11]

Comberbach's wife is Benedict Ann "Dicky" Comberbach.[12][13] They have children.[13]

• Japan: Order of the Rising Sun (2015)[6]