Timothy Stamps obituary - 1936 - 2017: Zimbabwean health minister
TIMOTHY STAMPS was the Zimbabwean minister for health from 1986 to 2002 and for many of those years he was the only white cabinet minister in Robert Mugabe’s government.
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This was testimony to the work he did as chief medical officer for the municipality of Salisbury in the early 1970s which led to him being fired after four years in the job when his white bosses claimed he was trying to increase the healthcare available for the majority black population.
Stamps was born in Wales, qualified as a doctor and went to Rhodesia as it then was in 1962 to join the public health service.
He became deputy medical officer for the municipality of Salisbury in 1968 and was promoted two years later to the top job.
He continued to champion the welfare of the black community after his sacking, becoming chairman of the Freedom From Hunger campaign and was elected to Salisbury City Council in 1976.
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After fighting and losing the Kopje constituency in 1980, Stamps joined Mugabe’s ZANU-PF, becoming an MP for the party in 1985 and minister of health and child welfare a year later.
Under his remit the Zimbabwean health system thrived and he was often asked to speak internationally on healthcare in the developing world.
Unusually, he was able to talk about controversial topics such as Aids and played a hugely important role in the country’s fight against the disease.
He led an initiative to prevent mother-to-child transmission and his work led to the set-up of the National Aids Council in 1999.
He was also critical of police violence, especially one incident in 2000 at an international football match which resulted in 11 deaths.
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Stamps was often called on to speak on matters outside his remit as the only non-black MP and caused anger among other white Zimbabweans when he defended subjects such as land reform.
His reputation also began to erode as Zimbabwe’s economy imploded and inflation hit the salaries of doctors and nurses, while stories about corruption flourished.
However he retained Mugabe’s patronage and carried on as health minister until a stroke incapacitated him in 2001.
He remained committed to social reform, founding the Dr Timothy Stamps Trust in 2004 for people living with chronic conditions and advocated rehab for drug users.
He was married to Cindy Elaine Stamps and died at Borrowdale Trauma Centre after a lung infection.
