Chigwedere enrolled at the University of London, College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, in 1962 as one of the 25 African students accepted then from Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi.
Accordingly, Chigwedere argued that without painstakingly studying the organisation of traditional Shona society and unravelling who Murenga and Nehanda were, or what the Rozvi kingdom was, no meaningful exposition of the war could be made.
He taught briefly at Fletcher and Highfield, but spent most of his teaching career at Goromonzi High School where he rose to become the first black headmaster and principal from 1977 to 1986.
A short list of his students include his cabinet colleagues Charles Utete, Patrick Chinamasa, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, Witness Mangwende, July Moyo, Simon Khaya Moyo, and other notables such as author Thompson Tsodzo, clerk of parliament Austin Zvoma, opposition leader Tendai Biti Group CEO For Logistixware Jaweet Mahachi, cardiologist Jonathan Matenga, journalist Geoffrey Nyarota, and pioneer lawyers Chirunda and Chihambakwe.
In 1993, he rose through the ZANU Marondera (and Wedza) structures from ward level to Secretary of Education for Mashonaland East Province.
With large-scale population movements that came with land redistribution, a big part of the Ministry's work has been establishing and reorganising schools in the new farming communities.
[3][4] Following the March 2008 parliamentary election, Chigwedere was appointed Resident Minister and Governor of Mashonaland East Province by President Robert Mugabe on 25 August 2008; in this capacity, he also served as a Senator.
Chigwedere descended from one of the senior houses of the Svosve Chieftainship, which has retained its direct connection to the Mutapas that were the national rulers.
The House of Mubayiwa, which Chigwedere represented, was entrusted with ruling and safekeeping of all the territory encompassing the Wedza mountain and what was referred to as 'kumatirikoti'.
He was criticised by scholars from the department of history at the University of Zimbabwe such as David Beach and Terence Ranger for reportedly flawed theories.