[2] On 27 November 2017, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who succeeded Robert Mugabe as President of Zimbabwe following the 2017 Zimbabwean coup d'état, appointed Chinamasa as the nation's acting Finance Minister.
[4] A leading member of the ruling ZANU–PF party, Chinamasa became first deputy Agriculture Minister, and then Attorney General of Zimbabwe; he also has held the role of Leader of the Zimbabwean Parliament.
Chinamasa had Blackie immediately arrested on charges of "corruption," on the grounds of having decided the case of a white woman improperly (on the basis of an alleged adulterous relationship and racist bias), and without the support of the other judge that was sitting with him on the matter.
[8] After the case closed, Chinamasa declared various NGO's illegal, including leading Human Rights organisation the Amani Trust which provides support to victims of torture; and was reportedly accused of working with the British government to unseat President Robert Mugabe and destabilise the nation.
[12] Chinamasa and Labour Minister Nicholas Goche met with Tendai Biti (MDC-T) and Welshman Ncube (MDC-M), Secretaries General of their respective Movement for Democratic Change factions, in Pretoria, South Africa on 16 June 2007.
[20] In this position, Chinamasa took a historic step in the ongoing hyperinflation crisis in Zimbabwe, announcing that all Zimbabweans would be allowed to conduct business in any currency as of the end of January 2009.
[25] In February 2003, Chinamasa sent the police to arrest Peter Baker, a white farmer who had refused to vacate his farm, Rocklands, in favour of the Minister, after successfully challenging its seizure in court.
British MP Kate Hoey, who made a fact-finding visit to Zimbabwe earlier in the year, said the award was shocking: "It is like someone stealing a race horse and winning the Grand National.