In what must rank as a monumental and criminal betrayal of the people’s struggle for self-determination on the African continent, on August 8, 1963 ZANU was founded. This was solely as a result of non-ideological but ethnic and personal differences among the nationalists. The rebels - among them Rev. Ndabaningi Sithole, Enos Nkala, Leopold Takawira and Robert Mugabe - charged in 1961 that Joshua Nkomo had accepted a British-sponsored constitution for Southern Rhodesia that accorded Africans 15 out of a proposed Parliament of 65 seats. However, Nkomo had spoken-out both privately and publicly against the distribution of seats in the proposed parliament, which he emphasized left power in white hands. Due to the widespread grassroots support Nkomo enjoyed, the coup attempt was averted; but Takawira and his supporters stayed in the Party awaiting any slight slip in Nkomo’s leadership. At that same period, Mugabe went as far as to suggest the inauguration of a new party as the only way to rid themselves of Nkomo as leader. As a result, one Melwa Ntini – a fellow nationalist – when interviewed about the split, had this to say: “The major leaders of the opposition to what I saw as Nkomo’s leadership and not the constitution as such, for this was used as a pretext of a personal attack on the President of the Party. With the exception of the sorry Enos Nkala who had his personal vendetta against Nkomo, Sithole, Mugabe and Takawira were all late-comers to the party who all joined the party after Bottomely (Sir Arthur) announced that there was going to be a constitutional conference on Rhodesia……. and they can only be dismissed as the work of agitators who were bent on securing leadership even at the risk of dividing the party” And according to the same book, the road to the split was littered with a number of ploys by the dissidents. At one point, they convened a meeting on the farm of a liberal white sympathiser called Sir Stuart Gore-Brown. When James Chikerema tipped-off Nkomo about the plot to either capture or assassinate him at the farm meeting, Nkomo declined to attend. After extracting a confession from one of the dissidents – Eddison Zvobgo – that he and his comrades no longer considered Nkomo as their leader, Nkomo suspended Sithole, Malianga, Mugabe and Takawira as a disciplinary measure. The dissidents then convened a meeting in Tanganyika (Tanzania) whose sole purpose was to eliminate Nkomo as leader. At that meeting, Nkomo was deposed and Ndabaningi Sithole put in his place. Upon realising that Nkomo remained popular, the dissidents formed a splinter group, ZANU. Two days after ZANU was formed, ZAPU called for a People’s Conference at Cold Comfort Farm just outside Salisbury. Five thousand delegates attended this conference and among other things, the suspensions of Messrs. Sithole, Mugabe, Malianga and Takawira was confirmed and a new look executive was elected. True to ZAPU culture, a national and not ethnic leadership was announced as follows: 1. President Joshua M. Nkomo 2. Deputy President James D. Chikerema 3. Secretary to the President William J. Mukarati 4. Secretary General George Nyandoro 5. Deputy Secretary General Edward S. Ndlovu 6. National Chairman Samuel Munodawafa 7. Treasurer General Jason Z. Moyo 8. Financial Secretary George Marange 9. Secretary for External Affairs Joseph Msika 10. Secretary for Youth and Cultural Affairs Clement Muchachi 11. Dep. Sec. for Youth and Cultural Affairs Mhariwa B. Gumbo 12. Secretary for Information and Publicity T. George Silundika 13. Deputy Information and Publicity Sec. Alois Z. Wingwiri 14. Secretary for Women’s Affairs Jane Ngwenya 15. Secretary for Public Relations Willie D. Musarurwa 16. Secretary for Organisation Lazarus Nkala Again, just like in the previous executive committee, only six of the sixteen members were Ndebele speakingZAPU spearheaded the armed struggle for 18 years, and remained aleading political force advancing the Zimbabwe struggle for the rightto self-determination and National Independence. It was one of the Big Six Authentic liberation Movements which included the ANC of South Africa, SWAPO of Namibia, FRELIMO of Mozambique,MPLA of Angola and PAIGC of Guinea Bissau. ZAPU started to prepare for the armed struggle immediately afterits formation so as to implement the decision which was taken by itspredecessor, the National Democratic Party (NDP). In 1961, it sent out the first groups for military training. In 1964, after all trained cadres from Cuba, Egypt, the Soviet Union, China and North Korea assembled in Zambia, they formed the first military wing of ZAPU under the Department of special affairs led by James Chikerema and J.Z. Moyo. Its command structure was comprised of: 1. Akim Ndlovu Commander 2. Robson Manyika Chief of Staff 3. Dumiso Dabengwa Head of Military Intelligence 4. Abraham Nkiwane Chief of Personnel and Training 5. Report Mpoko Chief of Logistics, and 6. Ambrose Mutinhiri ZAPU launched its first deployment into the country in 1964. The first unit entered the country to carry-out in-depth reconnaissance, training and local sabotage operations. Between 1969 and 1971, ZAPU experienced political crisis which was caused by James Chikerema and George Nyandoro. After the departure of the two who later formed FROLIZI, the remaining four National Executive members of ZAPU (Jason Moyo, Edward Ndlovu, Jane Ngwenya and George Silundika) decided to restructure the party politically and militarily. They formed the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Council (ZPRC) whose membership was composed of the four members of the National Executive, External Representatives of ZAPU and the ZPRA High Command. Initially, Jason Moyo was the Chairman of the ZPRC and the Commander-in- Chief on behalf of Joshua Nkomo who was at that time in detention in Zimbabwe and Dumiso Dabengwa became the Secretary of the ZPRC. In addition to the formation of the ZPRC, a new ZPRA High Command was put in place, which included Nikita Mangena, Charlies Sotsha Ngwenya (John Dube), Report Mpoko, Gordon Sibanda (Tapson Munyanyi) and Cephas Cele. The restructuring of ZAPU politicallyand militarily enabled the organisation to escalate the armed struggle. During this crisis, Zpra lost the opportunity to utilise the Tete (Mozambique) front which it had assisted Frelimo to open. Instead, ZANU took advantage and reaped where it did not sow.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Apr 2014 23:31:12 +0000