Nkomos speech part 3 POLITICAL REPORT OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE PATRIOTIC FRONT (ZAPU) Sixth Congress, 12 - 15 October, 1984 COMPROMISE AT LANCASTER HOUSE Comrades, we would like briefly at this point, to deal with one issue which has been the subject of some confused comments, This is the question of negotiations with the colonial regime. We of ZAPU have always seen the negotiating table as another front in the struggle. When, .in 1974, we participated in the Victoria ,Falls conference, we did so not only on the advice of the front Line leaders who had negotiated our release. We talked to the regime to see whether the struggle had brought them to a sensible and realistic appreciation of the demands and determination of the people. It had . not. So we continued the war. In 1975, we again participated in talks with the regime. Once again, we put the demands of the people openly on the table. Once again we found the regime unable to meet our demands. We continued and escalated the war. We are not warmongers. We love peace and we fully understand the price the people themselves have to pay for • war. For us war is the weapon of the last resort. We would have been guilty of the utmost irresponsibility had we called on our people to wage war without, exhausting all other avenues of struggle, including negotiation. As the war escalated, so did the pressure on the colonial regime. Therefore wc continued to take up whatever opportunities the war itself • opened up for negotiation. We did this from a principled position, seeking the means to liberate our country on the political, military and diplomatic fronts. It was, as we have said, the total contribution of all the patriots of Zimbabwe which led the imperialists to abandon the crumbling regime in Salisbury. This led than to propose the Lancaster House solution. However, the Lancaster House Settlement was not a final victory of the people of Zimbabwe over colonial oppression and exploitation. it was a compromise on both sides. On-the side of the liberation forces and the people, this compromise was forced upon us. indirectly through the massive onslaught unleashed against the frontline states. In order to -force us to Lancaster House and into this compromise the imperialist powers provided the colonial regime with the means and the go-ahead to launch a major war into the neighbouring states. Our allies in the Front Line States reached the point where their own survival was at stake. We could not stand by and allow our friends and allies to be destroyed. Hence we agreed to go to Lancaster House and seek partial victory and a position from where we could continue the struggle without, sacrificing the -existence of the Front Line countries At Lancaster House we were forced to accept many compromises which we disliked intensely. Many of the current problems in our country have their roots in these compromises which we had to accept. To take the fundamental issue of our liberation struggle, the land question in Zimbabwe is still unresolved. True, part of the problem lies in the mishandling of this question by the present government, but its real roots lie at Lancaster House. And so comrades, we compromised, we reached an imperfect agreement, ceased military operations and returned home to face elections. The period of ceasefire was extremely complex and dangerous. But we persevered and patiently overcame the problems where we could. Your Central Committee would like at this point to congratulate the ZIPRA commanders and soldiers, the political leaders and all those who acted in a principled, disciplined and courageous way to ensure that peace was attained throughout the ceasefire. We should also like you all -at this point to pay tribute to the heroes of Zimbabwe, whose courage, sacrifice and dedication led us to our independence. We salute all our fallen heroes. We salute the courageous fighters of ZIPRA and ZANLA. We salute the peasants who fought and died alongside our soldiers. We salute our workers who stood firmly for their liberation. We salute the intellectuals, students and patriotic businessman. We salute the patriots of Zimbabwe. We salute the People. Could we stand for a moment in silence in tribute to our heroes, living and dead. Thank you. Comrades, both the Lancaster House talks and the ceasefire confirmed to us one belief we had always held, namely that the colonial regime in Zimbabwe was ultimately controlled and protected from London, with the help of other imperialist powers. At Lancaster, and later during the ceasefire period and in the run-up to the elections, the main concern of the British was to protect the interest of their regime. Often we found that the Rhodesians had nothing to say. They would simply await instructions from the British. In their turn the British did everything to protect and strengthen the colonial forces. We had to deal with a great many provocations and attempts to frustrate the achievement of our independence as a result of this. Furthermore the British allowed and encouraged South African racist forces to remain on Zimbabwe soil right up to and indeed after independence. From the alliance of settler colonial forces and South African forces backed by the British we faced a continual threat of attack. We were prepared for any eventuality, but we .often found ourselves in a most disadvantaged position. As a result of the tragic decision of ZANU leaders to abandon the Patriotic Front, we were also faced with a situation of deteriorating relations with ZANU. Of course the racist alliance took advantage of this, as did the British, and once again we saw in practice hew disunity strengthens the hand of the peoples enemies. In addition we faced a serious problem in those parts of the country where ZANU maintained armed elements outside the Assembly Point, in violation of the Lancaster Agreement. Our supporters, campaign workers and parliamentary candidates were beaten and even killed in these areas. In spite of all these threats and provocations we continued to foster the spirit of unity. We continued to urge ZANU not to abandon the Patriotic Front and thereby divide the then united people of Zimbabwe. We even delayed- our registration for elections until a few minutes before the final deadline in the hope that the ZANU leaders would see reason, and choose unity. They did not comrades, and from then on the scene was set for the unfolding tragedy of division. FORMATION OF A GOVERNMENT Comrades, I do not intend to dwell on the elections of 1980. They are over and gone. But we do wish to report to you widespread dissatisfaction with the conduct of those elections which has left many people with grave doubts about the extent to which they truly reflected the will of the people. The results of these elections gave ZANU the option to form the first government of an independent Zimbabwe. From the moment that ZANU prepared to form this government we had serious reservations about their approach. Rather than acting in a manner which would preserve and strengthen national unity, they acted only to advance the interest of the ZANU leadership. Despite our reservations however, we continuously acted in. what we believed to be the national interest. We ignored provocations, we advocated unity and we took every step possible to foster peace. With the benefit of hind sight we can now see that our sincere approach was seen by the ZANU leadership as a weakness and gave them an opportunity for sinister manipulation. We were mistaken, comrades. We made a very grave error of judgement in attributing to the ZANU leadership the same sincerity with which we ourselves acted. The price we are paying, and the whole people of Zimbabwe are paying for this mistake is very high. We should also have insisted on a formally agreed programme of joint policies of government, as the condition for participation in government. This would have placed us in a far better and stronger position to take action when the ZANU leadership began departing from what we had agreed to be a joint and progressive approach to government. At this time comrades, I as President of our party, was offered the ceremonial post of the presidency of Zimbabwe. This offer was rejected by the ZAPU leadership as a whole, and we should brief ly like to explain why. The ceremonial head of state was a post imposed on us by the British. Both ZAPU and ZANU had opposed this aspect of the Lancaster House Constitution, This post of President is an official prison, whereby the occupant is deprived of the right to actively participate in political debate. Had we accepted this post, I should have had to endure and promote ZANU policies which we have, as a Party, often criticised. This would have been humiliating, both to our party and to the office of president. Furthermore, we felt that one of the ZAPU ministers must hold a post dealing with security matters, in order that the ZIPRA fighters should retain their confidence in the government. This was essential if we were to maintain peace and successfully carry out the integration exercise. Faced with our demand, the Prime Minister offered me the Ministry of Home Affairs, which we agreed to accept. INTERNATIONALISM AND SOLIDARITY Comrades, before we turn to the events which have taken place since independence, it is necessary for us to place on record the contributions which a great many friends and allies of our struggle and people made to the achievement of our independence. We should like to place these contributions into their context. Our experience during the struggle led us to understand very clearly that in this world there are two principal forces. There are the forces which exploit, plunder, oppress and make war on the people, and there are the forces of peace, liberation and progress. Our condition during the colonial days, as an oppressed, suffering and down-trodden people, arose as a result of the actions of the forces which survive and flourish on. the misery and suffering of the opressed and exploited people of this planet. At first, during the early days of protest and resistance we appealed to these very oppressive forces to stop their injustice, and act in the so-called Christian and civilised fashion they claimed as their heritage. They refused to do so, and it took us time to realise . they would never do so. This is because oppression and exploitation of the people is the very basis of their existence. As we learned this lesson, we came also to realise that our real friends, our real allies, were those who were also fighting imperialism, colonialism, racial, exploitation and oppression. So we identified ourselves with the forces of peace, justice and progress, and we shall continue to do so. Comrade delegates, Zimbabwe is an independent and sovereign state. Our independence came*about after many years of sacrifice, toil, blood and sweat. We lost thousands of lives/ many more were maimed and property of immeasurable proportion was destroyed. Yes, this is the price a people pay for freedom. Hence our congratulations and salutations to our entire people for the necessary sacrifice they endured to bring about the realisation of our hard won independence. It was indeed a Peoples struggle. Yet we were not alone in our struggle. We had friends. Friends who had in their own histories experienced similar circumstances brought about by colonialism and imperialism. Friends who sacrificed their economies and indeed in some cases the lives of their own citizens in solidarity with our just case and struggle. We salute the Front Line States, namely Zambia, Angola, Botswana, Mozambique and Tanzania for their steadfastness and support to our struggle. Our victory is indeed their victory. Without their political, military and diplomatic support, our struggle would have been much longer and casualties much higher. Friendship born out of war is friendship everlasting. We salute the QAU member states who channelled assistance to our movement through the Liberation Committee and in many instances bilaterally. They all played their role in an exemplary pan-Africanist and revolutionary manner. In this connection special mention must be made of the sacrifices (outside„the frontline states) made by Libya, Socialist Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, Eqypt, Benin, Congo and Algeria for the invaluable assistance they rendered us in our struggle for independence. We hail the socialist states for the massive support in all fronts of our struggle. Without the Soviet Union, who freed Western Europe from fascism, the world today would be a different place-. The great October Socialist Revolution of 1917 ushered in new hope to all oppressed people throughout the world. Its achievements indeed inspired us in our struggle for freedom -and independence. In this context we salute the people of Cuba, German Democratic Republic, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Rumania and China for all the assistance rendered to us through our armed liberation struggle. We salute all member countries of the non-aligned movement for their encouragement and support of our just struggle. Special mention must be made of India, and member states of the Gulf region, for their support, which we will always cherish. Comrade delegates, whilst Western Europe remains the headquarters of imperialism, there are a number of progressive governments and nongovernmental organisations who rendered invaluable assistance to our movement. We cannot mention them all by name. We can only say to all of them, we. remain grateful and our victory is indeed your victory. The same message goes to all solidarity groups in. Scandinavian countries the World Peace Council and the Afro-Asian Peoples Solidarity Organisation (AAPSO). Their performance should indeed touch the hearts of every Zimbabwean. Our thanks would be incomplete without registering the most appreciable role in our struggle played by the United Nations specialised agencies, namely the United Nations High Commission-for Refugees (UNHCR) , UNICEF, UNDP and the World Food Programme. We would also like to place on record our deep gratitude to the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PI£>), who whilst facing many problems of their own, came to our assistance on several occasions. Their actions are the actions of true brothers in struggle. Last but not least we extend. special thanks to our comrades of the ANC (South Africa) and SWAPO of Namibia for the unique experiences we shared together in all fronts, on our march to independence. We only- hope that they also learnt a lot from our hard won experiences. Comrades, at this point we should also like to state quite unambiguously our continued arid vigorous support for the struggle for liberation, peace and progress on all continents. In the first place we pledge our continued and unconditional support for the struggle of the South African and Namibian people, led by the ANC and SWAPO respectively. There is at present an attempt by certain unscrupulous elements to portray our party as an ally of the criminal regime in Pretoria. This is disgraceful slander. We have always supported the liberation movement of South Africa, the ANC, often with our blood. We should like to remind those who spread the dirty lie that we are linked to the apartheid regime, that we are in fact old opponents of the racist murderers in Pretoria and that ZAPU has actually faced the racist soldiers bf apartheid in the battlefield in our motherland. Our troops, together with those of the ANC of South Africa, confronted South African and Rhodesian soldiers during the battles of 1967 and 1968 and taught them a lesson they never forgot. This is not only because we believe in the justness of the cause of the people of South Africa, but also because we have always believed that we in Zimbabwe will never be truly free until the. South African people are free. Our record of support and solidarity with the ANC is a very proud one. We have time and again proved ourselves, not only in declarations, but in actions, to be true and real friends of the struggling people of South-Africa. We have also always supported the liberation struggle of the people of Namibia under the leadership of SWAPO, and we shall continue to do so. We fully support, the demand by SWAPO for the unconditional withdrawal of racist troops from Namibia. We call for the immediate implementation of UN Resolution 435. We also totally reject the attempts by Pretoria and Washington to impose the so-called Cuban linkage issue onto the question of Namibian independence. - Comrades, we unreservedly condemn the campaign of military and economic, aggression, which has been unleashed against the Peoples Republic of Angola. We salute the heroic Angolan people, who under the far sighted leadership of the MPLA - Workers Party, have defended the African revolution with enormous courage during a most difficult period. Their firm adherence to principle and their refusal to bow to imperialist pressure and blackmail serve as an inspiration to all the. struggling peoples of the world. Comrades, we should also like to extend our support to the efforts made by the Peoples Republic of Mozambique in resisting apartheid pressure, and we encourage our Mozambique comrades to continue to do so, However \ we should like to state quite frankly and in a comradely .spirit, that we do not believe that accords with the racists open up any prospects for peace. We believe that they are simply meant to demobilize and divide the people of our region as a preparation by Pretoria for an escalation of aggression. We send our continued solidarity to the heroic people of Palestine who under the leadership of the PLO, have in recent years, provided us ^ with an example of the-most extraordinary courage and steadfastness in the face of murderous aggression To the comrades of Polisario fighting for the liberation of the Saharawi Democratic Republic and the Fretelin struggling to free East Timor from Indonesian occupation, we send our fraternal greetings and solidarity. We send our warmest congratulation to the Nicaraguan people whose magnificent victory over the Somoza dictatorship has inspired the struggling peoples of the Americas and indeed the world. We pledge our party to the continued fight against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism racism, and exploitation throughout the World. We also hail the efforts of all the peace loving forces in the continued struggle against the threat of nuclear devastation and war. As a people who have just emerged from war, and who continue to suffer from the present undeclared war in our country, we understand the suffering of war only too well. We shall always endeavour to contribute to the struggle for lasting peace, because we believe peace to be the pre-condition for genuine progress.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 14:53:24 +0000
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