The story of the Second Chimurenga
TODAY Zimbabweans celebrate the bravery displayed by the freedom fighters who sacrificed their precious lives for others. Their battle for freedom has been told and retold but the most outstanding was the Second Chimurenga.
The Second Chimurenga over the years has become an important aspect of the history of Zimbabwe in general as it paved the way for the independence of the country in 1980.
It has become an important reference point to show the country's unity of purpose which enabled the different nationalist movements to bring to an end the minority government.
The Second Chimurenga was a struggle fought between the Africans and white Rhodesian government which culminated in the independence of Zimbabwe in 1980.
The war started in the early 1960s, but took a more militant stance with the Battle of Chinhoyi in 1966 and ended in 1980 after the signing of the Lancaster House Agreement.
In the local Shona language, the word Chimurenga refers to a violent uprising or revolt. It has strong connotations of violence.
The word is also part of the Ndebele language and it is called Umvukela.
In the history of Zimbabwe, the word was first used to refer to the wars of resistance (1896–97) fought by the Shona and Ndebele peoples against colonisation by the British under Cecil Rhodes of the British South Africa Company.
The Second Chimurenga war was as a result of a collective need to get political independence, access to economic resources and land.
The war was also necessitated by the harsh laws imposed by the Rhodesian settler government such as the Land Apportionment Act of 1930 and the Native Land Husbandry Act, which restricted Africans to certain areas which were not agriculturally productive.
A number of political parties were involved in the liberation struggle against the Rhodesian Front government under Ian Smith.
One of the earliest parties to be formed by Africans was the African National Congress in the 1950s. It had branches in most urban areas such as Salisbury and Bulawayo.
There was also the National Democratic Party formed in 1959 and was led by Joshua Nkomo. It was banned in 1960 and this resulted in the formation of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (Zapu) under Nkomo.
Zapu eventually split into factions and this resulted in the birth of the Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu) in 1963 in the Highfield suburb of Salisbury. It was led by the likes of Herbert Chitepo and Enos Nkala.
Zapu and Zanu had the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (Zipra) and the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (Zanla) as their military wings respectively. Zanla had most of its bases in neighbouring Mozambique in areas such as Tete, Chimoio and Nyadzonia where the freedom fighters were trained.
Zipra was headquartered in Zambia, respectively. The two movements had bases in countries such as Tanzania where they trained their fighters.
Both parties adopted the marxist and communist ideologies. They also adopted guerrilla warfare as their strategy in battle.
Guerrilla warfare involved surprise attacks and ambushes. The Second Chimurenga is said to have drawn its inspiration from the First Chimurenga.
One of the unique characteristics of the nationalist parties was their reliance on the peasant communities for both material and moral support.
This was called the “fish and water” strategy adopted from Chinese communists led by Mao.
The liberation struggle is also said to have been planned during the first congress held by Zanu in 1964 when Ndabaningi Sithole called the clarion for war where the party issued its five-point plan, which remains unknown.
Between 1974 and 1975 Kenneth Kaunda the then President of Zambia, which was part of the Frontline States and John Voster the then President of South Africa were making efforts to bring the liberation struggle to a halt to pave way for independence through political negotiations.
Later in December, the nationalist party leaders were invited to a meeting in Lusaka to discuss the terms of the political settlement. The negotiations happened in Lusaka in December and incarcerated leaders were brought to attend. Leaders of the Frontline States (Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia) were part of the negotiations in Zambia.
The chairperson of the Frontline States was Julius Nyerere. On December 8, 1974, the nationalist parties however agreed to form a temporary united party under ANC and its president Abel Muzorewa. This new united movement would go to congress in four months.
Herbert Chitepo was assassinated on March 18, 1975. Chief Rekayi Tangwena was assisted to cross the Mozambican border to organise the struggle from there.
It was also during this period when a decision was made unanimously by members of the High Command as well as those of the Dare ReChimurenga that Robert Mugabe was to be the president of Zanu.
Sweet victory
The end of the war was spearheaded by the Lancaster House Agreement of 1979, which was chaired by Lord Carrington. Prior to the signing of the Lancaster House Agreement, several conferences were organised and hosted to try and bring the war to an end but they never yielded any results.
In 1976, for instance, there was the Geneva Conference. In 1978, there was the signing of the Internal Settlement also referred to as the “sell-out settlement” which was however botched as it was rejected by Zanu and Zapu who were not included in the whole process.
It was signed by Smith, Muzorewa, Sithole and Chief Jeremiah Chirau and it led to the creation of ZimbabweRhodesia.
Many reasons have been put forward which led the fighting parties to finally come to the negotiation table. It is argued that Smith was receiving pressure from his allies, in this case Voster, to end the war mainly because it was now becoming too costly.
The failure of the Internal Settlement was also pointed as a factor which lured Smith to come to the negotiating table.
Rhodesia was under sanctions as a result of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) of 1965.
The fall of the Portuguese empire in Mozambique also enabled the infiltration of more guerrillas from Mozambique and this posed a major threat to Smith’s forces.
On the side of the Africans, pressure began to be mounted from the Frontline States as their economies were also failing, hence they were no longer in a position to continue sup- porting the liberation struggle.