The story of the Second Chimurenga . . .
TodAy Zimbabweans celebrate the bravery displayed by the freedom fighter who laid their precious lives for others. Their battle for freedom has been told and retold but the most outstanding story was that of the Second Chimurenga.
The Second Chimurenga over the years has become an important aspect of the history of Zimbabwe in general. 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 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 1966 at the Battle of Chinhoyi 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 local 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 (NdP) 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 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. The two movements had also bases in countries such as Tanzania where they trained their fighters.
Both parties adopted the Marxist and
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