The Ceasefire Agreement, together with the Lancaster House constitutional Agreement were signed on December 21 by the Commander-in-Chief of ZANLA, Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe, the Commander-in-Chief of ZIPRA, Cde Joshua Nkomo, and the head of the Rhodesian delegation, Bishop Abel Muzorewa, writes Dr Felix Muchemwa in his bookThe Struggle for Land in Zimbabwe (1890-2010) that The Patriot is serialising.

Constitutional and ceasefire
agreements

AFTER the Draft Constitution, discussed under Constitutional Conference Paper No 19, had been agreed upon, the remainder of October and November 1979 were spent in intense discussions on the ceasefire in Zimbabwe.
Initially, Lord Carrington proposed that during the ceasefire, all military operations in Zimbabwe were to be limited to self-defence and that all commanders of the three armed forces, ZANLA, ZIPRA and the Rhodesian security forces should come under the Governor’s control with the Governor being assisted by the British military advisor, Major-General John Acland and his British liaison officers.
This, however, was quickly abandoned without further debate because it was totally unacceptable to the Patriotic Front who would have had to surrender command of their forces to the Governor. (Wiseman and Taylor p.11)
The Patriotic Front also refused to surrender the territory already under their control to the Rhodesian security forces, preferring a ‘ceasefire-in-place’ which was strongly advocated by Cde Josiah Tongogara. (Keesings, p.30174)
The Patriotic Front further insisted that the specialised units of the Rhodesian security forces such as the SAS and Selous Scouts should be disbanded.
Also to be disbanded were the auxiliary forces of Bishop Abel Muzorewa and Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole, and the militarised Rhodesian police force, leaving only the regular Rhodesian Army, Airforce and police.
Moreover, the Patriotic Front demanded that an estimated 15 000 South African mercenary forces still remaining inside Zimbabwe, together with British, European and American mercenaries should withdraw forthwith before the ceasefire. (Keesings p. 30172 – 30173)
The Patriotic Front, however, called for a substantial Commonwealth peace-keeping force to monitor the ceasefire. (Wiseman and Taylor p. 11)
It was proposed that the ceasefire monitoring force would largely be British, supported by Commonwealth forces to be drawn from Australia, New Zealand, Kenya and Fiji.
These forces were to carry weapons only for personal protection. (Wiseman and Taylor p. 12)
It was ultimately decided that the 1 300 strong Commonwealth monitoring force would be made up of 159 Australian forces, 75 New Zealand forces, 51 Kenyan forces and 24 Fijian forces with the rest being British. (Moorcraft and McLaughlin, 1982: p.171)
It was also agreed that the Patriotic Front forces, ZIPRA and ZANLA were to assemble at 15 assembly points (10 for ZANLA and five for ZIPRA) and that all Patriotic Front forces were to be in the Assembly Points (APs) within eight days of the ceasefire announcement, and that movement into APs was to be completed by January 4 1980.
Furthermore, no one force was to surrender to another force.
No side was to be disarmed by another. (Wiseman and Taylor pp. 12-13).
On December 11 1979, Lord Carrington announced a ceasefire to be implemented in four stages.
First, all cross-border military activity would cease at 24 hours on December 28 1979 and all hostilities in Rhodesia would cease. (Keesings p. 30174)
At 24 hours, on December 28 1979, the Rhodesian armed forces, under the direction of the Governor, would disengage to enable the Patriotic Front forces inside Rhodesia to begin the process of assembling. (Ceasefire Agreement, p3)
The Rhodesian security forces were to disengage and move into the close vicinity of bases at the company level, monitored by the Commonwealth Ceasefire Monitoring Force.
The Rhodesian Security forces were to be monitored within 40 designated bases and two airfields. (Keesings p. 30174)
The Patriotic Front forces, ZANLA and ZIPRA, would proceed via rendezvous points to the 15 APs under the direction of their commanders, and under the auspices of the monitoring force. (Ceasefire Agreement, p3)
In the APs, the Patriotic Front forces were to be monitored by the Commonwealth Ceasefire Monitoring Force. (Ceasefire Agreement, p3)
Lastly, the Patriotic Front forces, which had not assembled would be declared unlawful. (Keesings p30174)
ZANLA and ZIPRA guerillas in the APs would retain their arms with their commanders being accountable to the Governor of the British colony of Rhodesia for maintaining the ceasefire. (Keesings p30174)
On December 13 1979, the Patriotic Front accepted Lord Carrington’s proposals on the ceasefire despite strong objections to the proposed location of the APs at the periphery of Zimbabwe.
The peripheral location of the APs was at the insistence of General Walls and General Magnus Malan of South Africa.
In effect, this siting of assembly points meant the withdrawal of Patriotic Front forces from territory under their control, mostly in the central part of Zimbabwe, thus leaving the Rhodesian security forces with strategic dominance in the event of the ceasefire breaking down. (Keesings p. 30174)
An additional or 16th Assembly Point was however, eventually accepted after the Patriotic Front refused to initial the Ceasefire Agreement.
Assembly Point X-Ray was granted in the Silobela Tribal Trust Lands, west of Gwelo (Gweru), in the central part of Zimbabwe. (Herald, December 19 1979, p.4; Keesings p. 30174)
The initial allocation of 15 Assembly Points had a capacity of 20 000 guerillas, although the Patriotic Front had told Lord Carrington that they had more than 30 000 guerillas already inside Rhodesia.
This was against the Rhodesian Intelligence claim that there were no more than 10 000-11 000 ZANLA and ZIPRA guerillas already inside Rhodesia, a claim which Lord Carrington believed and insisted on. (Herald, December 20 1979, p.1)
The Ceasefire Agreement, together with the Lancaster House constitutional Agreement were signed on December 21 by the Commander-in-Chief of ZANLA, Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe, the Commander-in-Chief of ZIPRA, Cde Joshua Nkomo, and the head of the Rhodesian delegation, Bishop Abel Muzorewa. (Cole, 1984: p.412)