THE First Chimurenga was a compelling demonstration of African resistance and the capacity to mobilise and rally against colonialism.
Soon after their conquest, the Rhodesians wasted no time in invoking processes of emasculating the masses and intensifying their plunder.
After the 1896-7 uprising had been suppressed there was no further fighting until the 1960s, but the embers of resistance remained smouldering.
Nationalist protest movements had been mobilising and gathering momentum.
In the meantime, Rhodesians were adamant in their quest to further suppress the indigenes.
In 1914, the Matabele National Home Movement was vocal in denouncing plans to reduce the size of reserves.
In 1922, there was a referendum on whether to have ties with South Africa but only 60 out of the 900 000 African population were eligible to vote.
In response, Abraham Twala, a Zulu Anglican teacher wrote:
“Experience has taught us that our salvation does not lie in Downing Street.”
Twala went on to form the Rhodesian Bantu Voters’ Association.
The Federation of Bulawayo African Workers’ Union led by Jasper Savanhu and the African Workers’ Voice Association led by Benjamin Burombo and other nationalist movements continued to gather momentum.
Meanwhile, communities were dislocating, with new ones emerging especially because of the post Land Apportionment Act evictions (post-1930); the Land Husbandry Act (1951); the increasing rural-urban migrations; the developments of the Federal era where the politics of ‘racial partnership’ of the United Federal Party (UFP) regime increasingly wedged the gap between ‘modern’ Africans (the ‘Master farmers’, the educated elites and other groups of middle-class Africans) and ‘traditional’, poor (mainly rural dwellers) Africans.
It brought about significant changes to their lives.
Defeat in the First Chimurenga also meant continuation of the hut tax, effected in 1894, and forced labour on farms, forests and mines, among other forms of slavery.
Urban associations were sprouting but with diverse interests that further fragmented the people.
The state was becoming increasingly authoritarian at a time when a façade of racial harmony was being advocated by the proponents of racial partnership – which would have made the new African elites play second fiddle to the white liberals.
In 1945, the first major onslaught by blacks took place when a crippling strike was organised by African workers on the Rhodesia Railways.
The same year the African National Congress (ANC) was revived under the leadership of Reverend Thompson Samkange from which the likes of the vibrant Benjamin Burombo rose to take the colonialists head on.
Yet the settlers remained intransigent. In 1951 they introduced the Native Land Husbandry Act which forced rural families to reduce their cattle herds and change land tenure practices.
This sparked a furious reaction by the already agitated and fast rising nationalist movement.
In August 1955 matters came to a head when four young men James Chikerema, George Nyandoro, Edson Sithole and Dunduza Chisiza formed the City Youth League which later changed to the African National Youth League (ANYL).
This grouping later emerged as political and military leaders.
Feeling the heat, the settlers declared a State of Emergency in 1959, while the ANC was banned with 500 of its members getting arrested and 300 detained.
In response, the National Democratic Party (NDP) was formed on January 1 1960 with an interim executive of Michael Mawena who was the president of the party, deputised by Morton Malianga.
On July 19 1960, three members of the NDP were arrested and these were Mawema, Leopold Takawira and Samkange.
 They were sentenced to five years imprisonment or pay fines of 1 000 pounds each.
In the backdrop of all this, the NDP was banned in December 1961, three days after the 1961 Constitution was put into effect
On December 171961, the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) was formed, 10 days after the banning of NDP.
Joshua Nkomo was president while Samuel Parirenyatwa was vice-president, Ndabaningi Sithole, chairman, Jason Moyo, was treasurer, Robert Mugabe was information and publicity secretary and Takawira was external secretary, at the request of Joseph Msika.
The following year, ZAPU was banned but this time there was no stopping the popular movement.
On August 8 1963 ZANU formed leading to the execution of the war which was eventually won by blacks.