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The struggle for Zimbabwe

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BY the mid-1950s Mbuya Nehanda’s ‘bones’ had begun to stir with the rise of African nationalism in Rhodesia.
In 1960 British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan gave his famous ‘winds of change’ speech in apartheid South Africa’s parliament in Cape Town.
“The wind of change is blowing through this continent and whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact,” Macmillan said in the Cape Town parliament.
“We must all accept it as a fact.”
By 1961 26 African states were independent.
However, it would take Zimbabwe a long and often bloody 20 years before the colonial administration succumbed.
Five months after the then British Prime Minister’s speech, the Democratic Republic of Congo gained its independence from the Belgians on June 30 leading to civil unrest.
The unrest was mainly targeted at the white settlers who soon fled to South Africa and Rhodesia who were both British colonies.
The United States put pressure on the United Kingdom to decolonise so that they could gain access to new markets and resources.
The Americans believed that decolonisation was necessary to prevent communism becoming an attractive option to African nationalist movements.
When the whites fled from mineral rich Congo, they escaped to Southern Rhodesia where they were determined to prevent majority rule.
There was genuine fear that if the blacks were to rule Southern Rhodesia the white settlers would be chased away.
A sentiment that would be echoed decades later by white writers after the land reform who declared: ‘What would I do in England where I am just another white face in a crowd.’
They had enacted several laws to protect and enrich themselves. For example, the 1903 Masters and Servants Acts forbade the Africans from forming trade unions or engaging in collective bargaining or strike action.
The Native Land Husbandry Act of 1951 also saw the eviction of Africans from fertile lands. There were also destocking policies that forced them to sell their cattle for very little as each family was supposed to remain with five heads.
African farmers dominated the grain market in southern Rhodesia and after the First World War, the state policies ensured that these black farmers abandon their farms which were often repossessed so they could provide labour for the Europeans.
By the 1960’s the Land Act had pushed people from the rural to the urban areas which gave rise to unemployment and high cost of living in the city which was followed by strikes and boycotts.
The African National Council (ANC) condemned the land policies and declared any partnership between the settlers and the African elites as a sham.
The ANC was a product of the in 1955 City Youth League which had been formed by George Nyandoro, James Chikerema, Edson Sithole and Dunduza Chisiza.
In 1957 the City Youth League joined the Bulawayo-based African National Council to form the first national political party under the leadership of Joshua Nkomo with Nyandoro, Chikerema, J. Z Moyo among others in the executive.
Sir Garfield Todd the then Prime Minister and his party the Central African Party was ousted from power by his fellow Europeans as he was seen as too liberal with the Africans.
The United Federal Party (UFP) won the 1958 elections which saw Edgar Whitehead take over the rein and reinforce racial separation.
In February 1959, Whitehead banned nationalist parties under the Unlawful Organisation Act which saw the prohibition of the ANC.
Early 1960 right after the ban of the ANC the National Democratic Party was born spearheaded by Jason Moyo, Morton Malianga, Enos Nkala, Joshua Nkomo and Robert Mugabe.
Again there was resounding support for the NDP in both the rural and the urban areas.
The fear within the white circles was growing and they began to seek independence from Britain as they could not agree on the terms the Empire would grant majority rule.
Colonial Secretary Duncan Sandys arrived in the country in 1961 to try and address among other issues the representation of blacks in parliament and map the way forward.
The proposal was to grant the Africans 15 seats and the Europeans 50 in Parliament.
While some within the NDP began to contemplate the idea of a compromise, Secretary for External Affairs, Leopold Takawira who was not in the country at that time wrote a telegram rejecting the constitutional agreements as “treacherous to three million Africans”.
Under pressure from the British, Prime Minister Whitehead announced his intention to repeal the Land Act and began to hint on racial integration in schools.
Still under pressure from his Rhodesian countrymen, Whitehead banned the NDP on December 9 1961 and 10 days later the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) was launched which too would be banned in 10 months time.
The Rhodesian Front was formed in early 1962 and Winston Joseph Field became Prime Minister, with Ian Smith, his deputy and minister of the treasury.
The Rhodesians contemplated declaring independence from Britain and this led to the eventual ouster of Field .
In 1964, Ian Smith took over and a year later on November 11, he declared independence from Britain unilaterally.
At the same time, preparations for the liberation war were well under way with the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) engaged in the first major battle at Chinhoyi in 1966.

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