Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo

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Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo (born 1917) was a leader in the African nationalist movement in southern Rhodesia during the post-World War II period. President of the Zimbabwe African People's Union, he was active in the first independent African government inZimbabwe and was vice president of Zimbabwe from 1990-1996.

Son of a cattle-owning teacher and lay preacher, Nkomo was born June 19, 1917, in the Semokwe reserve of Matebeland in southern Rhodesia. He spent his formative years being educated in South Africa at Adams College in Natal and at the Jan Hofmeyer School in Johannesburg.

Nkomo returned home in 1945 and worked as a welfare officer with Rhodesian Railways while practicing as a lay preacher on most Sundays. In 1951 he completed a correspondence Bachelor of Arts degree in social science from the University of South Africa. That same year Nkomo became general secretary of the Rhodesian Railways African Employees' Association, and he soon built up one of the best organized unions in central Africa.

Trade unionism became a stepping stone for politics. Nkomo joined other young radicals who opposed white settler domination in southern Rhodesia. As chairman of the Bulawayo branch of the otherwise largely dormant African National Congress (ANC) in southern Rhodesia, Nkomo accompanied Premier Sir Godfrey Huggins (later Lord Malvern) to London for a conference about the possible federation of northern and southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

The failure of African protestations at the conference galvanized Nkomo's commitment to the African nationalist cause in southern Rhodesia, and upon return home he abandoned his railway job for insurance work in order to have more time for politics. In 1953 he contested and lost a seat in the first federal election, but soon emerged as the leading African nationalist in southern Rhodesia. He gradually rebuilt the ANC around Bulawayo, and when the African National Youth League (based in Salisbury) and the Bulawayo ANC merged in 1957, Nkomo became the president of the new ANC in southern Rhodesia. The party soon incurred the government's wrath, and in February 1959 it was banned and 500 members were arrested.

Nkomo was in Cairo attending an Afro-Asian conference at the time and so escaped imprisonment. He moved to London, where he became the external affairs director (and later president) of the party established to succeed the banned ANC - the National Democratic party (NDP). Nkomo toured the world trying to arouse public opinion against the Rhodesian government, particularly in Britain and at the United Nations.

For a while Nkomo's strategy seemed reasonable. The British prime minister, Harold Macmillan, made his "winds of change" speech in Cape Town. As the federation plan faltered, Britain agreed to hold separate constitutional conferences for the two Rhodesias. But compromises were too little and too late, and party radicals forced Nkomo to repudiate the conference. Soon afterwards, the NDP was banned, but the nationalists quickly formed a new party - the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), with Nkomo as president. Within nine months, this party was also banned. Again outside the country at the time, Nkomo decided to set up ZAPU headquarters in nearby Tanzania where he could continue his quest for international support.

The struggle within Rhodesia waivered as Nkomo concentrated on external ties, and in 1963 dissention within the ZAPU leadership led to the formation of a breakaway nationalist party, the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU). The new organization was increasingly committed to a military strategy and sent recruits from its military wing, the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA), to China for training in guerrilla warfare. Nkomo established the People's Caretaker Council (PCC) to carry out ZAPU's internal struggle.

In 1964 the Rhodesians elected Ian Smith, who supported a unilateral declaration of independence from Britain (accomplished in 1965). Smith promptly banned ZANU and PCC and arrested Nkomo and other nationalist leaders, who began a decade's imprisonment.

Meanwhile, warfare spread as nationalist insurgents from both parties stepped up attacks on the settler regime. In 1972 the Mozambique border opened up, giving ZANLA an opportunity to prosecute the war with renewed vigor. ZANU, now led by Robert Mugabe, called for complete surrender, but some moderate African leaders tried to reach compromise settlements with Smith. Nkomo's attempt to negotiate with Smith in 1975 hurt his reputation as a nationalist leader. Although Nkomo agreed to merge ZAPU and ZANU military forces in the Patriotic Front, Mugabe had eclipsed Nkomo as the leading nationalist in Southern Rhodesia. In 1978 Smith tried to circumvent the Patriotic Front by signing an internal settlement with Bishop Muzorewa. Mugabe and Nkomo rejected the settlement and continued fighting.

International disapproval and continued warfare finally drove Smith to the negotiating table. At the Lancaster House Conference in 1979 Smith agreed to a new constitution, and in 1980 Mugabe became prime minister and minister for defense. Nkomo held positions in the ministry and cabinet for a while, but conflicts with Mugabe erupted in 1982, driving Nkomo into exile. He returned in 1986.

Conflict between Mugabe's party, ZANU-PF, and Nkomo's party ZAPU, caused civil unrest, which often became violent. Talks of merging the two parties surfaced and resurfaced, but it was not until a particularly brutal massacre occurred in Matabeland, in 1987, that a unity agreement was signed. In the same year. Mugabe was elected President, and Nkomo became a minister in his government. With two others, Nkomo oversaw policy, among other responsibilities.

The newly created unified party took on the name ZANU-PF. The agreement between the two parties stated that the party was committed to a one-party state in the Marxist-Leninist tradition. It provided that the party would be headed by Mugabe, but that a constitutional amendment would be passed to create two vice-presidencies - one of which would be filled by Nkomo. It was ratified by both parties in 1988, and this led to more peaceful conditions in Zimbabwe.

In December 1989, ZANU-PF was convened to finish the party merger. Controversy broke out over several of the provisions in the unity agreement, including the creation of the second vice-presidency for Nkomo. Nevertheless, Nkomo was appointed vice-president in 1990.

Mugabe's government proved to be unpopular, student boycotts were suppressed in 1991, and other groups that wished to protest were stifled. Government shortages, inflation, and unemployment were also problematic while Nkomo was vice-president. Although opposition groups formed, they were never strong or organized enough to pose a real threat to Mugabe and Nkomo. In 1996, Nkomo announced his intention to resign his vice presidency, because of ill health.

Further Reading

Joshua Nkomo is listed in African Biographies (Zimbabwe, 1); his early career is discussed John Day's International Nationalism: The Extra-territorial Relations of Southern Rhodesian African Nationalists (1967); more current description can be found in David Martin's and Phyllis Johnson's The Struggle for Zimbabwe (1981).

politician

Personal Information

Born Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo in 1917 in the Matopo district, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe); son of a cattle farmer; married; one daughter.
Education: Attended Jan Hofmeyer School of Social Work, Johannesburg, South Africa; received B.A. from University of South Africa.

Career

Vice-president of Zimbabwe, 1980-81 and 1988--. Social welfare worker with Rhodesian Railways, 1947-52; general-secretary of the Rhodesian Railways African Employees' Association, 1952-53; president of African National Congress (of Southern Rhodesia), 1953-59; director of international and external affairs for National Democratic Party (of Southern Rhodesia), 1960-61. Founder and leader of Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), 1961-88; ZAPU merged with Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), 1988.

Life's Work

Joshua Nkomo has been hailed as the "father of Zimbabwean nationalism" for his role in assuring black majority rule in the African nation of Zimbabwe (formerly Southern Rhodesia). Known affectionately in his homeland as "Father Zimbabwe" or "The Old Lion," Nkomo serves as one of two vice-presidents in what is essentially a one-party state. New Leader correspondent Kurt M. Campbell wrote of Nkomo: "The man who founded the nationalist resistance to white rule and spent a decade in a Rhodesian prison ... has now assumed the mantle of elder statesman in the government." Nkomo's promotion to vice-president in 1988 brought a lasting partnership of the country's two leading political parties, thus effectively ending a half decade of bloody civil war.

In 1988, when after years of rift he joined the government headed by Robert Mugabe, Nkomo told the New Leader: "The unity between our [Zimbabwean] peoples is something we had to bring about. We could look around the region and see how South Africa has played on our weaknesses. Now we are together.... Zimbabwe is situated in a volatile, violent region, and we need to face the future united." The unity that Nkomo has sought as Zimbabwe's vice-president is no longer challenged by deadly tribal warfare but rather by persistent calls for multi-party democracy in future national elections.

The history of the territory now known as Zimbabwe began on September 13, 1890, when the flag of Great Britain was raised at Fort Salisbury to mark English settlement. The British colonists called the area Southern Rhodesia, an honor paid to millionaire industrialist Cecil Rhodes. Rhodes had plans for the landlocked region, and he paid armed soldiers to subdue the native African tribes, especially the Shona and the Ndebele, who had united against the invaders. By 1901, white settlers were pouring into Southern Rhodesia, forcibly seizing the best farmland and overseeing the mining of gold, chrome ore, and platinum.

Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo was born in 1917 in the part of Zimbabwe that became known as Matabeleland. He was a member of the Ndebele tribe, a minority group next to the larger, more powerful Shona tribe. The imposition of white rule notwithstanding, Nkomo's father was able to hold onto some prime grazing land. The family owned 1,000 head of cattle and was prosperous enough to seek formal education for the children. The young Nkomo attended a Catholic mission school, where he completed the equivalent of an elementary school education.

As a teen, Nkomo moved to the regional capital, Bulawayo, where he made money for secondary school by working as a carpenter and truck driver. He was able to earn enough to move to South Africa, where he completed his secondary education at the Government School of Adams College. He then attended the Jan Hofmeyer School of Social Work in Johannesburg, returning to his homeland in 1947 to take a job as a social welfare worker with the Rhodesian Railways. He was the first black man to hold such an important job on the nation's rail lines.

The country Nkomo called home was prosperous enough--though mainly for white settlers only. By 1930, the colonists from Great Britain had taken control of the government and forcibly relocated black farmers and businessmen to give more economic opportunity to the whites. Native Africans were moved to the poorest and most inaccessible land and were forbidden to compete with whites in growing cash crops such as tobacco and cotton. Blacks were relegated to positions of servitude within commercial farming or industry, and very few of them were able to earn a college degree.

As one black man who did graduate from college--earning a bachelor's degree from the University of South Africa--Nkomo was appalled by the state of affairs in his country. Although he had a good job with the Rhodesian Railways, the inequity visited upon his fellow Zimbabweans moved him to exert himself politically. He became general-secretary of the Rhodesian Railways African Employees' Association and built that group into a powerful organization with 22 branches and more than 2500 members. His activities with the organization met with white approval because he seemed willing to cooperate with the ruling regime. In fact, he was perceived as such a moderate that he was invited to London in 1952 to represent black opinion at a planning conference for three British colonies, including Southern Rhodesia.

That conference represented the turning point in Nkomo's career. He rejected all proposals that left the government of Southern Rhodesia in white hands, and he returned home in protest. Within the year he was elected president of Southern Rhodesia's African National Congress (ANC), a nationalist organization devoted to ending white minority rule. Nkomo served as president of the ANC from 1953 until the party was banned in 1959. His duties included travel abroad for speaking engagements on the party's behalf, and thus he was outside Southern Rhodesia when the white government cracked down on the ANC and jailed some of its leaders.

The 1960s brought heightened tensions to many African nations caught in the yoke of colonial rule. In Southern Rhodesia a series of white prime ministers adopted harsher and harsher tactics against black nationalists. In turn, the blacks learned guerilla warfare techniques from sympathizers in the Soviet Union and China. Although constantly under the threat of drought and poor farm yields, Southern Rhodesia continued to prosper economically, and that in turn drew more whites into the country.

In July of 1961 Southern Rhodesia adopted a new constitution that allowed a small number of blacks to enter Parliament. Nkomo supported the new constitution at first, but then changed his mind. Still perceived as a moderate, he watched his popularity erode while more militant Africans demanded black majority rule immediately. In response, he formed a political party, the Zimbabwe African Peoples' Union (ZAPU), and appealed to the United Nations for economic sanctions against Southern Rhodesia. His passionate speech in New York City in 1962 brought results. Many nations agreed to the sanctions, but some--including England and the United States--continued to offer covert support to Southern Rhodesia.

In the meantime, ZAPU was gaining popularity--and making military in-roads--in Southern Rhodesia. During 1963 Nkomo was arrested and brought to court four times for leading demonstrations and making subversive statements. Even so, he was perceived as too moderate by a wing of ZAPU, and the more radical elements formed a new party, the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU). The methods proposed by ZAPU and ZANU were slightly different, but the aim remained the same: to oust white minority rule in favor of a government run by black Africans.

In April of 1964 Ian Smith was named prime minister of Southern Rhodesia. A white conservative determined to make the country safe and even more prosperous for its white inhabitants, Smith began a ruthless crusade against the black nationalists. One of Smith's first acts was to banish Nkomo to a detention center in a remote region. Violent riots broke out all over the nation, but they were suppressed. All told, Smith kept Nkomo in a series of isolated "camps" for ten years. Just as in the case of South African activist Nelson Mandela, this incarceration without trial only served to heighten Nkomo's popularity, and both ZAPU and ZANU attracted recruits for the struggle against the Smith administration.

The end of Portuguese rule in the African nations of Angola and Mozambique in 1974 gave impetus to the nationalist movement in Southern Rhodesia, and Smith was finally forced to free Nkomo. As leader of ZAPU, Nkomo moved to Zambia, using that African country as a staging area for guerilla attacks on whites in Southern Rhodesia. Smith called for peace talks, but the violence continued because Nkomo refused to halt the warfare while the white government negotiated a new constitution. Smith found himself besieged by the forces of ZAPU--drawn mostly from the Ndebele peoples--and ZANU--a larger group of primarily Shona tribespeople led by Robert Mugabe. The white prime minister opened formal negotiations with Nkomo, perceiving him as the more moderate individual, only to be told that any new constitution would have to mandate black majority rule immediately.

The final blow for Smith came in 1979 when Nkomo and Mugabe put aside their differences and united ZAPU and ZANU for an all-out attack on Southern Rhodesia. The unity of rebel leaders forced Smith to the bargaining table in London, and the Republic of Zimbabwe was born. Black majority rule was restored to the nation, with elections set for 1980. Voting in the first Zimbabwean election reflected party strengths. Mugabe, the leader of ZANU and a member of the more numerous Shona tribe, was elected prime minister. He immediately appointed Nkomo as one of his top deputies, thus giving ZAPU supporters a role in the new government.

The alliance was a fragile one, however. Within two years, Mugabe fired Nkomo and accused him of plotting a coup with ZAPU soldiers. Nkomo denied any plot, but many of his followers resorted to violence in protest of Mugabe's actions. In the spring of 1983 the situation became so precarious for Nkomo that he fled Zimbabwe in secret. His home was ransacked and his servant murdered by Mugabe's government troops. "I ran away from my grave," Nkomo told Newsweek. By August he was back in Zimbabwe, but the fighting between ZAPU and ZANU supporters continued. The warfare split Zimbabwe along tribal lines, and although atrocities were committed by both sides, the smaller Ndebele tribe--Nkomo's people--reportedly suffered the most. Fighting was concentrated in Matabeleland, the province where Nkomo was born.

In 1987 ZAPU was forbidden to hold rallies and its offices were closed by the government. Nkomo had lived through the years of white repression only to see his political party repressed by yet another regime. The violence continued, and although Nkomo told the New Leader that the dissidents "acted alone, without external support or higher command," it seemed increasingly likely that arms were being supplied to ZAPU by South Africa in order to continue the civil war in Zimbabwe.

This knowledge--and the continuing atrocities--led Mugabe to seek an accord with Nkomo. During the Christmas holidays in 1987, the two former rebels joined hands, symbolically fusing their political parties, and called for an end to the fighting. Africa Report contributor Andrew Meldrum wrote that throughout the spring of 1988, "Nkomo was featured making impassioned appeals for his followers to support the ... government and to end all cooperation with the dissident rebels. At his side were top ZANU ministers, who just a year earlier had described Nkomo himself as a dissident."

Nkomo became vice-president of Zimbabwe, with duties that included development of rural areas such as Matabeleland. The combination of ZANU and ZAPU (which became known as ZANU-PF) effectively brought one-party rule to Zimbabwe. In 1990 Mugabe was re-elected as executive president under a new constitution, Nkomo was retained as one of two vice-presidents, and ZANU-PF won 116 of 120 seats in Parliament.

A diplomatic and political victory of such massive proportions seemed to indicate strong electoral support for a one-party state. Unfortunately for the Mugabe administration, Zimbabwe has been beset by problems, from unemployment running as high as 50 percent to soaring inflation and industrial decay. The whites who once ran the industries and commercial farms left the country in droves without training blacks to assume professional roles. In addition, even though the government controls the principal newspaper and the only television and radio stations in the country, reports of high-level corruption have leaked repeatedly. Dissatisfaction with the Mugabe administration--added to the example of other African countries that have recently opted for democracy--pose a great challenge to the one-party rule currently in place in Zimbabwe.

New political parties are springing up in Zimbabwe to challenge the ZANU-PF monopoly on power. Even Nkomo's former ZAPU party contains a substantial number of dissatisfied citizens. The outcome of future elections in the fledgling state can only be a matter of conjecture, but one thing seems certain: Joshua Nkomo, who made a black-run Republic of Zimbabwe his life's goal, will remain a popular national hero long after his days in office are done. "It would be a pity," wrote Norman Gelb in the New Leader, "if there is no longer room in Zimbabwe for a man who did so much to close the book on [white] minority rule."

Further Reading

Books

• Charlton, Michael, The Last Colony in Africa: Diplomacy and the Independence of Rhodesia, Basil Blackwell, 1990.

• Africa Report, March/April 1988; March/April 1990; July/August 1990; January/February 1991; March/April 1992; July/August 1992.
• Christian Science Monitor, June 28, 1963.
• New Leader, April 18, 1983; December 12, 1988.
• Newsweek, March 21, 1983; August 29, 1983.
• Time, March 18, 1985; January 4, 1988.
• Additional information supplied by the Zimbabwe Embassy, Washington, D.C.

— Anne Janette Johnson

Quotes:

"All I'm trying to do is not join my ancestral spirits just yet."