Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo (19 June 1917 – 1 July 1999) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as
Vice-President of Zimbabwe
The vice-president of Zimbabwe is the second highest political position obtainable in Zimbabwe. Between 1987 and 1990, there was a provision for only one vice-president; since 1990 there is a provision for two. The vice-presidents are appointed ...
from 1990 until his death in 1999. He founded and led the
Zimbabwe African People's Union
The Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) is a Zimbabwean political party. It is a militant communist organization and political party that campaigned for majority rule in Rhodesia, from its founding in 1961 until 1980. In 1987, it merged with ...
(ZAPU) from 1961 until, after an internal military crackdown (known as
Gukurahundi) in western Zimbabwe, mostly targeting ethnic
Ndebele ZAPU supporters, ZAPU merged in 1987 with
Robert Mugabe's
Zimbabwe African National Union
The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) was a militant socialist organisation that fought against white-minority rule in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) in 1963. ZANU split in 1975 into wings l ...
(ZANU) to form
ZANU–PF.
He was a leading trade union leader, who progressed on to become president of the banned
National Democratic Party, and was jailed for ten years by
Rhodesia
Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...
's white minority government. After his release in 1974, ZAPU contributed to the fall of that government, along with the splinter rival
ZANU, created in 1963.
In 1983, fearing for his life in the early stages of the Gukurahundi, Nkomo fled the country. Later in 1987, he controversially signed the
Unity Accord allowing ZAPU to merge with ZANU to stop the genocide.
Nkomo earned many nicknames, including ''Umafukufuku'' in
Ndebele, "Father Zimbabwe" in English, and ''Chibwechitedza'' ("the slippery rock") in
Shona.
Early life
Nkomo was born on 19 June 1917 in
Matopos,
Matabeleland
Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi ...
,
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...
(now
Matobo, Zimbabwe) to a poor
Ndebele family.
He was one of eight children. His father (Thomas Nyongolo Letswansto Nkomo) worked as a preacher and a cattle rancher and worked for the
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed tradition, Reformed in outlook, with ...
. His mother was Mlingo Hadebe.
After completing his primary education in Southern Rhodesia, Nkomo took a carpentry course at the Tsholotsho Government Industrial School and studied there for a year before becoming a driver. He later tried
animal husbandry
Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, animal fiber, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising ...
, then became a schoolteacher specialising in carpentry at Manyame School in
Kezi. In 1942, at the age of 25, during his career as a teacher, he decided that he should go to South Africa to further his education, do carpentry and qualify to a higher level. He attended Adams College and the
Jan H. Hofmeyr School of Social Work in South Africa,
where he met
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...
and other future nationalist leaders at the
University of Fort Hare
The University of Fort Hare () is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to ...
, although he did not attend that university. It was at the
Jan Hofmeyr School of Social Work that he was awarded a diploma in social work in 1952. Nkomo married his wife
Johanna Fuyana on 1 October 1949.
Politics 1947–1964
After returning to
Bulawayo
Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...
in 1947, he became a trade unionist for black railway workers and rose to the leadership of the Railway Workers Union and then to leadership of the Southern Rhodesian chapter of the
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...
. In 1953 he ran for Parliament in the first federal election, although he lost.
The Southern Rhodesian ANC branch became the
Southern Rhodesia African National Congress (SRANC), and in 1957 Nkomo was elected chairman.
Nkomo was out of the country in 1959 when SRANC was banned, its property confiscated, and many of its leaders arrested.
On 1 January 1960, the
National Democratic Party (NDP) was founded by Nkomo and others from the SRANC leadership to succeed the banned SRANC, and adopted their goals and organizational structure, as well as subsuming their membership. That year he became president of the NDP with the support of
Robert Mugabe. The NDP was banned in December 1961 by the Rhodesian government.
Nkomo immediately formed the
Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU) together with
Samuel Parirenyatwa,
Ndabaningi Sithole,
Robert Mugabe, and others. That party was also banned by the Rhodesian white minority government nine months later in September 1962.
ZAPU split in 1963 with Sithole and Mugabe taking their supporters and forming the
Zimbabwe African National Union
The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) was a militant socialist organisation that fought against white-minority rule in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) in 1963. ZANU split in 1975 into wings l ...
(ZANU).
While some have claimed this split was due to ethnic tensions, more accurately the split was motivated by the failure of Sithole, Mugabe, Takawira and Malianga to wrest control of ZAPU from Nkomo. ZAPU would remain a multi-ethnic party right up until independence.
Armed struggle
Nkomo was detained at
Gonakudzingwa Restriction Camp by
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 191920 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1979. He w ...
's government in 1964, with fellow outlaw rebels
Ndabaningi Sithole,
Edgar Tekere,
Enos Nkala,
Maurice Nyagumbo, and Mugabe, until 1974.
Paul Tangi Mhova Mkondo a student youth leader was also detained with them for some time. A large number of them were released due to pressure from
South African Prime Minister
John Vorster
Balthazar Johannes "B. J." Vorster (; 13 December 1915 – 10 September 1983), better known as John Vorster, was a South African politician who served as the prime minister of South Africa from 1966 to 1978 and the fourth state president of So ...
. Following Nkomo's release, he went to
Zambia
Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
to continue opposing the Rhodesian government through the dual processes of armed resistance and negotiation.
Unlike ZANU's armed wing – the
Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army
Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) was the military wing of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), a militant African nationalist organisation that participated in the Rhodesian Bush War against white minority rule of Rhod ...
, ZAPU's armed wing – the
Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army
Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) was the military wing of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), a Marxist–Leninist political party in Rhodesia. It participated in the Rhodesian Bush War against white minority rule of Rhode ...
– was dedicated to both
guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrori ...
and conventional warfare. At the time of independence ZIPRA had a modern military, stationed in
Zambia
Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
and
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
, consisting of Soviet-made
Mikoyan fighters, tanks and armoured personnel carriers, as well as well trained
artillery
Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
units.
Nkomo was the target of two attempted assassinations. The first one, in Zambia, by the
Selous Scouts
The Selous Scouts was a special forces unit of the Rhodesian Army that operated during the Rhodesian Bush War from 1973 until the reconstitution of the country as Zimbabwe in 1980. It was mainly responsible for infiltrating the black majority ...
, was a
false flag
A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misrep ...
operation. The mission was ultimately aborted and attempted later, unsuccessfully, by the
Rhodesian Special Air Service
The Rhodesian Special Air Service or Rhodesian SAS was a special forces unit of the Rhodesian Army. It comprised:
*C Squadron, Special Air Service Regiment (Malayan Emergency, 1951–1953)
*"C" Squadron (Rhodesian) Special Air Service (1961–197 ...
(SAS). In August 2011 it was reported by the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
that Nkomo had been tipped off by the British government.
ZAPU forces strategically weakened the Rhodesian government during the
Bush War. The most widely reported and possibly the most effective of these attacks were the downing of two
Air Rhodesia Vickers Viscount
The Vickers Viscount is a retired British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner.
T ...
civilian passenger planes with
surface-to-air missile
A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...
s, resulting in the deaths of 107 people in total. The
first, on 3 September 1978, killed 38 out of 56 in the crash with a further ten survivors (including women and children) shot dead by ZIPRA cadres sent to inspect the burnt wreckage.
Nkomo later dismissed the massacre as false allegations perpetrated by the Rhodesian media and expressed his regret at the downing of a civilian plane, but defended the act by stating the Rhodesian government was known to transport military personnel aboard civilian liners. The eight remaining survivors eluded the guerrillas by hiding overnight in the bush; some walked towards Karoi to seek help. Some of the passengers had serious injuries and they were picked up by local police and debriefed by the Rhodesian army.
The
second shooting down, on 12 February 1979, killed all 59 on board. The target of the second attack was reportedly General
Peter Walls, head of the COMOPS (Commander, Combined Operations), in charge of the
Special Forces
Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
, including the
SAS and the Selous Scouts. Due to the large number of tourists returning to Salisbury a second flight had been dispatched. General Walls received a boarding card for the second flight, which departed
Kariba 15 minutes after the doomed aircraft.
No one was ever brought to trial or charged with shooting down the aircraft due to amnesty laws passed by both Smith and Mugabe. In a television interview not long after the attack on the first aircraft, Nkomo joked about the incident while admitting ZAPU had indeed been responsible. In his memoir, ''Story of My Life'', published in 1984, Nkomo later said, "during that interview, the interviewee had asked about what we used to down the planes and I said stones, jokingly in an attempt to avoid answering the question due to military intelligence which demanded secrecy regarding what type of weapons we had acquired from the Soviet Union. They remembered the laugh and not the regret for the shooting down of both aircraft."
Politics 1980–1999
Following the first majority-rule election in
Zimbabwe-Rhodesia
Zimbabwe Rhodesia (), alternatively known as Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, also informally known as Zimbabwe or Rhodesia, was a short-lived unrecognised sovereign state that existed from 1 June 1979 to 18 April 1980, though it lacked international recog ...
in which around 60% of the population voted, a government led by
Abel Muzorewa, was formed in 1979 between
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 191920 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1979. He w ...
and
Ndabaningi Sithole's
ZANU Mwenje, which by now had also split from Mugabe's more militant ZANU faction. The civil war waged by Nkomo and Mugabe continued unabated and Britain and the USA did not lift sanctions on the country. Britain persuaded all parties to come to
Lancaster House
Lancaster House (originally known as York House and then Stafford House) is a mansion on The Mall, London, The Mall in the St James's district in the West End of London. Adjacent to The Green Park, it is next to Clarence House and St James ...
in September 1979 to work out a constitution and the basis for fresh elections. Mugabe and Nkomo shared a delegation, called the
Patriotic Front (PF), at the negotiations chaired by
Lord Carrington
Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, Baron Carington of Upton (6 June 1919 – 9July 2018), was a British Conservative Party politician and hereditary peer who served as Defence Secretary from 1970 to 1974, Foreign Secreta ...
.
Nkomo proposed to address Zimbabwe-Rhodesia's land question with
Georgist
Georgism, in modern times also called Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that people should own the value that they produce themselves, while the economic rent derived from land—includ ...
principles of collecting ground rent but leaving improvements to those who built them.
Elections were held in 1980 and to the surprise of Nkomo but few others, the Common Roll vote split on predictable tribal lines, with the 20 seats in Matabeleland going to ZAPU (listed as "PF–ZAPU") and all but three of the sixty in predominantly Shona areas falling to Mugabe's
ZANU–PF. Nkomo was offered the ceremonial post of
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
, but declined, instead being appointed Minister of Home Affairs.
Conflict with Mugabe
Despite reaching their ultimate goal, ousting Smith's minority regime, Nkomo could not reconcile his differences with Mugabe.
Ideological differences kept the two men apart as Mugabe's
Marxism
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...
clashed with Nkomo's
Georgist
Georgism, in modern times also called Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that people should own the value that they produce themselves, while the economic rent derived from land—includ ...
reformism. Nkomo's ethnic background was also grounds for distrust by Mugabe who constantly feared an uprising by the historically turbulent Ndebele population. Nkomo would make concessions and attempts to improve relationships but met with varying results, the most successful being the ones where
Sally Hayfron would intervene, as she was the only person within Mugabe's party who was supportive of Nkomo.
Initially, Mugabe refused to give Nkomo the position of Minister of Defence which Nkomo had been hoping for. After the intervention of Sally Hayfron, Nkomo was appointed to the cabinet (as minister without portfolio), but in 1982 was accused of plotting a coup d'état after South African double agents in Zimbabwe's
Central Intelligence Organization, attempting to cause distrust between ZAPU and ZANU, planted arms on ZAPU owned farms and then tipped Mugabe off to their existence.
In a public statement Mugabe said, "ZAPU and its leader, Dr. Joshua Nkomo, are like a cobra in a house. The only way to deal effectively with a snake is to strike and destroy its head."
[ Informative letter to Prime Minister Mugabe ''Dead Link''] He unleashed the
Fifth Brigade upon Nkomo's Matabeleland homeland in Operation
Gukurahundi, killing up to 20,000 Ndebele civilians in an attempt to destroy ZAPU and create a one-party state. Nkomo fled the country. Mugabe's government claimed that he had "illegally" left dressed as a woman:
Nkomo ridiculed the suggestion that he escaped dressed as a woman. "I expected they would invent stupid stories about my flight.... People will believe anything if they believe that".
He added that "nothing in my life had prepared me for persecution at the hands of a government led by black Africans."
After the Gukurahundi massacres, in 1987 Nkomo consented to the absorption of ZAPU into ZANU, resulting in a unified party called
ZANU-PF, leaving Zimbabwe as effectively a one-party state and leading some
Ndebeles to accuse Nkomo of selling out. These Ndebele individuals were in such a minority that they did not constitute a meaningful power base within ZAPU. As part of the deal, Nkomo became vice-president when the constitution was amended to create a second vice-president in 1990. He was sworn in as vice-president on 6 August 1990. In practice, the post was almost powerless. With his health failing, his influence declined.
When asked late in his life why he allowed this to happen, he told historian Eliakim Sibanda that he did it to stop the murder of the Ndebele (who supported his party) and of the ZAPU politicians and organizers who had been targeted by Zimbabwe's security forces since 1982. "Mugabe and his Shona henchmen have always sought the extermination of the Ndebele," he said.
Personal life
Family
Nkomo married his wife Johanna in 1949. They had four children: Thandiwe Nkomo, Ernest Thutani, Michael
Sibangilizwe, and Louise Sehlule
Religion
Nkomo had a
Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa chaplain in his militia days,
and was ordained a
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
lay preacher
A lay preacher is a preacher who is not ordained (i.e. a layperson) and who may not hold a formal university degree in theology. Lay preaching varies in importance between religions and their sects.
Overview
Some denominations specifically disco ...
.
Described as "not an ardent churchgoer" in 1962,
he returned to preaching in retirement.
He proclaimed respect for
traditional African religions
The beliefs and practices of Demographics of Africa, African people are highly diverse, and include various ethnic religions.Encyclopedia of African Religion (Sage, 2009) Molefi Kete Asante Generally, these traditions are oral tradition, oral rath ...
and made use of their ceremonies and symbolism in his political campaigning.
In his last years he converted to
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
.
[
]
Death
Nkomo died of
prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...
on 1 July 1999 at the age of 82 in
Parirenyatwa Hospital
Parirenyatwa General Hospital is a government founded district general hospital in Harare and is the largest public hospital in Zimbabwe. The hospital was formerly known as the Andrew Fleming Hospital and was named after the principal medical offi ...
in Harare.
Legacy and honours
Letters to the prime minister, Robert Mugabe, allegedly written by Nkomo while in exile in the United Kingdom, began to resurface following Nkomo's death in 1999. In the letters he argues against his persecution and accused the government of cracking down on opposition.
In 1999, Nkomo was declared a National Hero and is buried in the
National Heroes' Acre in Harare.
On 27 June 2000, a set of four postage stamps were issued by the
Post and Telecommunications Corporation of Zimbabwe featuring Joshua Nkomo. They had denominations of
ZW$2.00, $9.10, $12.00 and $16.00.
Notes and references
Further reading
* Nkomo, Joshua; Harman, Nicholas (1984) ''Nkomo: The Story of My Life'' (autobiography); .
* Sibanda, Eliakim M. (2005) The Zimbabwe African People's Union 1961–87: A Political History of Insurgency in Southern Rhodesia. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
* Ranger, Terence O. (2004
"Nkomo, Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo (1917–1999)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press. (accessed 18 June 2006, subscription required)
External links
*
BBC ObituaryGuardian Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nkomo, Joshua
1917 births
1999 deaths
20th-century Roman Catholics
20th-century Zimbabwean politicians
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Methodism
Deaths from prostate cancer in Zimbabwe
Former Methodists
Former Presbyterians
Northern Ndebele people
People from Matabeleland South Province
Prisoners and detainees of Rhodesia
Rhodesian Methodists
Rhodesian Presbyterians
Social workers
University of South Africa alumni
Vice-presidents of Zimbabwe
ZANU–PF politicians
Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army personnel
Zimbabwe African People's Union politicians
Zimbabwean exiles
Zimbabwean revolutionaries
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