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Zimbabwe African People's Union | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | ZAPU |
| Leader | Michael Nkomo |
| Founder | Joshua Nkomo |
| Founded | 17 December 1961 (63 years, 344 days) (historic) 13 December 2008 (16 years, 348 days) (current) |
| Dissolved | as the Patriotic Front: (1987; 38 years ago (1987)) |
| Preceded by | National Democratic Party |
| Headquarters | Bulawayo |
| Armed wing | ZIPRA (1964–1980) |
| Ideology | Communism[1] Marxism-Leninism[2] African nationalism[3][4] Georgism (as the Patriotic Front)[5] |
| Political position | Far-left |
| National affiliation | Patriotic Front |
| House of Assembly | 0 / 280 |
| Senate | 0 / 80 |
| Pan African Parliament | 0 / 5 |
| Party flag | |
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TheZimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), known from 1980 to 1987 as thePatriotic Front (PF), is aZimbabwean political party. It is a militant communist organization and political party that campaigned for majority rule inRhodesia, from its founding in 1961 until 1980. In 1987, the PF merged into theZimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU – PF).[6]
The party was formed on 17 December 1961, 10 days after the Rhodesian government banned theNational Democratic Party (NDP). It was founded byJoshua Nkomo[7] as president,Samuel Parirenyatwa as vice-president,Ndabaningi Sithole as chairman,Jason Moyo as treasurer,Robert Mugabe as information and publicity secretary, andLeopold Takawira as external secretary. ZAPU was banned in 1962 by theRhodesian white minority government, and later engaged in aguerrilla war against it. The armed wing of ZAPU, known as theZimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA), was founded by Moyo and commanded by GeneralLookout Masuku.
ZAPU was separate from ZANU as its armed wing, ZIPRA, was aligned with theSoviet Union,[8] which prioritised mobilizing urban workers, whereas ZANU had a pro-People's Republic of China orientation, which prioritised mobilizing the rural peasantry.
It was relaunched in 2008 by Joshua Nkomo's son, Michael Nkomo.[9]
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In 1980, ZAPU contested elections in Zimbabwe as the Patriotic Front, but lost to its rivalZANU. They merged intoZANU–PF in 1987 following theGukurahundimassacres.[10][11]
The Unity Accord signed at that meeting stated that:
Under the influence of Benny Ncube and Dumiso Dabengwa in mid-October 2008, in the midst ofongoing negotiations with rival parties, a group of former PF ZAPU and Zipra members loudly pushed to dissolve the alliance with ZANU – PF. The members convened a meeting on 8 November, and it was decided that:[12][13]
Ex-ZIPRA cadres officially withdrew their membership from the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, which was under the administration of ZANU PF. They revived ZIPRA, led by Benny Ncube as chairperson, Tapson Moyo as vice chairperson, Petros Sibanda as secretary, Job Ndlovu as deputy secretary, Belinda Ndebele as treasurer, and committee members are Stanley Ncube and Clement Malaba Ncube. The committee's mandate was to set up the association's structures in provinces and districts in preparation for the inaugural congress where the substantive executive was to be elected. The association would work closely with the mother party ZAPU.[14]
At the party conference, the ZAPU National Consultative Convention, held from 13 to 14 December 2008,Dumiso Dabengwa, a former Home Affairs minister was elected interim chairperson with the mandate to convene a two-day congress starting 11 April 2009. The congress would formally endorse the pullout from ZANU and elect an executive for the party.[15]
The party congress of 2009, which was supposed to elect new leadership, took place a month later than scheduled, on 16 May 2009.[16] The congress formally endorsed the party's withdrawal from ZANU PF and withdrew support for its former members who had chosen to remain in ZANU. The congress was attended by delegates from the country's 10 provinces as well as representatives from Canada, South Africa,Botswana andSwaziland.[17] The party's new platform promised to restore "respectable nationhood" where the people were "the pivot around which proper, able and accountable leadership is elected."[18]
A full Congress was held in August 2010, at which a full policy was agreed and leadership elected with Dumiso Dabengwa as president and Emilia Mukaratirwa as vice-president.
ZAPU is an African Nationalist group which was formed in 1961 and banned in 1962.
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