The Zimbabwean People's Army moment in Zimbabwean history, 1975–1977: Mugabe's rise and democracy's demise

Abstract

This article provides a historical analysis of Robert Mugabe's rise to power in the fractious hierarchy of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), in part by crushing all opposition and manipulating regional and international actors -including British, American and Mozambican political leaders -into supporting his claims to leadership. It also tells an often-ignored story of internal political struggle during the liberation war involving a small group of young political soldiers, the Zimbabwean People's Army (ZIPA), which challenged the policies, practices and ideology of the 'old guard' and tried to unify ZANU and Zimbabwe African People's Union, the country's two nationalist movements at the time. Drawing on interviews and extensive archival data, the article argues that ideology was central to this political struggle; ZIPA embraced a more radical and potentially more democratic vision for the liberation movement and for the future of the country. What kind of regime might have been consolidated in post-independent Zimbabwe if ZIPA had succeeded in unifying the country's national liberation movement and pushing them into the political direction ZIPA desired? This will never be known. By 1977, less than two years after the group emerged, its leaders were imprisoned in Mozambique's jails where they would remain until just prior to Zimbabwe's first democratic election in 1980.

Lionel Cliffe and the generation(s) of Zimbabwean politics

“…In the aftermath of his initial efforts at unity, he expelled two groups of soldiers and politicians presenting a perceived challenge to himone in early 1977 and the other halfway through 1978. Cliffe knew members of both of these groups, indeed spending time in Zambia's jails in early 1976 with the latter, when the former group escaped Zambia after the clampdown on ZANU in the aftermath of its national chairman's assassination (White 2003) and reignited the war of national liberation after a period of détente that had started in late 1974 (Moore 2014a(Moore , 2014b.…”

“…Cliffe, and Saul too, thought that the Zimbabwe People's Army (ZIPA) or vashandi (the Shona word for 'the workers' or, more loosely, 'the people') group of young radicals in 'generation four' might take the liberation war to a new level (Saul 1977;Mhanda 2011;Moore 2014b). By the time Cliffe wrote his 1980 contribution he had also been close to Joshua Mpofu, one of the leaders of similar 'young Turks' within ZAPU (Tshabangu 1979;Mpofu 2014), so he knew the ZIPA phenomenon was not unique.…”

Déjà vu with difference: A Gramscian interpretation of Zimbabwe’s 2023 elections and their pasts

“…The fate (three years' in Mozambique's prisons) of the 'Young Turks' that inspired Saul to deviate from his theory of class determination exemplifies what happened to whoever Mugabe thought were pretenders to his precarious throne. It serves as a warning to today's young generation (Mhanda 2011;Moore 2014b;Saul 2016) in an interregnum of a different type. The petty-bourgeois leaders of past nationalisms are now well on their way to ruling class status.…”

The ZIPA moment: Dzino, Mugabe and Samora Machel

“…Although I would go on to write further about Zimbabwe (Saul 1980;Saul and Saunders 2005), and also about Angola, the principal focus of my work was primarily on, first, Namibia and, second, on South Africa (Saul 2016). Still, I was pleased to have my own work on Zimbabwe taken up, in his doctoral work and well beyond, by my former student David Moorefrom whom I continue to learn (Moore 1990(Moore , 2011(Moore , 2012(Moore , 2014.…”