James Chikerema
Encyclopedia
James Robert Dambaza Chikerema (2 April 1925 – 22 March 2006) served as the President of the Front for the Liberation of Zimbabwe
. He changed his views on militant struggle in the late 1970s and supported the 'internal settlement', serving in the attempted power-sharing governments.
province; Robert Mugabe
, who was his nephew, shared the same birthplace and the two were very close during childhood. He was educated at St. Francis Xavier College
in Kutama, and in South Africa. He became President of the Southern Rhodesia National Youth League and in 1956 led a bus boycott by Africans to protest at their lack of political power (the electoral system in Rhodesia made it very difficult for Africans to be eligible).
With Didymus Mutasa
, George Nyandoro
, Guy Clutton-Brock
, Michael and Eileen Haddon, white liberals who donated their land, he helped create Cold Comfort Farm to improve African farming methods and then form the African National Congress. The ANC campaigned for an extension of the franchise, but was banned within two years of its birth.
, Chikerema formed the Southern Rhodesia African National Congress
in 1957 to press for meaningful reform. Although not a violent movement, the Southern Rhodesia government banned the group in 1960, and restricted its leading members to the Gokwe area. Chikerema remained with Nkomo when he established the National Democratic Party soon after; when this was also banned, Nkomo and Chikerema launched the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU). When the government banned this group, it remained in existence as a clandestine organisation. The movement restrictions on Nkomo and Chikerema were removed by the incoming government of Winston Field
in early 1963.
On 9 February 1963 Nkomo and Chikerema together with Maurice Nyagumbo
and Daniel Madzimbamuto were arrested while eating supper at Nkomo's house in Rusape
under the Law and Order Maintenance Act 1960, and charged with taking part in an illegal procession and hindering the police. Herbert Chitepo
was their defence counsel at trial, but could not prevent them being convicted. Chikerema was sentenced to six months' imprisonment (three months of which were suspended). Their convictions were overturned on appeal.
where he was acting President of ZAPU. He argued for a referendum of all adults of Southern Rhodesia on whether it should have independence, and opposed the government's use of the House of Chiefs as a means of consulting African opinion. When Ian Smith
's government increasingly threatened a unilateral declaration of independence, Chikerema declared the willingness of ZAPU to take up armed struggle, promising "a campaign of terror" in which "at first we will attack white farms in isolated areas, and with the arms we capture there, we will attack white homes in the towns". Following UDI
, Chikerema took charge of ZAPU's guerrilla war.
(FROLIZI). After the collapse of talks in Lusaka
in December 1974, Chikerema on behalf of FROLIZI signed an agreement with Nkomo of ZAPU and Rev. Ndabaningi Sithole
of the Zimbabwe African National Union
(ZANU) to unite with the African National Council of Rev. Abel Muzorewa
.
Unlike the other leaders, Chikerema remained in exile fearing arrest and imprisonment or execution should he return to Rhodesia. Because of this, when the Rhodesian government agreed to talks
in 1975, the venue chosen was a railway carriage on the bridge over the Victoria Falls
: the carriage was placed in the middle of the bridge so that the ANC delegation was in Zambia while the Rhodesians were still in Rhodesia.
Shortly after the talks the accord within the ANC fell apart with Chikerema siding with Sithole and Muzorewa against Nkomo and Robert Mugabe. In February 1976 Chikerema issued a press statement that the armed struggle was likely to resume, saying that the United Kingdom abdicated responsibility by failing to send troops against the Rhodesian government after UDI, and that any troops then sent to Rhodesia would be fought by the ANC.
which Muzorewa had founded, and was allowed to return to Rhodesia in September 1977. At a meeting the next month he caused uproar among the white audience by arguing that there were no terrorists in Rhodesia, merely freedom fighters. He became highly critical of the Patriotic Front formed by Mugabe's ZANU and Nkomo's ZAPU, and accused the United Kingdom of supporting ZAPU.
Chikerema participated in the internal settlement talks of 1978 and supported the proposal of reserving 28 seats for white voters in a majority-rule Parliament. In his memoirs, Ian Smith remarks that he was "a constant source of help in bringing things back to sanity". When agreement was reached he said that guerrillas who continued fighting after the multi-racial election would be "severely dealt with".
During the transitional government, he was made co-Minister for Transport and Power, a surprisingly lowly post given his stature; the apparent snub was explained by the fact that he lacked professional training in any of the areas of government. In July 1978 the Department of Information called a press conference at which a man appeared claiming to have been sent by ZIPRA (ZAPU's military wing) to assassinate four of the co-Ministers, including Chikerema.
, the Zimbabwe Democratic Party stood in the 1980 elections. Chikerema complained about intimidation by ZANU-PF supporters during the campaign, and was distraught when his party failed to win any seats.
That marked the end of Chikerema's active political career, but he continued to comment through newspaper interviews on the political situation in Zimbabwe. He attained the status of 'elder statesman' and while he was not necessarily in line with the majority view, he was listened to with considerable respect based on his previous campaigns. In 1993, he joined the Forum Party of Zimbabwe, (whose founder was ex-Chief Justice Enoch Dumbutshena
) re-entering the political arena; the Forum Party's 25 candidates in the 1995 elections failed to make an impact.
The farm he owned was designated for purchase by the Zimbabwe government soon after he formed the party, and in 2000 it was included in the list of farms to be compulsorily purchased without compensation. Chikerema remarked "As far as I'm concerned, it's Mugabe's vendetta against me". Chikerema made it clear that he supported orderly land redistribution if it was conducted fairly.
Chikerema died in the United States, where he had gone for medical treatment.
Front for the Liberation of Zimbabwe
The Front for the Liberation of Zimbabwe was a militant nationalist organization that fought against the government of Rhodesia from its founding in October 1971 until it merged into the African National Congress on 6 December 1974. Dissatisfied members of the Zimbabwe African People's Union and...
. He changed his views on militant struggle in the late 1970s and supported the 'internal settlement', serving in the attempted power-sharing governments.
Early life
Chikerema was born at Kutama Mission in Zvimba, in present-day Mashonaland WestMashonaland West
Mashonaland West is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of 57,441 km² and a population of approximately 1.2 million . Chinhoyi is the capital of the province.Mashonaland West is divided into 6 districts:* Chegutu* Hurungwe* Kadoma* Kariba...
province; Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
, who was his nephew, shared the same birthplace and the two were very close during childhood. He was educated at St. Francis Xavier College
Kutama College
Kutama College , is an all-boys high school located near the town of Norton in the Zvimba area, 80 kilometres southwest of the Zimbabwean capital Harare...
in Kutama, and in South Africa. He became President of the Southern Rhodesia National Youth League and in 1956 led a bus boycott by Africans to protest at their lack of political power (the electoral system in Rhodesia made it very difficult for Africans to be eligible).
With Didymus Mutasa
Didymus Mutasa
Didymus Noel Edwin Mutasa is a Zimbabwean politician, currently serving as the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs and as the Secretary for Administration of ZANU-PF.-Family background:...
, George Nyandoro
George Nyandoro
George Nyandoro served as the General Secretary of Zimbabwe African People's Union. An ethnic Shona, Nyandoro was one of the founders of the Southern Rhodesia African National Congress. The late National Hero Cde...
, Guy Clutton-Brock
Guy Clutton-Brock
Arthur Guy Clutton-Brock was an English social worker, who became a Zimbabwean nationalist and co-founder of Cold Comfort Farm....
, Michael and Eileen Haddon, white liberals who donated their land, he helped create Cold Comfort Farm to improve African farming methods and then form the African National Congress. The ANC campaigned for an extension of the franchise, but was banned within two years of its birth.
Ally of Nkomo
Together with Joshua NkomoJoshua Nkomo
Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo was the leader and founder of the Zimbabwe African People's Union and a member of the Kalanga tribe...
, Chikerema formed the Southern Rhodesia African National Congress
Southern Rhodesia African National Congress
The Southern Rhodesia African National Congress was a multiracial political party in what is now Zimbabwe committed to the nonviolent promotion of Native African welfare. SRANC was the first fully fledged nationalist organization active between 1957 and 1959 before it was banned by the oppressive...
in 1957 to press for meaningful reform. Although not a violent movement, the Southern Rhodesia government banned the group in 1960, and restricted its leading members to the Gokwe area. Chikerema remained with Nkomo when he established the National Democratic Party soon after; when this was also banned, Nkomo and Chikerema launched the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU). When the government banned this group, it remained in existence as a clandestine organisation. The movement restrictions on Nkomo and Chikerema were removed by the incoming government of Winston Field
Winston Field
Winston Joseph Field MBE was a Rhodesian politician. Field was a former Dominion Party MP who founded the Rhodesian Front political party with Ian Douglas Smith. Field was born and brought up in Bromsgrove in the United Kingdom, and moved to Southern Rhodesia in 1921...
in early 1963.
On 9 February 1963 Nkomo and Chikerema together with Maurice Nyagumbo
Maurice Nyagumbo
Tapfumaneyi Maurice Nyagumbo was a Zimbabwean politician.Working in South Africa in the 1940s, he joined the South African Communist Party. He spent most of the years 1957 to 1979 in detention in Southern Rhodesia. During this time he wrote an autobiography, With the People...
and Daniel Madzimbamuto were arrested while eating supper at Nkomo's house in Rusape
Rusape
Rusape is a town in the province of Manicaland, Zimbabwe with a population of around 20,000 , situated on the Harare-Mutare main road, approximately 170 km south east of Harare and 93 km north west of Mutare. Rusape is a large, sprawling town that has not quite reached city status...
under the Law and Order Maintenance Act 1960, and charged with taking part in an illegal procession and hindering the police. Herbert Chitepo
Herbert Chitepo
Herbert Wiltshire Chitepo led the Zimbabwe African National Union until he was assassinated on March 1975. Although his murderer remains unidentified, the Rhodesian author Peter Stiff says that a former British SAS soldier, Hugh Hind was responsible.Chitepo became the first black citizen of...
was their defence counsel at trial, but could not prevent them being convicted. Chikerema was sentenced to six months' imprisonment (three months of which were suspended). Their convictions were overturned on appeal.
Exiled leader of ZAPU
During Nkomo's detention, Chikerema went into exile first in ZambiaZambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
where he was acting President of ZAPU. He argued for a referendum of all adults of Southern Rhodesia on whether it should have independence, and opposed the government's use of the House of Chiefs as a means of consulting African opinion. When Ian Smith
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith GCLM ID was a politician active in the government of Southern Rhodesia, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1948 to 1987, most notably serving as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 1 June 1979...
's government increasingly threatened a unilateral declaration of independence, Chikerema declared the willingness of ZAPU to take up armed struggle, promising "a campaign of terror" in which "at first we will attack white farms in isolated areas, and with the arms we capture there, we will attack white homes in the towns". Following UDI
Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Rhodesia)
The Unilateral Declaration of Independence of Rhodesia from the United Kingdom was signed on November 11, 1965, by the administration of Ian Smith, whose Rhodesian Front party opposed black majority rule in the then British colony. Although it declared independence from the United Kingdom it...
, Chikerema took charge of ZAPU's guerrilla war.
FROLIZI
In 1971 ZAPU split, with Chikerema joining instead the Front for the Liberation of ZimbabweFront for the Liberation of Zimbabwe
The Front for the Liberation of Zimbabwe was a militant nationalist organization that fought against the government of Rhodesia from its founding in October 1971 until it merged into the African National Congress on 6 December 1974. Dissatisfied members of the Zimbabwe African People's Union and...
(FROLIZI). After the collapse of talks in Lusaka
Lusaka
Lusaka is the capital and largest city of Zambia. It is located in the southern part of the central plateau, at an elevation of about 1,300 metres . It has a population of about 1.7 million . It is a commercial centre as well as the centre of government, and the four main highways of Zambia head...
in December 1974, Chikerema on behalf of FROLIZI signed an agreement with Nkomo of ZAPU and Rev. Ndabaningi Sithole
Ndabaningi Sithole
Ndabaningi Sithole founded the Zimbabwe African National Union, a militant organization that opposed the government of Rhodesia, in July 1963. A member of the Ndau ethnic group, he also worked as a Methodist minister. He spent 10 years in prison after the government banned ZANU...
of the Zimbabwe African National Union
Zimbabwe African National Union
The Zimbabwe African National Union was a militant organization that fought against the standing government in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union...
(ZANU) to unite with the African National Council of Rev. Abel Muzorewa
Abel Muzorewa
Bishop Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia from the Internal Settlement to the Lancaster House Agreement in 1979...
.
Unlike the other leaders, Chikerema remained in exile fearing arrest and imprisonment or execution should he return to Rhodesia. Because of this, when the Rhodesian government agreed to talks
Victoria Falls Conference (1975)
The Victoria Falls Conference took place on 26 August 1975 aboard a South African Railways train halfway across the Victoria Falls Bridge on the border between the unrecognised state of Rhodesia and Zambia. It was the culmination of the "détente" policy introduced and championed by B. J...
in 1975, the venue chosen was a railway carriage on the bridge over the Victoria Falls
Victoria Falls
The Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya is a waterfall located in southern Africa on the Zambezi River between the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe.-Introduction:...
: the carriage was placed in the middle of the bridge so that the ANC delegation was in Zambia while the Rhodesians were still in Rhodesia.
Shortly after the talks the accord within the ANC fell apart with Chikerema siding with Sithole and Muzorewa against Nkomo and Robert Mugabe. In February 1976 Chikerema issued a press statement that the armed struggle was likely to resume, saying that the United Kingdom abdicated responsibility by failing to send troops against the Rhodesian government after UDI, and that any troops then sent to Rhodesia would be fought by the ANC.
Alliance with Muzorewa
Increasingly, Chikerema grew politically close to Muzorewa. He became the first vice-President of the United African National CouncilUnited African National Council
The United African National Council is a political party in Zimbabwe.In 1979, led by Bishop Abel Muzorewa, the UANC Party held formal power in Zimbabwe during the short-lived period of the Internal Settlement...
which Muzorewa had founded, and was allowed to return to Rhodesia in September 1977. At a meeting the next month he caused uproar among the white audience by arguing that there were no terrorists in Rhodesia, merely freedom fighters. He became highly critical of the Patriotic Front formed by Mugabe's ZANU and Nkomo's ZAPU, and accused the United Kingdom of supporting ZAPU.
Chikerema participated in the internal settlement talks of 1978 and supported the proposal of reserving 28 seats for white voters in a majority-rule Parliament. In his memoirs, Ian Smith remarks that he was "a constant source of help in bringing things back to sanity". When agreement was reached he said that guerrillas who continued fighting after the multi-racial election would be "severely dealt with".
During the transitional government, he was made co-Minister for Transport and Power, a surprisingly lowly post given his stature; the apparent snub was explained by the fact that he lacked professional training in any of the areas of government. In July 1978 the Department of Information called a press conference at which a man appeared claiming to have been sent by ZIPRA (ZAPU's military wing) to assassinate four of the co-Ministers, including Chikerema.
Media
James Chikerema together with Raymond Chinamora were the editors of a weekly liberation struggle newspaper called The Rise of Zimbabwe.Later life
On 29 June 1979 after Abel Muzorewa took over as Prime Minister, Chikerema led a group of seven members of the House of Assembly to split with him due to concerns about his lack of firmness. They formed the Zimbabwe Democratic Party, having to fight through the courts for their right to keep their seats. Following the Lancaster House AgreementLancaster House Agreement
The negotiations which led to the Lancaster House Agreement brought independence to Rhodesia following Ian Smith’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965. The Agreement covered the Independence Constitution, pre-independence arrangements, and a ceasefire...
, the Zimbabwe Democratic Party stood in the 1980 elections. Chikerema complained about intimidation by ZANU-PF supporters during the campaign, and was distraught when his party failed to win any seats.
That marked the end of Chikerema's active political career, but he continued to comment through newspaper interviews on the political situation in Zimbabwe. He attained the status of 'elder statesman' and while he was not necessarily in line with the majority view, he was listened to with considerable respect based on his previous campaigns. In 1993, he joined the Forum Party of Zimbabwe, (whose founder was ex-Chief Justice Enoch Dumbutshena
Enoch Dumbutshena
Enoch Dumbutshena was a distinguished Zimbabwean judge known for defending the independence of that country's judicial branch. He became Zimbabwe's first black judge in 1980 and served as Chief Justice from 1984 to 1990. Dumbutshena's decisions were often highly critical of President Robert Mugabe...
) re-entering the political arena; the Forum Party's 25 candidates in the 1995 elections failed to make an impact.
The farm he owned was designated for purchase by the Zimbabwe government soon after he formed the party, and in 2000 it was included in the list of farms to be compulsorily purchased without compensation. Chikerema remarked "As far as I'm concerned, it's Mugabe's vendetta against me". Chikerema made it clear that he supported orderly land redistribution if it was conducted fairly.
Chikerema died in the United States, where he had gone for medical treatment.