The Sunday Mail
A lot has been told, written, sang and dramatised about one of Zimbabwe’s foremost nationalists, Dr Joshua Nkomo.
Tjenesani Ntungakwa
Dr Nkomo is referred to by numerous tags and labels.
The widely applied reference is that of “Umdala”, colloquially translated to “The Old Man”. From the mid to the late 1970s, many in Zipra preferred to call him “Umafukufuku”, the one full of weight.
On one of Zapu’s calendars, Dr Nkomo wore military uniform and a cap bearing the legend “Field Marshal General Josh”. In Shona, a totemic accolade “Chibwe Chitedza, Mtekwa -tekwa, Shumba ye Zimbabwe” was conferred upon him.
After Independence, Dr Nkomo who – among some of his activities ran a family business which owned a modest restaurant at Renkini Bus Terminus called the Blue Lagoon – was known as “Useka Thandi”. In Ndebele custom, the naming emanated from the need to identify a man with his eldest child. On the post-Independence national scene, Dr Nkomo became “Father Zimbabwe”.
It is necessary to build an appreciation of the socio-political circumstances in colonial Rhodesia to understand the experiences that wholly instrumental in shaping the personality of Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo and other nationalists. After the Railway Strike of the late 1940s, a lot changed in Rhodesia, especially the emotive prospects that were geared towards the rise of Zimbabwean nationalism as well as reactive rightwing politics.
The Railway Welfare Society resembled some rudimentary form of a National Employment Council, which facilitated a seemingly negotiated process of improving the employer-employee relationship in Rhodesia Railways.
Among Africans, there arose complaints concerning wages, accommodation and general working conditions. One of Rhodesia’s early black Social Work graduates, Joshua Nkomo, who had trained at Adams College in South Africa, would join the department. By the early 1950s, matters of race had become an emotional topic.
On February 5, 1952 Mr PB Fletcher, an MP and the Minister of Native Affairs, was quoted in the media openly castigated blacks for criticising government policies.
He said the blacks should count their blessings and be grateful for the civilising facelift that colonialism brought to Africa. His utterances were reported by The Chronicle of February 5, 1952 as part of his speech at a gathering of the African Welfare Society.
“The native people should remember that there can be nothing revolutionary about the progress of human masses.
“The people of Rhodesia could make a great contribution to the Western world by developing, the Rhodesian pattern in Central Africa. The policy of domination by suppression as is being preached by the odd Rhodesian here can do nothing but damage to the European cause, in Africa, and is deplored.”
Such comments played into the long-term realisation by characters like Joshua Nkomo that the quest for equitable remuneration in the railways was inevitably linked to the total affirmation of majority rule in Rhodesia.
It is logical to conclude that such thinking became the driving ethos in a fully-fledged quest to unseat Rhodesian settler colonial structures of power which had been ceremoniously anointed by Britain. Icons like Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah and Algeria’s Ben Bella became topical in the politically inquisitive minds of that time. It was within the same context that the Kenyan Mau Mau insurgency against British rule made the headlines of the day. In other words, the feeling in Rhodesia and elsewhere was that an African revolution was in the offing.
Trade unionism became one of the early tools to challenge the exploitative model of British-aided settler colonial ambitions.
Unionists like John Mzimela, Sikwilikohli Moyo (SK), Lazurus Nkala, Benjamin Madlela, Jason Moyo, Paul Mushonga, Aaron Ndlovu, Aaron Ndabambi and others became highly critical of the regime.
Several groups arose, like the Railway African Workers’ Union, the Artisans Union and so forth, with their primary concern being socio-economic conditions. More vocal organisations like the Landless Peoples’ Movement, the Bantu Society also entered the fray.
Dr Nkomo got involved with such congregations of protest. The African Daily News bulletin of September 18, 1956 reported that Dr Nkomo presented the balance sheet results of the Bantu Co-operative Society in Bulawayo for the year ended 31st March 1956. On a protest note, the formation of the Youth League in Salisbury and its equivalent in Bulawayo did not bring much to the lamentations in Rhodesia.
The settler regime, on the other hand was busy preparing to defend its interests. For instance, the first Viscount aircraft ordered by Central African Airways was delivered to Salisbury by July 1960. Five of the planes, which cost 20 000 pounds, were paid for by Rhodesia. A token of consolation seemed to have been offered black Africans like Jasper Savanhu were placed in the Rhodesian Federal Parliament. But the prevailing mood pointed to the likelihood of the various nationalist leaders coming together to oppose minority rule. The likes of Enoch Dumbuthsena, Ndabaningi Sithole, Alick Banda, Sikwilikwatshu Ndlovu, G Gondo, Paul Mushonga, Aaron Ndlovu, Stanlake Samkange, Paul Chipunza, Dan Madzimbamuto, Lazurus Ndlovu, Edward Ndlovu and others increasingly interacted and found some common ground.
Dr Nkomo was amongst them. Federal authorities had in 1956 declared a state of emergency in Northern Rhodesia, making movement of workers difficult in the Copperbelt. In the second week of September 1956, the African Village Settlement of Highfeild witnessed a mass gathering which called for a bus boycott.
This began on September 17, 1956 as a blanket rejection of services offered by the United Transport Bus Company.
So forceful was the stay away that the Chief Native Commissioner and Secretary for Native Affairs Mr ES Morris were forced to discuss with the organisers.
Some of those involved were James Chikerema and George Nyandoro. Chikerema had been associated with the City Youth League formation in Salisbury. By then, the Southern Rhodesia African National Congress had seen its short existence. In the Central African Daily News Bulletin of September 1956, Dr Nkomo appealed to members to honour their subscriptions. At a session of the SRANC, the leadership presented a ten-point programme of action which translated to a revival campaign among the masses. Loyalty to SRANC was also emphasised.
Thus in the mid-50s, the SRANC became the first nationalist organisation here with Dr Nkomo as its leader.
SRANC was possibly a learning curve.
According to the late Amos Jack Ngwenya, it was tough to square up against the Rhodesians. In any case, the powerful arms of the state – such as the police, intelligence and army – were in full force to ensure that Africans would never usurp the peace the whites enjoyed. Ngwenya explained that the choice of leading settled upon Dumbutshena, Dr Nkomo, Samkange and others.
However, it was Dr Nkomo who appeared courageous enough to accept the challenge.
It was in 1957 that SRANC held its inaugural Congress at Mai Musodzi Hall in Mbare and Dr Nkomo’s leadership was overwhelmingly endorsed.
In the beginning, the SRANC was not necessarily taken as a threat, but rather as a source of worry because it was not overly militant. Anyhow, the atmosphere was getting more and more charged by the day. IIn short, the UK was wary of Algreia, Kenya, the Aden mass rebellions, Rhodesia and Joshua Nkomo and it became prudent to handle this country with tact.
In January 1957, Britain’s Colonial Secretary Lennox Boyd visited Northern Rhodesia and spoke of making that country an example of harmonious race relations.
This was in response to a question that had been raised by a Northern Rhodesian Councillor, Andrew Hayward, who felt that British criticism of the Federation’s racial policy was unfair.
In the Rhodesia Herald of January 3, 1957, Boyd said, “One form of extremism leads to another”. He also dealt with the apprehension which arose out of restricted immigration as well as credit. Given that background, the progressive degeneration of Rhodesia saw heightened activity by the SRANC. It should be noted that some unforeseen obstacles would arise, such as the growth of white liberalism in certain Rhodesian parties.
For example, the United Federal Party, the Capricon Society and the Centre Party even went to the extent of recruiting African teachers, who were perceived as better than their peasant “tribesmen”. In 1959, the Rhodesians found it necessary to clamp down on the SRANC.
Leaders and activists were arrested en masse and Dr Nkomo sneaked out of Rhodesia for a stint as an exile abroad.
◆ Tjenesani Ntungakwa is the project advisor of the Revolutionary Research Institute of Zimbabwe, an initiative documenting and disseminating the contributions of PF-Zapu and Zipra to Zimbabwe’s liberation and development.
