Political history of Zimbabwe

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The modern political history of Zimbabwe starts with the arrival of white people to what was dubbed

George Mitchell
, renamed the post prime minister in 1933.

The Rhodesian prime minister acted as Head of

His or Her Majesty's Rhodesian Government, under the largely symbolic supervision of a British colonial Governor, until Rhodesia issued its unrecognised Unilateral Declaration of Independence on 11 November 1965. British-appointed figures such as the governor were thereafter ignored by Salisbury. The unrecognised state's system of government, however, remained otherwise unchanged, right down to its declared loyalty to Elizabeth II, which Britain did not acknowledge. This situation remained until March 1970, when Rhodesia adopted a republican system of government. In republican Rhodesia, the Prime Minister instead nominally reported to the President
.

The prime minister was responsible for nominating the other members of the government, chairing meetings of the Rhodesian Cabinet, and deciding when to call a new

general election for the House of Assembly. He retained this role following the reconstitution of Rhodesia under black majority rule, first into Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979, then into Zimbabwe the following year. The Zimbabwean government was headed by a prime minister from 1980 to 1987, when that post was superseded by an executive presidency. The former prime minister, Robert Mugabe, became president; he was succeeded by Emmerson Mnangagwa during the 2017 coup d'état
.

1890–1923: British South Africa Company rule

Context

Main articles: Rudd Concession, British South Africa Company, and Company rule in Rhodesia

Having secured the

Royal Charter by Queen Victoria in October 1889.[2] Under this charter, the company was empowered to trade with indigenous rulers, form banks, own and manage land, and raise and run a police force.[n 1] In return for these rights, the British South Africa Company would administer and develop any territory it acquired, while respecting laws enacted by extant African rulers, and upholding free trade within its borders. Though the company made good on most of these pledges, the assent of Lobengula and other native leaders, particularly regarding mining rights, was often evaded, misrepresented or simply ignored.[2] Lobengula reacted by making war on the new arrivals, their Tswana allies and the local Mashona people in 1893. The resulting conflict ended with Lobengula's torching of his own capital at Bulawayo,[4] his death from smallpox in early 1894,[5] and the subsequent submission of his izinDuna (advisors) to the company.[4] Violent rebellion to the north-east, in neighbouring Mashonaland, was forcibly put down by the company during 1897.[6]

Following these victories, the British South Africa Company controlled a country equivalent to modern Zambia and Zimbabwe. This domain was initially referred to as "Zambesia" (or Zambezia) after the

Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia, were governed separately, and amalgamated in 1911 to form Northern Rhodesia.[9]

Company administrators

Main article: Administrative posts of the British South Africa Company in Southern Rhodesia
A late 19th-century lithograph showing the heads and shoulders of nine gentlemen in three rows. The man in the centre appears to have been deliberately made more prominent than the others, appearing larger and more strongly drawn.Horace FarquharAlbert GreyAlfred BeitEarl of Fife (vice-chairman)Duke of Abercorn (chairman)Lord GiffordHerbert Canning (secretary)George CawstonCecil Rhodes (managing director)
The British South Africa Company's original board of directors, 1889.
Hover your mouse over each man for his name; click for more details.

The head of the southern territories' government during this time was in effect the company's regional

administrator. The first of these was appointed in 1890, soon after the Pioneer Column's establishment of Fort Salisbury, the capital, on 12 September that year.[10] From 1899, the administrator governed as part of a ten-man Legislative Council, originally made up of himself, five other members nominated by the company, and four elected by registered voters.[11] The number of elected members rose gradually under Company rule until they numbered 13 in 1920, sitting alongside the administrator and six other Company officials in the 20-member Legislative Council.[12] The company's Royal Charter, which originally ran out in October 1914,[13] was renewed for a further ten years in 1915.[2]

The post of national administrator was held by three people, with three others holding the post while it only covered Mashonaland; between 1898 and 1901, a separate office existed in Matabeleland.[14]

Company administrators from 1890 to 1923
Name Term of office Post(s)
Sir Archibald Ross Colquhoun
(1848–1914) 		1 October
1890 		10 September
1894 		Administrator of Mashonaland
Dr Leander Starr Jameson
(1853–1917) 		10 September
1894 		2 April
1896[n 3] 		Administrator of Mashonaland
Albert Grey
4th Earl Grey
(1851–1917) 		2 April
1896 		5 December
1898 		Administrator of Mashonaland
Sir William Henry Milton
(1854–1930) 		5 December
1898 		20 December
1901 		Senior Administrator of Southern Rhodesia
Administrator of Mashonaland
Arthur Lawley
6th Baron Wenlock
(1860–1932) 		Administrator of Matabeleland
Sir William Henry Milton
(1854–1930) 		20 December
1901 		1 November
1914 		Administrator of Southern Rhodesia
Sir
Francis Drummond Chaplin

(1866–1933) 		1 November
1914 		1 September
1923 		Administrator of Southern Rhodesia

Frontier politics: towards responsible government

A map. See text
Southern Rhodesia and the Union of South Africa

Southern Rhodesians of all races

Afrikaners,[17] but changed its tune dramatically when, in 1918, the Privy Council in London ruled that unalienated land in the Rhodesias was owned not by the company but by the Crown.[17]

The loss of the ability to raise funds through the sale of land hampered the company's ability to pay

A referendum on the colony's future was held on 27 October 1922—at the suggestion of Winston Churchill, then Britain's Colonial Secretary, continuing the initiative of his preprocessor Viscount Milner—and responsible government won the day by 59%.[20] Southern Rhodesia was duly annexed by the Empire on 12 September 1923, and granted full self-government on 1 October the same year.[21] The new Southern Rhodesian government immediately purchased the land from the British Treasury for £2 million,[22] and ten years later paid the same sum to the British South Africa Company for the country's mineral rights.[23]

1923–1965: colonial Prime Ministers

Responsible government; early years (1923–53)

The first responsible government of Southern Rhodesia, pictured in 1924

The RGA reorganised itself to become the governing Rhodesia Party, with Coghlan as Southern Rhodesia's first Premier.

George Mitchell, the third man to hold the office.[25] In 1932, the Southern Rhodesian leader was first invited to an Imperial Conference. Although Southern Rhodesia was not a dominion, it was seen elsewhere in the Empire as a sui generis case among Britain's colonies, and worthy of inclusion, particularly as it was the only one which governed itself.[26] Southern Rhodesian Prime Ministers thereafter became a regular fixture at such meetings and, from 1944, at Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conferences.[27]

The Rhodesia Party remained in power until

roundly defeated the rump left wing of the Reform Party to begin 28 years of uninterrupted stewardship.[29]

Though uninvolved in foreign affairs, and therefore obliged to follow Britain's lead, the colony enthusiastically

a referendum held early the next April to enter an initially semi-independent Federation with the directly administered British colonies of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland.[33]

Colour key (for political parties)
  Rhodesia Party
  Reform Party
  United Party / United Rhodesia Party / United Federal Party[n 5]
  Rhodesian Front
  United African National Council
  
Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front
Premiers of Southern Rhodesia from 1923 to 1933, and Prime Ministers from 1933 to 1953
Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Constituency/Title 		Term of office
—
Electoral mandates 		Other ministerial offices
held while Premier / Prime Minister 		Political party
of PM 		Refs
Sir
Charles Coghlan

(1863–1927)
MP for Bulawayo North 		1 October
1923 		28 August
1927 (died in office) 		Minister for Native Affairs Rhodesia Party [35]
1924
Howard Moffat
(1869–1951)
MP for Gwanda 		2 September
1927 		5 July
1933 		Minister for Native Affairs Rhodesia Party [35]
1928
George Mitchell

(1867–1937)
MP for Gwanda 		5 July
1933 		12 September
1933 		– Rhodesia Party [35]
 –
Sir
Godfrey Huggins

(1883–1971)
MP for Salisbury North 		12 September
1933 		7 September
1953
  • Minister for Native Affairs (1933–49)
  • Minister for Defence (1948–53)
 		Reform Party (1933–34) [35]
1948
 United Party (1934–53)

As a territory in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (1953–63)

A map. See description
The three territories of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland

A month after Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland formed the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in August 1953, Huggins became the amalgamated body's first

in June the same year, but failed to win a single seat—the UFP won 17 of the 30 seats, with the Dominion Party taking the remainder.[34]

Whitehead served as prime minister for the next four years,

a referendum split the heretofore non-racial (though qualified) electoral roll into graduated "A" and "B" rolls; the latter had lower qualifications, and was intended to cater for prospective black voters who had previously not qualified.[40]

This plan was given assent by the Southern Rhodesian and British governments, and initially enjoyed support from black nationalists in the country, though the latter soon reversed their stance, saying the changes did not go far enough. Some government members opposed this partitioning of the electorate, which essentially divided it along ethnic lines; the UFP's

that November's Southern Rhodesian election, with Smith running as his deputy, and in a shock result won 35 of the 50 territorial "A"-roll seats.[24] Field and Smith became prime minister and deputy prime minister respectively,[41] and remained in office after the Federation's dissolution on the last day of 1963.[42]

Prime Ministers of Southern Rhodesia, a territory of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, from 1953 to 1963
Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Constituency/Title 		Term of office
—
Electoral mandates 		Other ministerial offices
held while Prime Minister 		Political party
of PM 		Refs
Garfield Todd
(1908–2002)
MP for Shabani 		7 September
1953 		17 February
1958 		Minister for Native Affairs United Rhodesia Party [35]
1954
Sir Edgar Whitehead
(1905–1971)
MP for Salisbury North 		17 February
1958 		17 December
1962 		Minister for Native Affairs United Federal Party [35]
1958
Winston Field
(1904–1969)
MP for Marandellas 		17 December
1962 		31 December
1963 		– Rhodesian Front [35]
1962

From Federation to UDI (1964–65)

A black-and-white photograph of two middle-aged men in dark-coloured suits, looking towards the viewer. The man on the left is tall, thin and dark-haired, and smiles widely. The man on the right is shorter, more stocky and grey-haired. He wears a neutral expression.
Ian Smith (left) and British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, pictured outside 10 Downing Street in October 1965, during independence negotiations

After the Federation broke up on 31 December 1963,[42] Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland became independent during 1964, respectively renamed Zambia and Malawi, and under black majority governments.[43] Southern Rhodesia was denied the same under the ideal of "no independence before majority rule" that was newly ascendant in Britain and elsewhere. The RF was enraged by what it saw as British duplicity; according to Field and Smith, Britain's Deputy Prime Minister and First Secretary of State R. A. Butler had verbally promised "independence no later than, if not before, the other two territories" at a meeting in 1963, in return for Salisbury's help in winding up the Federation. Butler denied having said this.[44]

Under severe pressure from his ministers to resolve this issue, Field travelled to England in March 1964 to pursue sovereign statehood, but returned empty-handed a month later. He resigned his position on 13 April; this came as no surprise to many government insiders, but appeared sudden to most sections of the general public. Smith promptly accepted the cabinet's invitation to take over, though he expressed surprise at the nomination.[45] A farmer and erstwhile British Royal Air Force pilot from the rural town of Selukwe, Smith was Southern Rhodesia's first native-born head of government.[46] He immediately promised to take a harder line on independence than his predecessor.[45]

Only two months into his premiership, Smith was deeply offended when Whitehall informed him that, for the first time since 1930, Southern Rhodesia would not be represented at the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference.[47] Huggins described this in 1969 as tantamount to "kicking [Southern Rhodesia] out of the Commonwealth".[48] When Northern Rhodesia became Zambia on 24 October 1964, Southern Rhodesia dropped "Southern" from its name, and initiated legislation to this effect. Britain refused assent two months later, saying that although the colony was self-governing, it did not have the power to rename itself. Salisbury continued using the shortened name anyway.[49]

The Rhodesian government, which remained predominantly white, contended that it had almost complete support from all races in its drive for full statehood; in October 1964, a national

May 1965, and won all 50 "A"-roll seats.[24]

Negotiations between Smith and Wilson took place throughout the rest of the year, but repeatedly broke down; between July and September, a parallel development concerned Rhodesia's opening of a representative mission in Lisbon, which Britain opposed, but proved unable to stop.[52] Soon after Smith visited London in October 1965, Wilson resolved to curb his rival's ambitions. During his own visit to Salisbury later that month, he proposed to safeguard future black representation in the Rhodesian parliament by withdrawing control over the Rhodesian parliamentary structure to London. Salisbury had held these powers since 1923.[53] This proved the last straw for Smith's Rhodesian government, which issued the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) on 11 November.[54]

Prime Ministers of Southern Rhodesia (or Rhodesia) from January 1964 to November 1965
Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Constituency/Title 		Term of office
—
Electoral mandates 		Other ministerial offices
held while Prime Minister 		Political party
of PM 		Refs
Winston Field
(1904–1969)
MP for Marandellas 		1 January
1964 		13 April
1964 		– Rhodesian Front [35]
–
Ian Smith
(1919–2007)
MP for Umzingwane 		13 April
1964 		11 November
1965 		– Rhodesian Front [35]
1965

1965–80: UDI era

Unrecognised state (1965–79)

A flag bearing three equally-wide vertical stripes, green, white, and green, with a coat of arms prominently emblazoned on the centre of the middle stripe.
The Rhodesian government adopted a new green-and-white flag (pictured) on 11 November 1968, the third anniversary of UDI.[55]

The Rhodesians modelled their independence document on that of the American

a referendum held the previous June. In the Republic of Rhodesia, the Prime Minister formally reported to the President.[60]

Smith and the RF decisively won three more general elections during the 1970s.[24] The Anglo-Rhodesian Agreement of 1971–72, which would have legitimised the country's independence in Britain's eyes, fell apart after a British test of Rhodesian national opinion reported most blacks to be against it.[61] The Rhodesian Bush War, fought against the government by the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) and the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA), the respective guerrilla armies of the Maoist Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and its Warsaw Pact-aligned Marxist rival, the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), intensified soon after, starting with ZANLA's attack on Altena and Whistlefield Farms in the country's north-east in December 1972.[62] After a strong security force counter-campaign, the South African détente initiative of December 1974 introduced a ceasefire, which the security forces respected, and the guerrillas ignored.[63] This shifted the course of the war significantly in the nationalists' favour.[63]

Mozambican independence under a communist government in 1975 further assisted the cadres,

elections held per the Internal Settlement in April 1979,[69] which UN Security Council Resolution 448 called "sham elections ... [held] in utter defiance of the United Nations".[70] In these elections, the UANC won a majority in the new House of Assembly, with 51 of the 72 common roll seats (for which universal suffrage applied) and 67% of the popular vote.[67] The RF took all 20 of the seats elected by white voters and also provided eight non-constituency members.[71] All of this settled, Rhodesia became black majority-ruled Zimbabwe Rhodesia on 1 June 1979, with Muzorewa replacing Smith as Prime Minister.[67]

Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 1965 to 1979
Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Constituency/Title 		Term of office
—
Electoral mandates 		Other ministerial offices
held while Prime Minister 		Political party
of PM 		Refs
Ian Smith
(1919–2007)
MP for Umzingwane 		11 November
1965 		1 June
1979 		– Rhodesian Front [35]
1977

Internal Settlement; interim British control (1979–80)

Main articles: Internal Settlement, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia, and Lancaster House Agreement

With Muzorewa and the UANC in government, Zimbabwe Rhodesia failed to gain international acceptance. ZANU leader

fresh elections, in which ZANU and ZAPU would take part for the first time. ZANU won, and, with Mugabe as Prime Minister, formed the first government of Zimbabwe following its recognised independence on 18 April 1980.[73]

Prime Minister of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia in 1979
Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Constituency/Title 		Term of office
—
Electoral mandates 		Other ministerial offices
held while Prime Minister 		Political party
of PM 		Refs
Bishop Abel Muzorewa
(1925–2010)
MP for Mashonaland East 		1 June
1979 		12 December
1979 		Minister of Combined Operations
Minister of Defence 		United African National Council [35]
1979

Since 1980: Zimbabwe

Prime Minister and ceremonial President (1980–87)

Main article: Prime Minister of Zimbabwe

Seven years into Mugabe's premiership, Zimbabwe scrapped the white seats amid sweeping constitutional reforms in September 1987. The office of Prime Minister was abolished in October; Mugabe became the country's first executive President two months later.[74] Mugabe and the ZAPU leader Joshua Nkomo signed a unity accord at the same time merging ZAPU into ZANU–PF with the stated goal of a Marxist–Leninist one-party state.[75]

Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987
Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Constituency/Title 		Term of office
—
Electoral mandates 		Other ministerial offices
held while Prime Minister 		Political party
of PM 		Refs
Robert Mugabe
(born 1924)
MP for Mashonaland East (1980–85)
MP for Highfield (1985–87)(Death 2019) 		18 April
1980 		22 December
1987 		Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement (1986–89)
Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front
 [35]
1985

Executive President (1987–present)

Main article: President of Zimbabwe
President of Zimbabwe since 1987
Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Constituency/Title 		Term of office
—
Electoral mandates 		Other offices
held while President 		Political party
of PM 		Refs
Robert Mugabe
(born 1924) 		22 December
1987 		21 November
2017 		Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement (1986–89)
Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front
 [35]
1990, 1996, 2002, 2008, 2013
Emmerson Mnangagwa
(born 1942) 		21 November
2017 		present
Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front
2018

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^ The police force raised by the Company, the British South Africa Company's Police, was renamed the Mashonaland Mounted Police in 1892. The Matabeleland Mounted Police was founded in 1895, and it and its Mashonaland counterpart collectively became referred to as the Rhodesia Mounted Police. This became the independently-run British South Africa Police (BSAP) in 1896. The BSAP retained its name and remained Rhodesia's law enforcement arm until 1980.[3]
  2. ^ The first recorded use in this context is in the titles of the Rhodesia Chronicle and Rhodesia Herald newspapers, respectively first published at Fort Tuli and Fort Salisbury in May and October 1892. The Company officially applied the name Rhodesia in 1895.[7]
  3. ^ Jameson offered his resignation immediately following his eponymous raid into the South African Republic in December 1895, but it was not accepted until April 1896.[15]
  4. ^ Southern Rhodesia's government made this symbolic announcement in an attempt to demonstrate concurrent fealty to, and independence from, Britain. It was irrelevant in any legal or diplomatic sense as the self-governing colony's foreign affairs were still handled by Britain; so long as Britain was at war, Southern Rhodesia was as well. The Australian and New Zealand dominions were respectively in a similar situation, having not yet ratified the Statute of Westminster 1931, which, on adoption, transferred diplomatic responsibility from Britain to the relevant local government.[30]
  5. 1958 general election, then promptly dissolved.[34]

References

  1. ^ Keppel-Jones 1983, p. 77
  2. ^ a b c Encyclopædia Britannica 2012
  3. ^ Gibbs, Phillips & Russell 2009, p. 3
  4. ^ a b Ranger 2010, pp. 14–17
  5. ^ Hopkins 2002, p. 191
  6. ^ Wessels 2010, pp. 16–17
  7. ^ Brelsford 1954
  8. ^ Blake 1977, p. 114
  9. ^ Brelsford 1960, p. 619
  10. ^ Palley 1966, p. 149
  11. ^ Willson 1963, p. 101
  12. ^ Willson 1963, pp. 111–114
  13. ^ Wessels 2010, p. 18
  14. ^ Willson, Passmore & Mitchell 1966
  15. ^ Wills & Barrett 1905, p. 260
  16. ^ Blake 1977, p. 179
  17. ^ a b c d Wood 2005, p. 8
  18. ^ Okoth 2006, p. 123
  19. ^ Willson 1963, p. 111
  20. ^ Willson 1963, p. 115
  21. ^ Willson 1963, p. 46
  22. ^ Berlyn 1978, p. 103
  23. ^ Blake 1977, p. 213
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h Gale 1973, pp. 88–89
  25. ^ a b c d Hutson 1978, p. 189
  26. ^ Saint Brides 1980
  27. ^ Berlyn 1978, pp. 134–142
  28. ^ Willson 1963, p. 129
  29. ^ Blake 1977, pp. 220–221
  30. ^ Wood 2005, p. 9
  31. ^ Moorcraft 1990
  32. ^ Blake 1977, p. 238
  33. ^ a b c Wood 2005, p. 279
  34. ^ a b Leys 1959, pp. 306–311
  35. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Gale 1973, pp. 88–89; Hutson 1978, p. 189; Leys 1959, p. 136
  36. ^ a b Gale 1973, pp. 43, 88
  37. ^ Smith 1997, p. 33
  38. ^ Leys 1959, p. 144
  39. ^ Blake 1977, p. 331; Welensky 1964, p. 64
  40. ^ a b Blake 1977, p. 335
  41. ^ Smith 1997, p. 47
  42. ^ a b Wood 2005, p. 189
  43. ^ Wood 2005, p. 38
  44. ^ Wood 2005, pp. 138–140, 167; Berlyn 1978, p. 135; Smith 1997, pp. 51–52
  45. ^ a b Berlyn 1978, pp. 131–132; Wessels 2010, pp. 102–104
  46. ^ Berlyn 1978, p. 35
  47. ^ Smith 1997, p. 70
  48. ^ Berlyn 1978, pp. 140, 143
  49. ^ Palley 1966, pp. 742–743
  50. ^ The Sydney Morning Herald 1964; Harris 1969; Berlyn 1978, pp. 144–146; Wessels 2010, p. 105
  51. ^ Wood 2005, pp. 418–420, 445; Wessels 2010, p. 105
  52. ^ Fedorowich & Thomas 2001, pp. 185–186
  53. ^ Wood 2005, pp. 412–414
  54. ^ Wood 2005, pp. 468–475
  55. ^ Barraclough & Crampton 1978, p. 157
  56. ^ a b Wood 2008, pp. 1–8
  57. ^ Wood 2005, p. 471
  58. ^ Wessels 2010, pp. 133–136; Wood 2008, pp. 229, 242–246
  59. ^ Wessels 2010, pp. 149–152; Wood 2008, pp. 542–555
  60. ^ Harris 1969; The New York Times 1970
  61. ^ Smith 1997, pp. 152–157
  62. ^ Binda 2008, pp. 133–136; ZANU 1974; Windsor Star 1976
  63. ^ a b c Cilliers 1984, pp. 22–24; Lockley 1990
  64. ^ Binda 2008, p. 166; Duignan & Gann 1994, pp. 19–21
  65. ^ BBC 1975
  66. ^ Sibanda 2005, pp. 211–213; Smith 1997, pp. 213–217; Wessels 2010, p. 216
  67. ^ a b c Williams & Hackland 1988, p. 289
  68. ^ Petter-Bowyer 2005, pp. 330–331
  69. ^ a b c d Winn 1979
  70. ^ UN Security Council 1979
  71. ^ a b Gowlland-Debbas 1990, p. 79
  72. ^ Gowlland-Debbas 1990, p. 89
  73. ^ BBC 1979
  74. ^ Chikuhwa 2004, pp. 38–39.
  75. ^ Meredith 2007, p. 73.

Online sources

  • "British South Africa Company (BSAC, BSACO, or BSA Company)". Encyclopædia Britannica. Chicago, Illinois. Retrieved 10 March 2012.

Newspaper and journal articles

Other documents

Bibliography

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