Lancaster House Agreement

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The Lancaster House Agreement of December 21, 1979 is the international legal basis of Zimbabwe's independence . It is a result of the London conference at Lancaster House to which the British government invited the warring parties. Participants were the delegations of Bishop Abel Muzorewa (Rhodesia), Robert Mugabe ( ZANU ) and Joshua Nkomo ( ZAPU ) as well as the United Kingdom under Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington . These negotiations took place in the wake of the Conference of the heads of government of the Commonwealth in Lusaka from August 1-7, 1979, after which the British government Bishop Muzorewa and the leaders of the Patriotic Front, Mugabe and Nkomo, held a constituent conference in the Lancaster- House invited.

negotiations

The conference opened on September 10, 1979, under the chairmanship of Lord Carrington, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, and closed on December 15, 1979 after 47 plenary sessions. In these negotiations, the conference reached agreement on the following points:

  • Principles of a new constitution
  • Agreements on the period before independence
  • a ceasefire agreement between the conflicting parties

In addition, agreement was reached on the following points:

  • The governor's authority is accepted on all sides.
  • The "constitution of independence" is upheld.
  • The parties involved submit to the agreements from the time before independence.
  • The ceasefire agreement is upheld.
  • The election campaign is being conducted peacefully and without intimidation.
  • Violence to achieve political goals is avoided.
  • The election results are recognized and the armed forces are allowed to do the appropriate under their command.

The “independence constitution” gave 20% of the parliamentary seats to whites.

The three-month negotiations failed to reach agreement on the question of land reform . Mugabe was under pressure to succeed and the land issue was ultimately a question of whether the conference was successful or not. The British and American governments offered to buy land from the whites, and a fund was set up to resolve the land issue between 1980 and 1990. In fact, 70,000 landless farmers with more than 20,000 km² of land were served. In addition, £ 630 million in aid was pledged.

The British Lord Christopher Soames was appointed as the authorized inspector for the implementation of the results .

The UK delegation

  • Lord Carrington (Chairman)
  • Sir Ian Gilmour Bt
  • Sir Michael Havers
  • Lord Harlech
  • Richard Luce
  • Sir M. Palliser
  • Sir A. Duff
  • DM Day
  • RAC Byatt
  • RW Renwick
  • PRN fifoot
  • NM Fenn
  • GGH Walden
  • CD Powell
  • PJ Barlow
  • RD Wilkinson
  • AM Layden
  • RMJ Lyne
  • MJ Richardson
  • CRL de Chassiron
  • AJ Phillips
  • MC Wood

The delegation of Mugabe and Nkomo

The delegation of Bishop Muzorewa

  • Bishop Abel Muzorewa
  • SC Mundawarara
  • Tbsp bull
  • F. Zindoga
  • DC Mukome
  • GB Nyandoro
  • Ndabaningi sithols
  • L. Nyemba
  • K. Ndiweni
  • ZM Bafanah
  • Ian Smith - leader of the former white minority government
  • DC Smith
  • R. Cronje
  • C. Andersen
  • J. Kamusikiri
  • G. Pincus
  • LG Smith
  • H. Hawkins, Vice Marshal of the Air Force
  • EMF Chitate
  • D. Zamchiya
  • SV Mutambanengwe
  • MA Adam
  • P. Claypole

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Military bosses want Lancaster House attendee as Mugabe's successor. zimbabwesituation.com from August 19, 2014 (English), accessed on November 17, 2017