Ndabaningi sithols

Ndabaningi Sithole (born July 31, 1920 in Nyamandhlovu near Bulawayo , † December 12, 2000 in Philadelphia , USA ) was a Zimbabwean Methodist pastor and one of the most important political exponents of the Bantu liberation movement in Zimbabwe . He founded the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) in 1963 and spent ten years in prison after the ZANU was banned in 1964. After the ZANU split along the tribal borders, he led the moderate ZANU-Ndonga . In 1978 he became a member of the transitional government.

The early years

Sithole grew up as a child of Jim Sithole and Siyapi Tshuma in Nymanandhlovu, an isolated rural area in a traditional faith environment . His father, a member of the Ndau ethnic group and a builder, moved to the mining town of Shabani in 1930 . There he found work in asbestos mining . After two years he gave his son to the Wesleyan school located here, which initially had to leave due to lack of money. Sithole had to earn money as a kitchen boy in 1933 and 1934, but attended evening school during this time. In 1935 he resumed school at the Dadaya Mission , where Garfield Todd was teaching at the time . Sithole stayed here until 1939, when he graduated with Standard VI. With a Beit scholarship, a two-year teacher training course at the Waddilove Training Institution was possible. He then gained his first professional experience in rural primary schools. In distance learning he obtained the National Junior Certificate . Back in Dadaya, he taught Standard V and used his free time to work for his own Matriculation Exemption Certificate . In 1948, Sithole joined the Tegwani Training Institution as an Assistant Method Master . Here he conducted intensive Bible studies and eventually became a preacher at the British Methodist Church .

In late 1950 his membership in the United Methodist Church began . His professional path now led him to the Mt Selinda American Methodist Mission ( Manicaland ) in 1953 , where he was a member of their faculty. In addition, he was able to acquire a bachelor's degree at UNISA . The church leadership had been very impressed by his work that they delegated him to the Andover Theological Seminary in Newton near Boston in the United States to study theology for three years . During his stay he wrote a book entitled African nationalism , which was published several times, including in Cape Town in 1961 for Oxford University Press . After returning to Southern Rhodesia in 1958, he received his ordination at Mt. Selinda Congregationalist Church and was principal of Chikore Central Primary School . In August 1959, the African Teachers' Association invited him to their general meeting in Fort Victoria , as his book publication had already brought him some notoriety. Elections took place during the meeting and he became president of the professional association.

The political career

Sithole's political career began when he joined Joshua Nkomo's National Democratic Party (NDP) , of which he became treasurer. Sithole quickly gained influence and, after the NDP was banned, helped set up the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU). When this was also banned, he emigrated to Tanganyika and worked there as a radio editor for a program broadcast to Rhodesia . He returned in 1963.

In 1963 Sithole founded the Zimbabwe African National Union with the lawyer Herbert Chitepo . At the party congress in Gwelo (today Gweru ) Sithole was elected President and Mugabe General Secretary. After the ZANU was banned and imprisoned, he authorized Chitepo to fight from exile and appointed him to represent the ZANU there. He himself was charged with plotting to assassinate Smith. He and Mugabe, who was also detained, were released in 1974.

On March 18, 1975, Chitepo was assassinated in the Zambian capital Lusaka. Mugabe, who was in Mozambique at the time, immediately claimed leadership in the ZANU. There was a power struggle between him and Sithole, which was followed by a split in the ZANU into the Matabele and Shona tribes , those in ZANU-Ndonga under Sithole and ZANU under Mugabe. While Sithole sought the way of negotiations from now on, Mugabe devoted himself to guerrilla warfare .

1979 Sithole took part in the government of Bishop Abel Muzorewa , a transitional government after the failed Rhodesia Conference in 1976 and a preparation for the Lancaster House Agreement in 1979. However, Mugabe won the free elections agreed in this agreement with an overwhelming majority.

Sithole got into trouble and emigrated to Silver Spring in Maryland (USA) soon afterwards . After nine years in exile, he returned to political life in Zimbabwe. In 1995 he became a member of parliament for his tribal majority in Chipinge in the south-east of the country at Birchenough Bridge . In December 1997 he was charged with participating in a conspiracy to assassinate Mugabe, which from then on prevented him from fulfilling his mandate. However, Sithole's small opposition won the Chipinge mandate again in 2000. He died on December 12, 2000 in Philadelphia, USA.

Web links

• Britannica: Biography of Sithole

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Robert Cary, Diana Mitchell: African nationalist leaders in Rhodesia who's who . Africana book Society, Johannesburg, 1977 ISBN 0869201522 pp. 135-137
2. ↑ Copac: bibliographic evidence . (English)