Verda.Majo at 07:18, 14 September 2026

2026-09-14T07:18:56Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:18, 14 September 2026
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	''Article in THE ZIMBABWE NEWS''		''Article in THE ZIMBABWE NEWS''

	Our revolution is an ever progressive dynamic process set in the positive direction of achieving both immediate and long-term revolutionary goals. It has a past, a present and a future. Its beginnings lie embedded in a historical past in which colonial and hence capitalist forces had, since 1890, erected a strangely exploitative socio-economic environment where the new ruler became identifiable by the following selfishly individualistic characteristics: (a) The ruler was a settler who imposed his will upon the people and had never invoked and obtained their consent, hence the First Liberation War of 1896/7. (b) The ruler was a white man for whom race and colour decided a person’s status, thus creating a racial dimension in the matrix of antagonistic contradictions. The ruler had with impunity acquired vast land acreages. He defiantly and systematically dispossessed and disorganised traditional communities and upset the customary land system built on common ownership and common interest, by super-imposing upon it a new settler land-owner class and the resultant creation of an equally new class of land-hungry peasant population whose pervading grievance on the land issue has to this day constituted the main source of the existing generalised hostility towards the settler community. The Land Apportionment Act 1930, and the Land Tenure Act 1969, form the main legal instruments for ensuring the continuity of the inequitable division. (d) The settlers had, by employing borrowed or self-acquired capital and laying open the country to foreign multi-national investment capital and other forms of speculative capital, established a liberal economy Y. (c — 40 in which the primary industrial sectors (farming and mining) and the subsequent manufacturing and commercial sectors turned the African population (indigenous and non-indigenous) into a worker class whose remuneration, on the average, always fell below subsistence level. It was in the contest of these ravages upon the fundamental rights of the people, upon their economic resources and their political and social order, that even before the re-formation of the African National Congress in 1957 attempts were made by some small organisations like the old pre-1957 African National Congress, RICU (Reformed Industrial and Commercial Workers Union), a trade union body, the British Voice Association which, though a misnomer, was an organisation that fought for the recognition and respect of people’s right to the occupation and use of land and for the improvement of the general conditions of workers. Thus, in 1948, the whole Bulawayo was, for about three days, paralysed by a general strike called by the British Voice Association. The African politics of the time were reformist and not revolutionary, as they aimed at the correction of the grievances and not at the eradication of the root cause of these grievances — the political power base which was the birth-place of the entire oppressive system. Organisation was poor, for although the organisers were well-meaning, they were inexperienced and unknowledgeable. Ideological direction just did not exist, because the principles and objectives that formed the basis of action were superficial and not fundamental: superficial in that their general direction was the mere amelioration of the effects of colonialism and not the destruction of colonialism itself. The period 1957 to 1961 ushered in a stage during which the reformist politics transformed into a struggle for equal rights — political, social and economic. The parties championing the campaign were the African National Congress as re-formed in 1957 and the first real mass political organisation — the National Democratic Party 1960-1961. It was the NDP which, carrying over from where the African National Congress had left off when it was proscribed in February 1959, thoroughly drilled the masses into confidently upholding the principle of independence based on one-man-one-vote. With this shift from remedial politics to the politics of nationalism and self-rule, there had occurred a fundamental qualitative transformation in the political approach of the leadership. Alongside this new transformation came better organisation, planning and programming of political action. And yet no qualitative change in the means of political action took place. Between 1957 and 1961, the 41		Our revolution is an ever progressive dynamic process set in the positive direction of achieving both immediate and long-term revolutionary goals. It has a past, a present and a future. Its beginnings lie embedded in a historical past in which colonial and hence capitalist forces had, since 1890, erected a strangely exploitative socio-economic environment where the new ruler became identifiable by the following selfishly individualistic characteristics: (a) The ruler was a settler who imposed his will upon the people and had never invoked and obtained their consent, hence the First Liberation War of 1896/7. (b) The ruler was a white man for whom race and colour decided a person’s status, thus creating a racial dimension in the matrix of antagonistic contradictions. The ruler had with impunity acquired vast land acreages. He defiantly and systematically dispossessed and disorganised traditional communities and upset the customary land system built on common ownership and common interest, by super-imposing upon it a new settler land-owner class and the resultant creation of an equally new class of land-hungry peasant population whose pervading grievance on the land issue has to this day constituted the main source of the existing generalised hostility towards the settler community. The Land Apportionment Act 1930, and the Land Tenure Act 1969, form the main legal instruments for ensuring the continuity of the inequitable division. (d) The settlers had, by employing borrowed or self-acquired capital and laying open the country to foreign multi-national investment capital and other forms of speculative capital, established a liberal economy Y. (c — 40 in which the primary industrial sectors (farming and mining) and the subsequent manufacturing and commercial sectors turned the African population (indigenous and non-indigenous) into a worker class whose remuneration, on the average, always fell below subsistence level. It was in the contest of these ravages upon the fundamental rights of the people, upon their economic resources and their political and social order, that even before the re-formation of the African National Congress in 1957 attempts were made by some small organisations like the old pre-1957 African National Congress, RICU (Reformed Industrial and Commercial Workers Union), a trade union body, the British Voice Association which, though a misnomer, was an organisation that fought for the recognition and respect of people’s right to the occupation and use of land and for the improvement of the general conditions of workers. Thus, in 1948, the whole Bulawayo was, for about three days, paralysed by a general strike called by the British Voice Association. The African politics of the time were reformist and not revolutionary, as they aimed at the correction of the grievances and not at the eradication of the root cause of these grievances — the political power base which was the birth-place of the entire oppressive system. Organisation was poor, for although the organisers were well-meaning, they were inexperienced and unknowledgeable. Ideological direction just did not exist, because the principles and objectives that formed the basis of action were superficial and not fundamental: superficial in that their general direction was the mere amelioration of the effects of colonialism and not the destruction of colonialism itself. The period 1957 to 1961 ushered in a stage during which the reformist politics transformed into a struggle for equal rights — political, social and economic. The parties championing the campaign were the African National Congress as re-formed in 1957 and the first real mass political organisation — the National Democratic Party 1960-1961. It was the NDP which, carrying over from where the African National Congress had left off when it was proscribed in February 1959, thoroughly drilled the masses into confidently upholding the principle of independence based on one-man-one-vote. With this shift from remedial politics to the politics of nationalism and self-rule, there had occurred a fundamental qualitative transformation in the political approach of the leadership. Alongside this new transformation came better organisation, planning and programming of political action. And yet no qualitative change in the means of political action took place. Between 1957 and 1961, the assortment of actions selected as the means of struggle were those of secondary character — industrial strikes, boycotts (of buses, goods, shops and beer-halls) mass protests and demonstrations, passive resistance campaigns against destocking, the payment of cattle and dog taxes and the wide-spread contour-ridging programme, and non-collaboration with civil authorities. In adopting these means of struggle, the leadership in those days never intended to overthrow the enemy but rather draw in the hand of the colonial power so constitutional changes could be effected to bring about a government based on the principle of majority rule. The pressures were thus nothing more than a form of appeal to Britain and never took the form of a struggle against her, for she was viewed as a mediator who should mediate on the side of the oppressed. There was hardly any difference in approach when, in December, 1961, we formed ZAPU after the NDP had been banned. The most significant change was the deliberate abandonment of the methods of strikes, demonstrations and passive resistance as ‘‘official’’ means of struggle, even though a number of areas in the country persisted in their non-collaboration with civil authority and refusal to destock their cattle. The main reason for abandoning these methods was the extent to which they exposed thousands of defenceless supporters to wanton shooting, arrest, torture and intimidation by the racist police. A new policy in respect of ‘‘action’’ (as it was called) was to embark extensively on sabotage of industries, farms and commercial concerns by using any available destructive means — explosives, axes, spears, arrows and ordinary fire. The immediate objective of these forms of pressure remained unchanged, namely to push Britain to a constitutional conference to negotiate a settlement which would yield universal suffrage and therefore lead to majority rule. When at the end of 1962, ZAPU was banned, the inefficiency of these means revealed itself, for despite a spate of telling sabotage acts lasting over a period of just about a month calmness and peace soon reigned on the scene. It was in the process of a complete re-appraisal of the entire political situation vis-a-vis the methods hitherto employed to bring about political change that ZANU was formed on 8 August 1963. Whereas the methods of pressure employed hitherto had eschewed the use of direct force upon the enemy, ZANU became the first nationalist organisation to choose armed struggle as the chief means of subduing the enemy. The choice of armed struggle meant the building of a guerilla force, which in turn necessitated the careful planning and organisation of training facilities in those countries progressive enough to offer them. It 42 a also imposed on the Party leadership the responsibility to launch a wide recruitment campaign. The success of any recruitment campaign naturally depends on the degree of the people’s awareness, and this is usually an advanced stage in a people’s political consciousness. However, no serious problems were encountered in recruiting from amongst our Party Youth and by the beginning of 1964, though the violent conflict with ZAPU which sought our extinction was a great handicap, we had already produced some trained cadres, whilst many more left the country during the year for military training in friendly countries. The year 1964 must always be remembered as the year the Party was firmly and formally constituted together with a clearly stated Party policy which resulted in a Party action programme being adopted. The following important events in 1964 must be noted: (a) A ZANU Congress was held in May at Gwelo, which (i) adopted the Party constitution drafted by the interim Central Committee, (ii) adopted the Party statement of Policy which espoused socialism, (iii) elected the Central Committee of the Party and its National Executive, (iv) gave a mandate to the Central Committee to formulate and embark upon an Action Programme with immediate effect, (v) authorised the Central Committee to hold the Youth, Women congress. (b) The ZANU Central Committee, whilst recruiting and dispatching personnel outside for military training, decided that its action programme, which included armed struggle, could still start taking effect through the employment of local resources. Hence the many actions which occurred: (i) the Crocodile Group’s action in the Eastern zone, (ii) the sabotage acts in Fort Victoria area by a group of trained cadres which included the blasting of a railway locomotive engine, (iii) sabotage acts in the region of Salisbury involving explosive devices, (iv) the burning and destruction of settler farm property. These actions formed a prelude to the subsequent launching of the armed struggle in 1966. As opposed to the “‘pressure and leverage” 43



	assortment of actions selected as the means of struggle were those of secondary character — industrial strikes, boycotts (of buses, goods, shops and beer-halls) mass protests and demonstrations, passive resistance campaigns against destocking, the payment of cattle and dog taxes and the wide-spread contour-ridging programme, and non-collaboration with civil authorities. In adopting these means of struggle, the leadership in those days never intended to overthrow the enemy but rather draw in the hand of the colonial power so constitutional changes could be effected to bring about a government based on the principle of majority rule. The pressures were thus nothing more than a form of appeal to Britain and never took the form of a struggle against her, for she was viewed as a mediator who should mediate on the side of the oppressed. There was hardly any difference in approach when, in December, 1961, we formed ZAPU after the NDP had been banned. The most significant change was the deliberate abandonment of the methods of strikes, demonstrations and passive resistance as ‘‘official’’ means of struggle, even though a number of areas in the country persisted in their non-collaboration with civil authority and refusal to destock their cattle. The main reason for abandoning these methods was the extent to which they exposed thousands of defenceless supporters to wanton shooting, arrest, torture and intimidation by the racist police. A new policy in respect of ‘‘action’’ (as it was called) was to embark extensively on sabotage of industries, farms and commercial concerns by using any available destructive means — explosives, axes, spears, arrows and ordinary fire. The immediate objective of these forms of pressure remained unchanged, namely to push Britain to a constitutional conference to negotiate a settlement which would yield universal suffrage and therefore lead to majority rule. When at the end of 1962, ZAPU was banned, the inefficiency of these means revealed itself, for despite a spate of telling sabotage acts lasting over a period of just about a month calmness and peace soon reigned on the scene. It was in the process of a complete re-appraisal of the entire political situation vis-a-vis the methods hitherto employed to bring about political change that ZANU was formed on 8 August 1963. Whereas the methods of pressure employed hitherto had eschewed the use of direct force upon the enemy, ZANU became the first nationalist organisation to choose armed struggle as the chief means of subduing the enemy. The choice of armed struggle meant the building of a guerilla force, which in turn necessitated the careful planning and organisation of training facilities in those countries progressive enough to offer them. It 42 a also imposed on the Party leadership the responsibility to launch a wide recruitment campaign. The success of any recruitment campaign naturally depends on the degree of the people’s awareness, and this is usually an advanced stage in a people’s political consciousness. However, no serious problems were encountered in recruiting from amongst our Party Youth and by the beginning of 1964, though the violent conflict with ZAPU which sought our extinction was a great handicap, we had already produced some trained cadres, whilst many more left the country during the year for military training in friendly countries. The year 1964 must always be remembered as the year the Party was firmly and formally constituted together with a clearly stated Party policy which resulted in a Party action programme being adopted. The following important events in 1964 must be noted: (a) A ZANU Congress was held in May at Gwelo, which (i) adopted the Party constitution drafted by the interim Central Committee, (ii) adopted the Party statement of Policy which espoused socialism, (iii) elected the Central Committee of the Party and its National Executive, (iv) gave a mandate to the Central Committee to formulate and embark upon an Action Programme with immediate effect, (v) authorised the Central Committee to hold the Youth, Women congress. (b) The ZANU Central Committee, whilst recruiting and dispatching personnel outside for military training, decided that its action programme, which included armed struggle, could still start taking effect through the employment of local resources. Hence the many actions which occurred: (i) the Crocodile Group’s action in the Eastern zone, (ii) the sabotage acts in Fort Victoria area by a group of trained cadres which included the blasting of a railway locomotive engine, (iii) sabotage acts in the region of Salisbury involving explosive devices, (iv) the burning and destruction of settler farm property. These actions formed a prelude to the subsequent launching of the armed struggle in 1966. As opposed to the “‘pressure and leverage” 43

Verda.Majo: /* 5. The Year of the People’s Storm (1979) */ proofreading

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Introduction: continued proofreading

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Verda.Majo: Created page with "{{Library work|title=Our War of Liberation|author=Robert Mugabe|publisher=Mambo Press|published_date=1983|source=https://archive.org/details/robert-mugabe-our-war-of-liberation/|pdf=https://dn721607.ca.archive.org/0/items/robert-mugabe-our-war-of-liberation/robert%20mugabe%20%20OUR%20WAR%20OF%20LIBERATION.pdf}} Introduction The road to leadership is a long, cold and lonely one. The higher the path winds, the narrower it becomes, with many twists and turns. During the..."

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Created page with "{{Library work|title=Our War of Liberation|author=Robert Mugabe|publisher=Mambo Press|published_date=1983|source=https://archive.org/details/robert-mugabe-our-war-of-liberation/|pdf=https://dn721607.ca.archive.org/0/items/robert-mugabe-our-war-of-liberation/robert%20mugabe%20%20OUR%20WAR%20OF%20LIBERATION.pdf}} Introduction The road to leadership is a long, cold and lonely one. The higher the path winds, the narrower it becomes, with many twists and turns. During the..."

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Library:Our War of Liberation - Revision history

Verda.Majo at 07:18, 14 September 2026

Verda.Majo: /* 5. The Year of the People’s Storm (1979) */ proofreading

Verda.Majo: /* 4. ‘To Arms, all of you. . .’: The Year of the People (1978) */ continued proofreading

Verda.Majo: /* 2. The Chimoio and Tembue Massacres */ proofreading

Verda.Majo: proofreading

Verda.Majo: /* Introduction */ continued proofreading

Verda.Majo: proofreading

Verda.Majo: proofreading, added book cover image

Verda.Majo: started proofreading and creating chapter and section headings