Joshua Nkomo
Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo (19 June 1917 – 1 July 1999) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Vice-President of Zimbabwe from 1990 until his death in 1999. He founded and led the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) from 1961 until it merged in 1987 with Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) to form ZANU–PF after an internal military crackdown called Gukurahundi in western Zimbabwe, mostly on ethnic Ndebele ZAPU supporters.
Joshua Nkomo | |
|---|---|
Nkomo in 1978 | |
| 1st Second Vice-President of Zimbabwe | |
| In office 6 August 1990 – 1 July 1999 Serving with Simon Muzenda | |
| President | Robert Mugabe |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Msika |
| 1st Minister of Home Affairs of Zimbabwe | |
| In office 1980 – February 1982 | |
| President | Canaan Banana |
| Prime Minister | Robert Mugabe |
| Preceded by | Herbert Zimuto (Zimbabwe Rhodesia) |
| Succeeded by | Herbert Ushewokunze |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo 19 June 1917 Matopos, Southern Rhodesia (now Matobo, Zimbabwe) |
| Died | 1 July 1999 (aged 82) Harare, Zimbabwe |
| Resting place | National Heroes Acre |
| Political party | PF-ZAPU ZAPU |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4 |
| Residence | Bulawayo |
| Alma mater | Jan H. Hofmeyr School of Social Work University of South Africa (BA) |
| Profession | Politician, guerrilla leader, trade unionist, businessman |
He was a leading trade union leader, who progressed on to become president of the banned National Democratic Party, and was jailed for ten years by Rhodesia's white minority government. After his release in 1974, ZAPU contributed to the fall of that government, along with the splinter rival ZANU, created in 1963.
In 1983, fearing for his life in the early stages of the Gukurahundi, Nkomo fled the country. Later in 1987, he controversially signed the Unity Accord allowing ZAPU to merge with ZANU to stop the genocide.
Nkomo earned many nicknames like "Umafukufuku" in Ndebele, "Father Zimbabwe" in English, and "Chibwechitedza" ("the slippery rock") in Shona.