A lion eating its cubs? Assassinations, mutinies, renegades and the failure of ZIPRA’s Turning Point Strategy, 1977–1980

This article explores how internal conflicts influenced ZAPU/ZIPRA’s efforts to transition from guerrilla tactics to conventional warfare in its struggle against the Rhodesian regime between 1977 and 1979. The assassinations of Jason Moyo, the vice president of ZAPU, Charles Sotsha Ngwenya, the ZIPRA chief of operations in 1977, and Rogers Mangena, the commander of ZIPRA in 1978, significantly weakened the combat effectiveness of ZAPU/ZIPRA during a crucial phase of the armed struggle. Some ZIPRA insurgents loyal to the trio suspected of plotting a coup against Joshua Nkomo, the president of ZAPU, deserted, increasing renegade activities in the operational areas of Rhodesia. Drawing from various sources, this paper argues that these upheavals were not isolated cases but continuities of the internecine power struggles between ZAPU/ZIPRA political and military leadership that can be traced back to the 1960s. The military effectiveness of ZIPRA was compromised by the implosions of the late 1970s, leading to its failure to overthrow the Rhodesian regime through full-scale conventional warfare.