Enos Mzombi Nkala (23 August 1932 – 21 August 2013) was one of the founders of the
Zimbabwe African National Union
The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) was a militant organisation that fought against white minority rule in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU). ZANU split in 1975 into wings loyal to Robert Mugab ...
.
Political career
Role in ZANU-PF
During the
Rhodesian Bush War
The Rhodesian Bush War, also called the Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Liberation, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe-Rhodesia).
The conflict pitted three forc ...
, he served on the ZANU high command, or
Dare reChimurenga as Treasurer (dura remusangano). When Nkala and most of the nationalists within the leadership were imprisoned,
Paul Tangi Mhova Mkondo took over the role. Nkala was detained by the Rhodesian government at
Gonakudzingwa for 12 years with the rest of the
ZANU-PF (formed in Nkala's house in Highfields) leadership, consisting of
Ndabaningi Sithole
Ndabaningi Sithole (21 July 1920 – 12 December 2000) founded the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), a militant organisation that opposed the government of Rhodesia, in July 1963.Veenhoven, Willem Adriaan, Ewing, and Winifred Crum. ''Cas ...
,
Leopold Takawira,
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...
,
Edgar Tekere and
Morris Nyagumbo. When
Edgar Tekere was in prison, he tabled the motion of having Sithole removed as the supreme leader and replaced by Mugabe. Nkala and Nyagumbo voted in favour of Mugabe (Mugabe abstained), making him leader.
Following independence in 1980, he served as Minister of Finance until 1983, when the portfolio was consolidated into Finance, Economic Planning and Development and handed over to senior minister
Bernard Thomas Gibson Chidzero. Nkala moved sideways to become Minister of National Supplies until 1985 and Home Affairs and Defence after the
1985 election. As Defence Minister he was involved in the notorious ''
Gukurahundi
The ''Gukurahundi'' was a genocide in Zimbabwe which arose in 1982 until the Unity Accord in 1987. It derives from a Shona language term which loosely translates to "the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains".
During ...
'' pogrom against the
Ndebele people, although he issued a number of conflicting statements on the nature of his involvement.
Nkala stated that he regretted his role in the ''Gukurahundi'' and that he would never do it again. He described his involvement as "eternal hell" and publicly blamed Mugabe for ordering it. At the Imbovane YaMhlabezulu meeting held in
Bulawayo
Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council cl ...
on 26 February 1998, Nkala, who was a guest speaker alongside
Joseph Msika
Joseph Wilfred Msika (6 December 1923 – 4 August 2009), was a Zimbabwean politician who served as Second Vice-President of Zimbabwe from 1999 to 2009.Sydney Kawadza"VP Msika dies", ''The Herald'', 6 August 2009.
Early life
Msika was born in ...
(National Chairman of ZANU-PF), repeatedly denied involvement in Gukurahundi.
While serving as Zimbabwe's Home Affairs Minister, Nkala rejected allegations by
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...
, the London-based human rights organisation, which had reported beatings, electric shocks and other torture at government detention camps after the July 2006 general election.
Nkala claimed to have written a book chronicling ZANU-PF since its formation, including the ''Gukurahundi'' massacre and the assassinations of high-profile politicians using car accidents. He blamed the death of ZANU figures
Josiah Tongogara
Josiah Magama Tongogara (4 February 1938 – 26 December 1979) was a commander of the ZANLA guerrilla army in Rhodesia. He was the brother of current Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa's second wife, Jayne. He attended the Lancaster House c ...
and
Herbert Chitepo
Herbert Wiltshire Pfumaindini Chitepo (15 June 1923 – 18 March 1975) led the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) until he was assassinated in March 1975. Although his murderer remains unidentified, the Rhodesian author Peter Stiff says tha ...
and others on Mugabe. He is alleged to have had an affair with
Sally Mugabe
Sarah Francesca "Sally" Mugabe (née Hayfron; 6 June 1931 – 27 January 1992) was the first wife of Robert Mugabe (former President of Zimbabwe) and the First Lady of Zimbabwe from 1987 until her death in 1992. She was popularly known as ''Ama ...
.
Willowgate scandal
While a minister in the ZANU-PF government, Nkala became embroiled in the 'Willowgate' scandal, concerning the allocation of new motor vehicles to government officials, especially ministers, by Willowvale Motors in
Willowvale Harare. The vehicles were subsequently sold at a huge profit. The scandal was eternalised in song by
Solomon Skuza, a
Ndebele
Ndebele may refer to:
* Southern Ndebele people, located in South Africa
*Northern Ndebele people, located in Zimbabwe and Botswana
Languages
*Southern Ndebele language, the language of the South Ndebele
*Northern Ndebele language
Northern ...
musician, in the hit single 'Love and Scandals', in which he asks "how can someone buy a car and sell it again?" a reference to the scandal.
2008 election
On 21 April 2008, following the
March 2008 presidential election, Nkala urged his "colleagues to let President Mugabe retire with dignity".
Death
Enos Nkala died on 21 August 2013 at a hospital in Harare after a heart attack. He was 81.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nkala, Enos
1932 births
2013 deaths
20th-century Zimbabwean politicians
21st-century Zimbabwean politicians
Deaths from multiple organ failure
Defence Ministers of Zimbabwe
Finance Ministers of Zimbabwe
Government ministers of Zimbabwe
Members of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe
Northern Ndebele people
People from Matabeleland South Province
Prisoners and detainees of Rhodesia
ZANU–PF politicians
Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army personnel