The Front for the Liberation of Zimbabwe (FROLIZI) was an

African nationalist African nationalism is an umbrella term which refers to a group of political ideologies in sub-Saharan Africa, which are based on the idea of national self-determination and the creation of nation states.Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

. It was announced in

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was ab ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

in October 1971 as a merger of the two principal African nationalist factions in Rhodesia, the

Zimbabwe African People's Union The Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) is a Zimbabwean political party. It is a militant organization and political party that campaigned for majority rule in Rhodesia, from its founding in 1961 until 1980. In 1987, it merged with the Zimba ...

(ZAPU) and 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 Muga ...

(ZANU). However, it was in fact a breakaway faction of both ZAPU and ZANU, established by members of both groups who had become disaffected due to their rival organisations' incessant internal and external disputes. Its domination by members of the Zezuru, a subgroup of the Shona people, led to accusations that it was merely a tribal grouping and ridicule as the "Front for the Liaison of Zezuru Intellectuals". The organisation declared its support for national unity in its draft constitution and excoriated the divisions of ZANU and ZAPU, which had undermined their effectiveness in combating the Rhodesian regime. As the constitution said, FROLIZI's first leaders were Skilkom Siwela and Godfrey Savanhu; there were reportedly plans to appoint Robert Mugabe of ZANU as a supposed "unity" leader, but this did not happen due to the failure of a plot which had been intended to bring it about. FROLIZI's leadership circulated a letter falsely claiming that ZAPU's leader

Joshua Nkomo Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo (19 June 1917 – 1 July 1999) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and Matabeleland politician who served as Vice-President of Zimbabwe from 1990 until his death in 1999. He founded and led the Zimbabwe African People's ...

and ZANU's leader

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 ...

had agreed to support Mugabe as the leader of FROLIZI, which would bring together both ZANU and ZAPU. However, Sithole learned of the plot and circulated a letter denouncing FROLIZI, and ZAPU's Deputy National Secretary dismissed FROLIZI as "a haven of refuge for political rejects". Mugabe remained in ZANU and eventually managed to seize control of the organisation in 1975. Siwela and Savanhu were ousted in 1972 by James Chikerema,

George Nyandoro George Bodzo Nyandoro (8 July 1926 – 24 June 1994) was a Zimbabwean politician and activist in the struggle to end white minority rule in Rhodesia. Nyandoro was one of the founders of the Southern Rhodesia African National Congress (SRANC) and ser ...

and

Nathan Shamuyarira Nathan Shamuyarira (29 September 1928 – 4 June 2014) was a Zimbabwean nationalist who at different times fought on behalf of and helped lead FROLIZI, ZANU, and ZAPU. He later served as the Information Minister of ZimbabweKalley, Jacqueline Aud ...

. While FROLIZI did not manage to establish a presence in Rhodesia, it sought to ally with African National Council. It had very few members and no significant armed grouping of its own, though armed members were reported to have infiltrated across the

n border in the northern

Karoi Karoi is a town in Zimbabwe. Location Karoi is located in Karoi District, Mashonaland West Province, in central northern Zimbabwe. It is located approximately , by road, northwest of Chinhoyi, the nearest large town, and the location of the ...

region of Rhodesia and carried out an attack on a white-owned farm in 1972.Africa: The Adelphi Papers, Volume I, p. 20 It obtained significant outside support for a while but collapsed in 1973 after being passed over by the Organisation of African Unity's Liberation Committee in favour of the other two principal Zimbabwean liberation movements. Its members mostly went over to ZANU following FROLIZI's demise.

References

{{Zimbabwean political parties 1971 establishments in Rhodesia History of Zimbabwe Military units and formations established in 1971 National liberation movements in Africa Rebel groups in Zimbabwe Rhodesian Bush War