The United African National Council (UANC) is a political party in

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. It was briefly the ruling party during 1979–1980, when its leader

Abel Muzorewa Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa (14 April 1925 – 8 April 2010), also commonly referred to as Bishop Muzorewa, was a Zimbabwean bishop and politician who served as the first and only Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia from the Internal Settlement to ...

was Prime Minister.

History

The party was founded by Muzorewa in 1971.Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa
Britannica Running as African National Council independents, it won six of the eight African seats in the House of Assembly in the 1974 general elections. The party was renamed the United African National Council in 1977, but did not contest the 1977 general elections. Following the

Internal Settlement The Internal Settlement was an agreement which was signed on 3 March 1978 between Prime Minister of Rhodesia Ian Smith and the moderate African nationalist leaders comprising Bishop Abel Muzorewa, Ndabaningi Sithole and Senator Chief Jeremiah Ch ...

of 1978, the party won the 1979 elections, winning 51 of the 100 seats, resulting in Muzorewa becoming Prime Minister. However, the new government failed to win international recognition and following the

Lancaster House Agreement The Lancaster House Agreement, signed on 21 December 1979, declared a ceasefire, ending the Rhodesian Bush War; and directly led to Rhodesia achieving internationally recognised independence as Zimbabwe. It required the full resumption of d ...

, early elections were held in April 1980. The UANC won only three seats as

ZANU–PF The Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) is a political organisation which has been the ruling party of Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. The party was led for many years under Robert Mugabe, first as prime ministe ...

took power. After failing to win a seat in the

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

and 1990 elections, the party joined with other opposition parties to form

United Parties The United Parties (UP) is a political party founded in Zimbabwe in 1994 and was led by retired Bishop Abel Muzorewa. The UP is an amalgamation of Muzorewa's former party, United African National Council, and a Matebeleland and Masvingo-based fa ...

to support Muzorewa in the 1996 presidential election, but he subsequently pulled out (albeit with his name remaining on the ballot). United Parties also unsuccessfully contested the 2000 parliamentary elections. The party contested the 2018 general elections but received just 1,889 votes.

References

Political parties in Rhodesia Political parties in Zimbabwe 1971 establishments in Rhodesia Political parties established in 1971 {{Zimbabwe-party-stub