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- 1917- . Zimbabwean politician, president of
- ZAPU (Zimbabwe African People's Union) from
- 1961 and a leader of the black nationalist
- movement against the white Rhodesian regime.
- He was a member of Robert Mugabe's cabinet in
- 1980-82 and from 1987. After completing his
- education in South Africa, Joshua Nkomo
- became a welfare officer on Rhodesian
- Railways and later organizing secretary of
- the Rhodesian African Railway Workers' Union.
- He entered politics 1950 and rose to become
- president of ZAPU. He was soon arrested, with
- other black African politicians, and was in
- detention during 1963-74. After his release
- he joined forces with Robert Mugabe as a
- joint leader of the Patriotic Front 1976,
- opposing the white-dominated regime of Ian
- Smith. Nkomo took part in the Lancaster House
- Conference, which led to Rhodesia's
- independence as the new state of Zimbabwe,
- and became a cabinet minister and vice
- president.
-