Statecraft & Independence
Landmark
Josiah Tongogara
1938 – 1979
Commander of ZANLA, dead weeks before independence
Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the Zimbabwe Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
He commanded the guerrilla army that forced the settlement, sat at Lancaster House to negotiate it, and died in a car crash weeks before the country he had fought for existed.
Josiah Tongogara was the leading Zimbabwean guerrilla commander of the Rhodesian Bush War, serving as commander of the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army from 1973 to 1979.
He took over the armed forces of ZANU from Herbert Chitepo in 1973 and attended the Lancaster House conference that produced Zimbabwe's independence.
He took over the armed forces of ZANU from Herbert Chitepo in 1973 and attended the Lancaster House conference that produced Zimbabwe's independence.
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