Lancaster House Agreement
Encyclopedia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
following Ian Smith
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith GCLM ID was a politician active in the government of Southern Rhodesia, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1948 to 1987, most notably serving as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 1 June 1979...
’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence
Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Rhodesia)
The Unilateral Declaration of Independence of Rhodesia from the United Kingdom was signed on November 11, 1965, by the administration of Ian Smith, whose Rhodesian Front party opposed black majority rule in the then British colony. Although it declared independence from the United Kingdom it...
in 1965. The Agreement (signed in December 1979) covered the Independence Constitution, pre-independence arrangements, and a ceasefire. The parties represented during the conference were: the British Government, the Patriotic Front
Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front
The Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front has been the ruling party in Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, led by Robert Mugabe, first as Prime Minister with the party simply known as ZANU, and then as President from 1988 after taking over ZAPU and retaining the name ZANU-PF...
led by Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
and Joshua Nkomo
Joshua Nkomo
Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo was the leader and founder of the Zimbabwe African People's Union and a member of the Kalanga tribe...
, ZAPU (Zimbabwe African Peoples Union) and ZANU (Zimbabwe African National Union
Zimbabwe African National Union
The Zimbabwe African National Union was a militant organization that fought against the standing government in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union...
) and the Zimbabwe Rhodesia
Zimbabwe Rhodesia
Zimbabwe Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Zimbabwe Rhodesia, was an unrecognized state that existed from 1 June 1979 to 12 December 1979...
government, represented by Bishop Abel Muzorewa
Abel Muzorewa
Bishop Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia from the Internal Settlement to the Lancaster House Agreement in 1979...
and Ian Smith
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith GCLM ID was a politician active in the government of Southern Rhodesia, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1948 to 1987, most notably serving as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 1 June 1979...
. It was signed on 21 December 1979.
Following the Meeting of Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
Heads of Government
Head of government
Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...
held in Lusaka
Lusaka
Lusaka is the capital and largest city of Zambia. It is located in the southern part of the central plateau, at an elevation of about 1,300 metres . It has a population of about 1.7 million . It is a commercial centre as well as the centre of government, and the four main highways of Zambia head...
from August 1-7 1979, the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
government invited Muzorewa and the leaders of the Patriotic Front to participate in a Constitutional Conference at Lancaster House
Lancaster House
Lancaster House is a mansion in the St. James's district in the West End of London. It is close to St. James's Palace and much of the site was once part of the palace complex...
. The purpose of the Conference was to discuss and reach agreement on the terms of an Independence Constitution, and that elections should be supervised under British authority to enable Rhodesia to proceed to legal independence and the parties to settle their differences by political means.
Lord Carrington
Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington
Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, is a British Conservative politician. He served as British Foreign Secretary between 1979 and 1982 and as the sixth Secretary General of NATO from 1984 to 1988. He is the last surviving member of the Cabinets of both Harold Macmillan and Sir...
, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a senior member of Her Majesty's Government heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and regarded as one of the Great Offices of State...
of the United Kingdom, chaired the Conference. The conference took place from 10 September-15 December 1979 with 47 plenary session
Plenary session
Plenary session is a term often used in conferences to define the part of the conference when all members of all parties are to attend.These sessions may contain a broad range of content from keynotes to panel discussions and are not necessarily related to a specific style of delivery.The term has...
s.
In the course of its proceedings the conference reached agreement on the following issues:
- Summary of the Independence Constitution
- arrangements for the pre-independence period
- a cease-fire agreement signed by the parties
In concluding this agreement and signing this report the parties undertook:
- to accept the authority of the Governor;
- to abide by the Independence Constitution;
- to comply with the pre-independence arrangements;
- to abide by the cease-fire agreement;
- to campaign peacefully and without intimidation;
- to renounce the use of force for political ends;
- to accept the outcome of the elections and instruct any forces under their authority to do the same.
Under the Independence Constitution, 20% of seats in the country's parliament were reserved for whites.
The three-month long conference almost failed to reach an accord due to disagreements on land reform. Mugabe was pressured to sign and land was the key stumbling block. Both the British and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
governments offered to buy land from willing white settlers who could not accept reconciliation (the "Willing buyer, Willing seller" principle) and a fund was established, to operate from 1980 to 1990.
Lord Carrington, Sir Ian Gilmour
Ian Gilmour, Baron Gilmour of Craigmillar
Ian Hedworth John Little Gilmour, Baron Gilmour of Craigmillar, PC, was a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom. He was styled Sir Ian Gilmour, 3rd Baronet from 1977, having succeeded to his father's baronetcy, until he became a life peer in 1992. He served as Secretary of State for...
, Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
, Joshua Nkomo
Joshua Nkomo
Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo was the leader and founder of the Zimbabwe African People's Union and a member of the Kalanga tribe...
, Bishop Abel Muzorewa
Abel Muzorewa
Bishop Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia from the Internal Settlement to the Lancaster House Agreement in 1979...
and Dr. S C Mundawarara signed the report.
The British assisted in setting up the Zimbabwe conference on reconstruction and development in 1981. At that conference, more than £630 million of aid was pledged. The first phase of land reform in the 1980, which was partially funded by the United Kingdom, successfully resettled around 70,000 landless people on more than 20,000 km² of land.
United Kingdom delegation
- Sir Farhan Miah
- Lord Peter Carrington, 6th Baron Carrington (Chairman)
- Ian Gilmour, Baron Gilmour of CraigmillarIan Gilmour, Baron Gilmour of CraigmillarIan Hedworth John Little Gilmour, Baron Gilmour of Craigmillar, PC, was a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom. He was styled Sir Ian Gilmour, 3rd Baronet from 1977, having succeeded to his father's baronetcy, until he became a life peer in 1992. He served as Secretary of State for...
- Sir Michael Havers, Baron HaversMichael Havers, Baron HaversRobert Michael Oldfield Havers, Baron Havers PC, QC was a British barrister and Conservative politician. From his knighthood in 1972 until becoming a peer in 1987 he was known as Sir Michael Havers.- Early life :...
- Lord HarlechBaron HarlechBaron Harlech, of Harlech in the County of Merioneth, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1876 for the Conservative politician John Ormsby-Gore, with remainder to his younger brother William. He had previously represented Carnarvon and North Shropshire in the House of...
- Richard Luce
- Sir Michael PalliserMichael PalliserSir Arthur Michael Palliser GCMG is the vice chairman of the Salzburg Seminar's Board of Directors and a former senior British Diplomat....
- Sir Antony Duff
- D M Day
- R A C Byatt
- Robin Renwick, Baron Renwick of Clifton
- P R N Fifoot
- Sir Nicholas Fenn, Head of News Department of the Foreign Office
- George WaldenGeorge WaldenGeorge Gordon Harvey Walden is a British journalist and a former Conservative Party Member of Parliament who served as the Minister for Higher Education from 1985-87....
- C D Powell
- P J Barlow
- R D Wilkinson
- A M Layden
- R M J Lyne
- M J Richardson
- C R L de Chassiron
- A J Phillips
- M C Wood
Patriotic Front delegation
- Robert MugabeRobert MugabeRobert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
- future President of Zimbabwe - Joshua NkomoJoshua NkomoJoshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo was the leader and founder of the Zimbabwe African People's Union and a member of the Kalanga tribe...
- ZAPU leader - Josiah Mushore ChinamanoJosiah Mushore ChinamanoJosiah Mushore Chinamano fought in the Rhodesian Bush War on behalf of the Zimbabwe African People's Union. He later served as the Minister of Transport....
- ZAPU leader, moderate, detained with Nkomo, future government minister - Edgar TekereEdgar TekereEdgar Zivanai Tekere was a Zimbabwean politician. He was a president of the Zimbabwe African National Union who organised the party during the Lancaster House talks and served in government before his popularity as a potential rival to Robert Mugabe caused their...
- future Government minister, expelled from the party in 1988 after he denounced plans to establish a one-party state in Zimbabwe. He also emerged as a vocal critic of the massacre of civilians in Matabeleland after government launched a crackdown against so-called dissidents in the region. He formed his own party, Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM) in 1989 ahead of general elections in 1990. - General Josiah TongogaraJosiah TongogaraJosiah Magama Tongogara was a commander of the ZANLA guerrilla army in Rhodesia. He attended the Lancaster House conference that led to Zimbabwe's independence and the end of white minority rule...
, ZANLA general, from ZANU militant external wing - Ernest R Kadungure, ZAPU, future Finance secretary
- Dr H Ushewokunze - first health minister, director of energy and transportation, director of political affairs. Flamboyant and often controversial, he often clashed with the Mugabe administration and was thrown out of the government, welcomed back in, then thrown out again. He died in 1995 and was buried in Zimbabwe's national cemetery. He was declared a national hero.
- Dzingai Mutumbuka - future minister of education
- Josiah TungamiraiJosiah TungamiraiAir Chief Marshal Josiah Tungamirai , born Thomas Mberikwazvo, was a Zimbabwean military officer and politician...
- future Air force chief, after retirement as MP for Gutu North. - Edson ZvobgoEdson ZvobgoEdson Jonasi Zvobgo was a founder of Zimbabwe's ruling party Zanu-PF, was the Patriotic Front's spokesman at the Lancaster House in late 1979, a Harvard-trained lawyer, and a poet....
- lawyer, Harvard graduate, future Government minister, clashed with Mugabe around press freedom, buried a national hero. - Dr S Mubako
- W Kamba
- Joseph MsikaJoseph MsikaJoseph Wilfred Msika was a Zimbabwean politician who served as Vice President of Zimbabwe from 1999 to 2009.-Early life:...
- ZAPU leader, detained with Nkomo, future vice-president - T George Silundika - ZAPU Publicity and Information Secretary
- A M Chambati
- John Nkomo
- L Baron
- S K Sibanda
- E Mlambo
- C Ndlovu
- E Siziba
Zimbabwe Rhodesia delegation
- Prime Minister Bishop Abel MuzorewaAbel MuzorewaBishop Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia from the Internal Settlement to the Lancaster House Agreement in 1979...
- S C Mundawarara
- E L Bulle
- F. Zindoga
- D C Mukome
- G B Nyandoro
- Reverend Ndabaningi SitholeNdabaningi SitholeNdabaningi Sithole founded the Zimbabwe African National Union, a militant organization that opposed the government of Rhodesia, in July 1963. A member of the Ndau ethnic group, he also worked as a Methodist minister. He spent 10 years in prison after the government banned ZANU...
- L Nyemba
- Chief Kayisa NdiweniKayisa NdiweniKayisa Ndiweni was chief in Zimbabwe. He was hugely respected in Matabeleland, and a revered figure among his people in Ntabazinduna....
- Z M Bafanah
- Ian SmithIan SmithIan Douglas Smith GCLM ID was a politician active in the government of Southern Rhodesia, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1948 to 1987, most notably serving as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 1 June 1979...
- D C Smith
- R Cronje
- C Andersen
- Dr J Kamusikiri
- G Pincus
- L G Smith
- Air Vice Marshal H Hawkins
- Dr E M F Chitate
- D Zamchiya
- S V Mutambanengwe
- M A Adam
- P Claypole