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Political Editor, Nduduzo Tshuma
EVERYONE was so thrilled about the news. I was personally happy so was Prof Banana and Cde Mugabe.

“When I look back at the 1980s I am so proud of the role I played in bringing Mugabe and Nkomo together and eventually signing the Unity Accord.”

These are the words of Cde Cephas Msipa, the former Midlands Governor and Zanu-PF Politburo member who died on Monday.

The veteran politican said this in 2010 as he reminisced on the day he successfully engineered the country’s greatest post Independence political settlement – the 1987 Unity Accord.

The former PF-Zapu secretary general will go down in history as a candid politician who never minced his words or feared to express his views, a philanthropist among other great attributes but will most importantly be remembered for his role as a unifier.

During an interview with The Chronicle in 2010, he went down memory lane narrating how he was approached by the then President Professor Canaan Banana to bring Zanu and PF-Zapu together leading to the Unity Accord that brought to an end post Independence political disturbances and civil strife in the country.

Former PF-Zapu chairman and Zanu-PF Politburo member, Cde Naison Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu, now the last surviving person who was involved in the secret negotiations for the Unity Accord before committees were set up and the process made public, yesterday said Cde Msipa’s negotiation skills set the path for the signing of the Accord.

“Cde Msipa’s role was behind the scenes as a person who had a gift of approaching even those perceived to be unapproachable, soften the ground and then other people would enter,” said Cde Ndlovu.

“When it came to the actual negotiations and committees set up by the two parties and the whole process made public, Cde Msipa had done his job behind the scenes.”

Reflecting on his role that was not publicised at the time, Cde Msipa said the unity Accord proved to the world that Zimbabweans had the capacity to solve their problems.

Cde Msipa said he was privileged to bring together President Mugabe, then Prime Minister and the late founding father of the revolution, the late Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo.

“I feel privileged to have played a key role in bringing President Mugabe and Zapu leader, Dr Nkomo to the negotiating table.

“I was approached by the late President of Zimbabwe, Professor Canaan Banana to engage the two leaders with the idea of bringing their revolutionary parties together as one for the development of the country.

The late former President said I was the ideal person for the task as I was close to both leaders,” Cde Msipa told The Chronicle then.

He revealed that he met Dr Nkomo in 1955 when he was a teacher at Kwekwe’s Amaveni Primary School and their relationship strengthened when the late Father Zimbabwe appointed him party representative.

The former Midlands Governor was to meet President Mugabe in 1960 when he returned to the country from Ghana and the two developed a strong friendship as they stayed at Cde Msipa’s house at the time.

Cde Msipa said the late Prof Banana had told him that Cde Mugabe had proposed that the two parties be united to end civil strife and foster the development of the country.

Zanu and PF-Zapu had formed a unitary government after Independence in 1980 but the unity broke down in 1982 leading to disturbances in the country and the Gukurahundi which has been described as the country’s dark post Independence period.

Cde Msipa revealed in the interview that the proposals by the Zanu leader made it difficult to market the idea of unity to the late Dr Nkomo.

“The real sticking point was that of the name of the party. President Mugabe had proposed that the united party will be known as Zanu-PF with the name Zanu coming from President Mugabe’s party while the PF part would be taken from PF-Zapu.

“The other thing was that the position of the late vice president Muzenda who was deputy prime minister then. He was to become vice president with equal powers as Vice president Nkomo,’ said Cde Msipa in the interview.

“Cde Nkomo said that was unacceptable as he was bringing a whole party and its supporters while Cde Muzenda was bringing nothing. He said on the issue of the name, the people of Matabeleland would not like it if we told them that they were now Zanu-PF supporters.

“I managed to convince him that there was nothing in a name. There was civil strife in the country that was affecting the development of the country. I also told him that Cde Muzenda would be bringing in his goodwill.”

After engaging Dr Nkomo, Cde Msipa said he wrote a letter stating the PF-Zapu leader’s views and demands which he relayed to Prof Banana.

“He was at first not happy with the contents of the document. I told him that he could not remain a leader of an opposition party forever. I also said he could best help the people of Matabeleland when he was inside the government where he could exert some influence, not outside.

“He went through the summary document several times and eventually said that I forward the document to Zanu,” he said.

Cde Msipa said Dr Nkomo eventually agreed to the deal and a date was set for formalisation but the process of bringing the two leaders together was done under a thick veil of secrecy to protect it from negative elements who might scupper the talks.

Besides himself and Prof Banana, Cde Msipa said the only other people who knew about the talks were Cde Naison Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu, the late Vice President Joseph Msika, the late Cdes Sydney Malunga and Welshman Mabhena whom he was directed by Dr Nkomo to consult on an individual level.

Cde Msipa said all indicated that they would back any decision made by Dr Nkomo and the late VP Msika was supportive of his role as arbitrator.

He said after the consultations, he was given the go ahead by Dr Nkomo to tell Prof Banana that the PF-Zapu leader would meet Cde Mugabe for the talks.

“Everyone was so thrilled about the news. I was personally happy so was Prof Banana and Cde Mugabe. When I look back at the 1980s, I am so proud of the role I played in bringing Mugabe and Nkomo together and eventually signing the Unity Accord,” said Cde Msipa.

In an earlier interview in 2009, Cde Msipa revealed that after the signing of the Unity Accord, he was called by Dr Nkomo who commended him for his role.

“He said to me ‘wena mfana, uyakwaz’ ukuthi wenz’int’emangalisayo. If ever there is a thing that you did for your country, it was to bring me into this government. How can I reward you?’ I told him that my biggest reward was that he had listened to me and I was so humbled by that,” he said.