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The Rhodesia Herald, 4 September, 1976

PRESIDENT Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, Samora Machel of Mozambique, Seretse Khama of Botswana and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania meet in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Sunday to discuss the situation in Southern Africa, it was announced here yesterday.

The four leaders will meet against a back ground of urgent attempts to reunite the divided factions of the Rhodesian African National Council.

ANC sources in Lusaka said rival ANC leaders were summoned to Maputo in Mozambique last week after Dr Kaunda met Mr Machel to discuss unification, Iana-AP reports.

The four Presidents played key roles with the Prime Minister of South Africa, Mr Vorster, last year in arranging the first ever multiracial constitutional talks on Rhodesia’s future at Victoria Falls with Rhodesian Prime Minister Mr Ian Smith.

The talks ultimately collapsed amid a sharp, division between moderates and militants in the ANC.

The meeting of the four African Presidents fuelled speculation that the talks are connected with US Secretary of State Dr Henry Kissinger’s peace initiative in Southern Africa and could signal an attempt to start new constitutional talks between the ANC and Rhodesia’s white minority Government.

The four black leaders were closely consulted by Dr Kissinger before his three-day meetings in Zurich with Mr Vorster starting tomorrow.

Mr Joshua Nkomo is expected back in Rhodesia within 10 days, the organisation’s vice-president, Mr Josiah Chinamano, said yesterday.

Mr Nkomo set out on his present tour early in May. He has been on a tour of 21 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia.

LESSONS FOR TODAY

The ANC was established in 1912, in South Africa as a response to the exclusion of black Africans from political power and representation. It sought to create a platform for dialogue with the white minority government while other nationalist movements like ZAPU and ZANU were operating from exile.

The African National Council became the United African National Council (UANC) primarily as a means of promoting unity among various nationalist factions and enhancing its legitimacy during critical negotiations for independence from colonial rule. The UANC only survived until 1980, with three parliamentary seats.

Uniting the Rhodesian ANC was important because they hoped to create a stronger political entity capable of addressing systemic injustices faced by black Africans in Southern Rhodesia while fostering grassroots mobilisation and enhancing international visibility for their cause.