Patriotic Union of Mandebeleland | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | PUMA |
Leader | Leonard Nkala |
Founded | February 2006 |
Ideology | Matabeleland devolution Ndebele interests Regionalism |
The Patriotic Union of Mandebeleland (PUMA) is a minor Zimbabwean political party. It was launched in Bulawayo in February, 2006 [1] by ex-ZANU PF politician Leonard Nkala. It seeks to divide Matabeleland and the Midlands into eight regions and devolve legislative and administrative power to those regions. It also supports a commission of inquiry into the deaths of more than 20,000 Zimbabweans at the hands of Robert Mugabe's government in Matabeleland in the 1980s. It supports the recruitment of local Ndebele inhabitants for State jobs in Matabeleland but denies any intention to secede from Zimbabwe.
Its launch in March, 2006 attracted 47 people, [2] mainly Ndebeles over the age of forty.
The party contested the Zimbabwean parliamentary election, 2008, running seven candidates and gaining 523 votes (0.02%).
Along with three other minor opposition parties, PUMA is a member of the Zimbabwe Organisation of Opposition Political Parties. [3]
Until roughly 2,000 years ago, what would become Zimbabwe was populated by ancestors of the San people. Bantu inhabitants of the region arrived and developed ceramic production in the area. A series of trading empires emerged, including the Kingdom of Mapungubwe and Kingdom of Zimbabwe. In the 1880s, the British South Africa Company began its activities in the region, leading to the colonial era in Southern Rhodesia.
The Gukurahundi was a series of mass killings in Zimbabwe which were committed from 1983 until the Unity Accord in 1987. The name derives from a Shona-language term which loosely translates to "the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains".
Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about 1.2 million. Bulawayo covers an area of 546 square kilometres in the western part of the country, along the Matsheumhlope River. Along with the capital Harare, Bulawayo is one of two cities in Zimbabwe that are also provinces.
Matabeleland North is a province in western Zimbabwe. With a population of 827,645 as of the 2022 census, it is the country's second-least populous province, after Matabeleland South, and the least densely Zimbabwean populated province. Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South were established in 1974, when the original Matabeleland Province was bifurcated, eventually losing territory in 1997 when the city of Bulawayo became a province in its own right. Matabeleland North is divided into seven districts, has its capital in Lupane, and Victoria Falls and Hwange its largest towns. The name "Matabeleland" is derived from the Matabele or Ndebele people, the province's largest ethnic group.
Matabeleland South is a province in southwestern Zimbabwe. With a population of 683,893 as of the 2012 Zimbabwean census. It is the country's least populated province after Matabeleland North.Matabeleland South and Matabeleland North were established in 1974, when the original Matabeleland Province was bifurcated. The province is divided into six districts. Gwanda is the capital, and Beitbridge is the province's largest town. The name "Matabeleland" is derived from Ndebele, the province's largest ethnic group.
Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers and are further separated from Midlands by the Shangani River in central Zimbabwe. The region is named after its inhabitants, the Ndebele people who were called "Amatabele"(people with long shields – Mzilikazi 's group of people who were escaping the Mfecani wars). Other ethnic groups who inhabit parts of Matabeleland include the Tonga, Bakalanga, Venda, Nambya, Khoisan, Xhosa, Sotho, Tswana, and Tsonga.
The Northern Ndebele people are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. Significant populations of native speakers of the Northern Ndebele language (siNdebele) are found in Zimbabwe and as amaZulu in South Africa. They differ from Southern Ndebele people who speak isiNdebele of KwaNdebele.
Parliamentary elections were held in Zimbabwe in June and July 1985. The result was a victory for the ruling ZANU–PF party led by Robert Mugabe, which increased its majority in parliament.
Articles related to Zimbabwe include:
Lupane ( luːpɑːnɛ) District is located in the Matabeleland North Province of Zimbabwe, and it is also the Provincial Capital. The District is situated at an elevation of 976 m with a population of 107,000 inhabitants by 2022. Lupane Town is the main center of the district located 172 km from Bulawayo along the A8 Victoria Falls Road. The Government Provincial Administrative offices are located at the Town Centre. A new university near the Town has been established under the name Lupane State University, which caters for the region and beyond. The word Lupane is thought to be a Kalanga or Lozwi word.
The military history of Zimbabwe chronicles a vast time period and complex events from the dawn of history until the present time. It covers invasions of native peoples of Africa, encroachment by Europeans, and civil conflict.
Nathan Shamuyarira was a Zimbabwean nationalist who at different times fought on behalf of and helped lead FROLIZI, ZANU, and ZAPU. He later served as the Information Minister of Zimbabwe and as the Information Secretary of ZANU PF. He was writing President Robert Mugabe's biography at the time of his death.
David Coltart is a Zimbabwean lawyer, Christian leader and politician. He was a founding member of the Movement for Democratic Change when it was established in 1999 and its founding secretary for legal affairs. He was the Member of Parliament for Bulawayo South in the House of Assembly from 2000 to 2008, and he was elected to the Senate in 2008. He was the Minister for Education, Sport, Arts and Culture from February 2009 until August 2013. He is a top official of the Citizens Coalition for Change political party which was formed in 2022.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Zimbabwe:
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was a Zimbabwean political party organised under the leadership of Morgan Tsvangirai. The MDC was formed in 1999 as an opposition party to President Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF). The MDC was made up of many civic groups who campaigned for the "No" vote in the 2000 constitutional referendum, which would limit a president's service to two terms, before the introduction of a prime minister, as well as giving legal immunities to the state.
The Zimbabwe African People's Union – Federal Party is a minor Zimbabwean political party, based in Matabeleland. ZAPU-FP split from Agrippa Madlela's ZAPU party, purportedly a revival of those members of ZAPU who had rejected the 1987 merger with ZANU-PF in January 2002, following attempts by a faction of ZAPU led by Agrippa Madlela not to contest the Zimbabwean presidential election, 2002 a ZAPU founder Paul Siwela, was seconded to run as ZAPU's presidential candidate but was blocked by Aggripa Madlela's faction which itself was accused of accepting payments from the MDC which feared that ZAPU's participation in the election would split the anti-Mugabe vote in Matabeleland.
Khayisa Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni (1913–2010) was a chief in Zimbabwe. He was hugely respected in Matabeleland and a revered figure among his people in Ntabazinduna. He became a chief of the Matebele people of Ntabazinduna and Mbembezi in 1939. He was a direct descendant of Gundwane Ndiweni, the Ndebele leader of the Nguni group that split from King Mzilikazi.
Skyz Metro FM is a commercial radio station based in the metropolitan province of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
Khulumani FM, also known as KFM95.0 is a regional radio station that broadcasts from the city of Bulawayo in Matabeleland region.
Callistus Dingiswayo Ndlovu was a Zimbabwean academic, diplomat, and politician. He joined the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) in 1963 as a teacher in Matabeleland, and went on to serve as its representative to the United Nations and North America in the 1970s. After Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, he was a member of the House of Assembly from 1980 to 1985 and served as a senator from 1985 to 1990. He left ZAPU and joined the ruling ZANU–PF party in 1984.