Last Act in Rhodesia

On August 31, during the course of the funeral ceremonies for Jomo Kenyatta in Nairobi, the British Foreign Secretary, David Owen, and Andrew Young, present as U.S. representative, learned that on August 14 Rhodesia’s Ian Smith had met secretly in Lusaka, capital of Zambia, with Joshua Nkomo, co-leader of the Patriotic Front and commander of the wing of its guerrilla army operating from Zambian bases, and had talked also with President Kaunda of Zambia; Brigadier Joseph Garba, the Nigerian Foreign Minister; and Robert Mugabe, the other Patriotic Front leader, whose forces operate from Mozambique.

The International Leak Agency (ILA) spread the news. On first questioning by reporters, Nkomo implicitly confirmed that the meeting had taken place, but did not disclose the substance of the discussion. He concluded cryptically: “I expect to be in Salisbury in not more than a month’s time.”

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James Burnham

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On August 31, during the course of the funeral ceremonies for Jomo Kenyatta in Nairobi, the British Foreign Secretary, David Owen, and Andrew Young, present as U.S. representative, learned that on August 14 Rhodesia’s Ian Smith had met secretly in Lusaka, capital of Zambia, with Joshua Nkomo, co-leader of the Patriotic Front and commander of the wing of its guerrilla army operating from Zambian bases, and had talked also with President Kaunda of Zambia; Brigadier Joseph Garba, the Nigerian Foreign Minister; and Robert Mugabe, the other Patriotic Front leader, whose forces operate from Mozambique.

The International Leak Agency (ILA) spread the news. On first questioning by reporters, Nkomo implicitly confirmed that the meeting had taken place, but did not disclose the substance of the discussion. He concluded cryptically: “I expect to be in Salisbury in not more than a month’s time.”