Josiah Tongogara is a fallen hero of the Zimbabwe revolutionary war, and streets are named after him in almost every town in the country.

Commander of the guerrilla army Zanla, he was at the Lancaster House conference that led to Zimbabwe's independence and the end of white minority rule. Many expected him to be the first president of the free Zimbabwe, with Robert Mugabe, head of Zanla's political wing, ZANU, as prime minister. Robert Gabriel Mugabe (born February 21, 1924) has been the head of government in Zimbabwe, first as Prime Minister and later as first executive President, since 1980. ... The Zimbabwe African National Union was a political party during the struggle for Rhodesias, ultimately Zimbabwes, independence, formed as a split from ZAPU. It won the 1980 elections under the leadership of Robert Mugabe, and eight years later merged again with Joshua Nkomos ZAPU to form Zanu...

Tongogara and his parents lived on the farm owned by the parents of Ian Smith, Rhodesia's last prime minister. Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (born April 8, 1919) was the Premier of the British Crown Colony of Southern Rhodesia from April 13, 1964 to November 11, 1965 and the Prime Minister of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) from November 11, 1965 to June 1, 1979, when Rhodesia was ruled by its... This article is about the break-away colony of (Southern) Rhodesia , today Zimbabwe. ...

At the Lancaster House Agreement, Tongogara was a crucial "moderating" force, according to Lord Carrington, the then British foreign secretary, who chaired the talks. The Lancaster House Agreement was the independence agreement for Rhodesia, nowadays known as Zimbabwe. ... Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, KG, GCMG, CH, MC, PC, JP, DL (born June 6, 1919), was British Foreign Secretary (1979–1982) and Secretary-General of NATO (1984–1988). ...

By then, Tongogara was openly favouring unity between ZANU and Zimbabwe's other nationalist movement, Joshua Nkomo's ZAPU. "Robert Mugabe referred to unity with Zapu as sharing the spoils with those who had not shouldered the burden of fighting," says Mhanda. As Lancaster House concluded, Tongogara returned to Mozambique, where Zanla was based, to inform his soldiers of the ceasefire. Margaret Dongo was among them. At 15, she had crossed into Mozambique to join the guerrillas, adopting the chimurenga (liberation war) name of Tichaona Muhondo ("we shall see/resolve this in the battle"). The Zimbabwe African National Union was a political party during the struggle for Rhodesias, ultimately Zimbabwes, independence, formed as a split from ZAPU. It won the 1980 elections under the leadership of Robert Mugabe, and eight years later merged again with Joshua Nkomos ZAPU to form Zanu... // Early Life Joshua Nkomo (1918 (date uncertain) – July 1, 1999) was a Zimbabwean nationalist leader, a Ndebele, and the leader and founder of the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU). ... The Zimbabwe African Peoples Union was a political party in Zimbabwe. ... Robert Gabriel Mugabe (born February 21, 1924) has been the head of government in Zimbabwe, first as Prime Minister and later as first executive President, since 1980. ... Margaret Dongo is a Zimbabwe Parliamentarian, and ex-freedom fighter. ... Chimurenga is a style of Zimbabwe. ...

But six days after the Lancaster House agreement was signed, Robert Mugabe, on the Voice of Zimbabwe radio station, conveyed "an extremely sad message" to "all the fighting people of Zimbabwe": the 41-year-old Tongogara was dead, killed in a car accident in Mozambique on Christmas Day 1979. Robert Gabriel Mugabe (born February 21, 1924) has been the head of government in Zimbabwe, first as Prime Minister and later as first executive President, since 1980. ... December 25 is the 359th day of the year (360th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 6 days remaining. ... 1979 is a common year starting on Monday. ...

Dongo was one of the last people to see him alive. "We were 18 girls who were having a function and he came to say a few words to bless the occasion."

Zanu released an undertaker's statement saying his injuries were consistent with a road accident, but no autopsy results or pictures have been released.

A CIA intelligence briefing of 28 December 1979 said Tongogara was a potential political rival to Mugabe because of his .. ambition, popularity and decisive style. On the same day, the US embassy in Zambia reported: Almost no one in Lusaka accepts Mugabe's assurance that Tongogara died accidentally. When the ambassador told the Soviet ambassador the news, the surprised Soviet immediately charged 'inside job'. December 28 is the 362nd day of the year (363rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 3 days remaining. ... 1979 is a common year starting on Monday. ...

Ian Smith, admittedly hardly an impartial source, also insisted in his memoirs that Tongogara's "own people" killed him, and that he had disclosed at Lancaster House that Tongogara was under threat. "I made a point of discussing his death with our police commissioner and head of special branch, and both assured me that Tongogara had been assassinated," Smith wrote. Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (born April 8, 1919) was the Premier of the British Crown Colony of Southern Rhodesia from April 13, 1964 to November 11, 1965 and the Prime Minister of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) from November 11, 1965 to June 1, 1979, when Rhodesia was ruled by its...

Tongogara is a symbol for both sides in Zimbabwe's struggle. "We got hold of political power," says Wilfred Mhanda, a former high-ranking Zanla commander who knew Tongogara and who today heads the Zimbabwe Liberators' Platform (ZLP). "But we failed to transform the instruments of power to serve the people rather than the elite."

Much information in this article first appeared in the New Statesman. The New Statesman is a left-of-centre political weekly published in London. ...