Two days after the assassination of nationalist leader Herbert Chitepo in Lusaka, the Zambian government launched a sweeping crackdown on the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) leadership based in the country. The move followed growing suspicion that the killing may have been linked to internal divisions within the liberation movement. Zambian authorities, under President Kenneth Kaunda, ordered the arrest and detention of several senior ZANU officials, effectively paralysing the organisation’s external command structure.
Military activities by ZANU’s armed wing were also suspended as investigations into the assassination intensified. The events of 20 March 1975 marked a turning point in Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle, exposing deep fractures within the movement and triggering a period of uncertainty and reorganisation that would shape its future leadership and direction.
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