Bishop Muzorewa — ANC (African National Council)

The African National Council emerged in 1971 out of the desire of ZANU and ZAPU members to form a united front to submit their rejection of the Pearce proposals for a settlement advocated by Britain at the time. Bishop Muzorewa was chosen as President and from that time has been seen by the Zimbabwean people as an expression of their desire for unity. When the false unity of the 1974 Unity Declaration was imposed he became President of the enlarged ANC (made up of ZAPU, ZANU, old ANC and Frolizi.) He was regarded as a compliant figure who could be manipulated into accepting imperialisms designs. This proved not to be the case due to the fact that he worked closely with Sithole ZANU's President, and following the failure of the Victoria Falls talks in August 1976 endorsed Sithole's plan to reorganise the army and intensify the armed struggle.

Inside Zimabawe the ANC is represented by three main groupings: 1. ZAPU; 2. a section of ZANU which recognises Nkomo as leader of the ANC and Mugabe as President of ZANU; 3. ZANU which recognises Muzorewa as leader of the ANC and Sithole as President of ZANU. The fact that the most senior representatives in Muzorewa's delegation at Geneva are ZANU and the fact that over 300 000 people welcomed Muzorewa home, clearly shows the mass support inside Zimbabwe for the Muzorewa/Sithole grouping. The Bishop's delegation also includes representatives of Frolizi, an externally based Zimbabwean organisation.