Josiah Tongogara

Josiah Magama Tongogara was born on October 4, 1938, in Shurugwi, Midlands. In 1960, he travelled to Zambia, joining ZANU at its inception in 1963 and receiving advanced military and guerrilla command training in Nanjing, China.

As ZANLA Commander-in-Chief, 'General Tongo' revolutionized guerrilla warfare in southern Africa, successfully integrating peasant mass political education with mobile armed units across the country. At the 1979 Lancaster House Conference in London, his commanding authority ensured military agreement between liberation commanders and the British and Rhodesian governments. On December 26, 1979, on the eve of returning home to free Zimbabwe, he died in a car crash in Mozambique.