Congratulations, Takawira Chatambudza!

Congratulations to UCalgary History PhD student Takawira Chatambudza for successfully defending his thesis entitled "The Zimbabwe Liberation Struggle: A Military History of the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA), 1963-1979." Utilizing an array of different primary sources, especially many original oral history interviews with ZIPRA veterans, the thesis examines why ZAPU/ZIPRA became Southern Africa's only Soviet and OAU-backed "authentic" liberation movement to fail to capture state power during the region's decolonization conflicts. The work identifies internal leadership conflicts, a locally inappropriate Leninist revolutionary strategy, and eventual focus on recruiting from minority ethnic groups as important factors. The examination committee comprised Dr. Timothy Stapleton (supervisor), Dr. Alexander Hill, Dr. Caesar Apentiik, Dr. Rob Huebert, and Dr. Charles Thomas (USAF Command and Staff College).