This Day in History: April 16, 1964
Additional Date: April 16, 1964
Joshua Nkomo, Ndebele nationalist leader, is served with a restriction order that affects his freedom of movement and association in Southern Rhodesia. This came after Nkomo failed to persuade the Tanzanian President, Julius Nyerere, to support his plans for a government-in-exile. He returned to Salisbury where he was placed in detention, along with other fellow leaders of the nationalist struggle.
Nkomo, who supported the African National Congress (ANC) when he was in South Africa inthe 1940's, came to the attention of colonial authorities as one of the rising stars of Rhodesia's African nationalist movements. Subsequently, British colonial authorities attempted to co-opt him and the movement into their plans for a federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The federation became a reality in 1953-1963.