Mugabe in 1980. Photo via Wikimedia Commons
This Day in History: January 27, 1980
Additional Date: January 27, 1980
On 27 January 1980, the Rhodesian nationalist leader Robert Mugabe returned to Rhodesia after being in exile for five years. Mugabe had been trying to gather support for his party the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) in Mozambique and had managed to spearhead a guerrilla war against the Salisbury (now Harare) government. A cheering crowd of approximately 200,000 greeted Mugabe's arrival at the grounds in the Highfield black township of Salisbury. Mugabe told the riotous rally of supporters there would be no more injustice based on race and colour.