During the Rhodesian Bush War two rival nationalist parties , Robert Mugabe 's Zimbabwe African National Union ( ZANU ) and Joshua Nkomo 's Zimbabwe African People 's Union ( ZAPU ) , had emerged Coming_to_be to challenge Rhodesia 's predominantly white government .

ZANU initially defined Statement `` Gukurahundi '' as an ideological strategy aimed Aiming at carrying the war into major settlements and individual homesteads .

ZANU recruited Becoming_a_member mainly from the majority Shona people , whereas ZAPU had its greatest support Supporting among the minority Ndebele .

ZANU won the election Choosing and Mugabe became Becoming the first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe on 18 April 1980 , when the country achieved Achieve internationally recognised Know independence .