Abbreviation UANC Founded 1979 (1979) Merged into United Parties | Chairman Abel Muzorewa Dissolved 1994 (1994) Headquarters Harare, Zimbabwe | |
The United African National Council (UANC) was a political party in Zimbabwe.
In 1979, led by Bishop Abel Muzorewa, the UANC Party held formal power in Zimbabwe during the short-lived period of the Internal Settlement. For this short period of time, Zimbabwe (which had been called Rhodesia) became known as Zimbabwe Rhodesia.
In 1980, during the Zimbabwean parliamentary election, the UANC Party was generally defeated by Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) Party. The UANC Party was unable to win any parliamentary seats in the 1985 and 1990 elections. The party joined with other opposition parties to form United Parties to support Muzorewa in the 1996 presidential election, but he subsequently pulled out (albeit with his name remaining on the ballot). The party still exists today.
Mugabe and his ZANU-PF Party have had almost total control over Zimbabwe since the early 1990s. But, with the economy of Zimbabwe in ruins, Muzorewa considered running again in 2008.