High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Zimbabwe African National Union was a militant organization that fought against white minority rule in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU). ZANU won the 1980 elections under the leadership of Robert Mugabe, and seven years later merged again with Joshua Nkomo's ZAPU to form ZANU-PF, the current governing party of the country. Its founder was the Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole (1920-2000) in conjunction with an able, activist, black lawyer Herbert Chitepo, who were dissatisfied with the militant tactics of Nkomo. In contrast to future developments, both parties drew from both the Shona and the Ndebele - the two major tribes of the region.