Gokwe region

The Gokwe Region consists of the land in the area around Gokwe centre that was formerly under the control of the Shangwe people,^[1][2] a Shona-speaking group, which lay in the northern part of the Midlands province of northwestern Zimbabwe, and is now broken up into Gokwe South District and Gokwe North District. A number of other groups live in the area, including the Tonga, and Ndebele.^[3]

Nkayi North District lies to the south. A researcher noted in 1998, that the Nkayi-Gokwe border had hardened even before independence when Shona-speaking auxiliary forces had been recruited in Gokwe and used against Nkayi in explicitly tribal attacks.^[4]

Notes

1. pp. 287-288, Nyambara, Pius S. (2002) "Madheruka and Shangwe: Ethnic Identities and the Culture of Modernity in Gokwe, Northwestern Zimbabwe, 1963-79" The Journal of African History, 43(2): pp. 287–306
2. p. 378, Worby, Eric (1994) "Maps, Names, and Ethnic Games: The Epistemology and Iconography of Colonial Power in Northwestern Zimbabwe" Journal of Southern African Studies 20(3): pp. 371–392
3. p. 170, Alexander, Jocelyn (1998) "Dissident Perspectives on Zimbabwe's Post-Independence War" Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 68(2): pp. 151–182
4. p. 179, Note 97, Alexander, Jocelyn (1998) "Dissident Perspectives on Zimbabwe's Post-Independence War" Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 68(2): pp. 151–182