Role in ZANU-PF During the
Rhodesian Bush War, he served on the ZANU high command, or
Dare reChimurenga as Treasurer (dura remusangano). When Nkala and most of the nationalists within the leadership were imprisoned,
Paul Tangi Mhova Mkondo took over the role. Nkala was detained by the Rhodesian government at
Gonakudzingwa for 12 years with the rest of the
ZANU-PF (formed in Nkala's house in Highfields) leadership, consisting of
Ndabaningi Sithole,
Leopold Takawira,
Robert Mugabe,
Edgar Tekere and
Morris Nyagumbo. When
Edgar Tekere was in prison, he tabled the motion of having Sithole removed as the supreme leader and replaced by Mugabe. Nkala and Nyagumbo voted in favour of Mugabe (Mugabe abstained), making him leader. Following independence in 1980, he served as Minister of Finance until 1983, when the portfolio was consolidated into Finance, Economic Planning and Development and handed over to senior minister
Bernard Thomas Gibson Chidzero. Nkala moved sideways to become Minister of National Supplies until 1985 and Home Affairs and Defence after the
1985 election. As Defence Minister he was involved in the notorious
Gukurahundi Genocide against the
Ndebele people, although he issued a number of conflicting statements on the nature of his involvement. Nkala stated that he regretted his role in the
Gukurahundi and that he would never do it again. He described his involvement as "eternal hell" and publicly blamed Mugabe for ordering it. At the Imbovane YaMhlabezulu meeting held in
Bulawayo on 26 February 1998, Nkala, who was a guest speaker alongside
Joseph Msika (National Chairman of ZANU-PF), repeatedly denied involvement in Gukurahundi. While serving as Zimbabwe's Home Affairs Minister, Nkala rejected allegations by
Amnesty International, the London-based human rights organisation, which had reported beatings, electric shocks and other torture at government detention camps after the July 2006 general election. Nkala claimed to have written a book chronicling ZANU-PF since its formation, including the
Gukurahundi massacre and the assassinations of high-profile politicians using car accidents. He blamed the death of ZANU figures
Josiah Tongogara and
Herbert Chitepo and others on Mugabe. He is alleged to have had an affair with
Sally Mugabe. ==Willowgate scandal==