The Gukurahundi (also known as the "Matabeleland genocide") began in 1983. More than 300,000 youths signed up for service in the Youth Brigade.
Prime Minister Robert Mugabe (ZANU) and Joshua Nkomo (ZAPU) signed a Unity Accord on 22 December 1987, giving the ZAPU leader a place in the government, freeing dissidents, and bringing a formal end to violence of the Gukurahundi. Mugabe became the new President of Zimbabwe after reforming the constitution on 31 December 1987, abolishing the position of Prime Minister.
^Riddell, Roger C. (1984). "Zimbabwe: The Economy Four Years after Independence". African Affairs. 83 (333). [Royal African Society, Oxford University Press]: 463–476. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a097644. JSTOR722919.