Two years after Mugabe was released from prison and went to hiding in Mozambique, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party and Zimbabwe African People's Union-Patriotic Front (ZAPU-PF) party would unite to form the Patriotic Front (PF).

They received support from frontline states in southern Africa: Mozambique, Tanzania, Botswana and Zambia. Joshua Nkomo, a freedom fighter imprisoned with Mugabe, was also in exile in Zambia.