In 1965 Mangena was one of the Zapu members sent for training in Algeria. Later, Nikita Mangena himself, along with Lookout Masuku, trained fighters in Morogoro in Tanzania.

In November 1975 ZAPU and the Zimbabwe African National Union formed the Zimbabwe People’s Army in Mozambique. While the joint military force soon fell apart, when it successfully functioned Mangena served as the second-in-command.

Mangena led a ZIPRA uprising against ZAPU moderates in 1977 with hundreds of followers in camps in Zambia attacking ZAPU’s headquarters in Lusaka.