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Tall, lithe and soft spoken, the man is just like any elderly member of Marozva Village. He is 81. He is still very strong. His Chimurenga name is Karikoga Gumiremiseve Muhondo. Wilson Chibhaahlengwe is the veteran of the liberation struggle who joined the war effort at the age of 42 in 1976 and went on to make his presence felt right up to independence in 1980 and never entertained the notion that the colonial regime will never fall.
Born at Zona under Chief Mapungwana, Wilson grew up in a polygamous family as his father, an ambulance driver for the Mount Selinda Mission Hospital, had five wives.
The family had to be uprooted as the recently established tea estate needed to build a dam for irrigation purposes along the Zona River. Already, the young Wilson felt the whites were being unfair to the Africans due to their treatment of African children, peasants and workers.
“For the workers, it was hell on earth. One mistake and a kick on whichever part of your body would follow. I worked at Jersey, Zona, Government and MacIntosh farms; treatment of workers was the same. White bosses never looked at us as human beings.
“I was at Government Farm in 1964. Our white manager, Wilcan, deducted some money if one made a slight mistake.
“We earned 25 cents, every week at that time. If one absented himself from work without a valid reason, in the opinion of the white man, food rations would be cut drastically,’’ Cde Karikoga explained the harsh conditions for the worker.
“I could not join the government service owing to my early departure from academic pursuits. Actually, I had done Standard Three before I ventured into the world of work,’’ Cde Karikoga Muhondo explained his dilemma at that time.
Cde Chibhaahlengwe was alive to the liberation narratives that were in vogue at that time.
“I heard about Nkomo, Mugabe and Sithole as they formed ZAPU, PCC and ZANU. We longed for the time we could call the shots in our country. Discontent and disillusionment ran high among the youths of the 1960s and when The Crocodile Gang led by the late national hero struck terror into the hearts of whites by killing one of their own at Nyanyadzi, it dawned on us that it was possible to dislodge the rogue regime. Coincidentally, I joined the comrades unintentionally.’’
He had been sent to deliver bride price to his aunt Mayibasi and fell victim to the FRELIMO curfew that sought to snuff out counter-revolutionaries willing to spy on ZANLA activities in Mozambique.
“On 10 August, 1976, FRELIMO soldiers arrested me in the environs of Espungabeira after they saw me well after eight in the evening. In February 1977, I was transferred to Chimoio. Cde Michael Mawema facilitated my release from jail.
“It was during my stay at Chimoio that luminaries in the liberation struggle came and went, but left a legacy. Some of these are the Chief of Defence, General Josiah Tongogara, Rex Nhongo , Teurai Ropa Nhongo, Doctor Herbert Ushewokunze, Cde Gwauya and Comrade Kumbirai Kangai among others,’’ Cde Karikoga reminisced.
Asked about his role in the liberation struggle, Cde Karikoga is frank. He never went to the front but he explained the symbiotic manner the rear and front cadres had in the prosecution of the war.
“I did my part in the rear part of the war. Those cadres who fought in the different sectors of Zimbabwe, are said to have deployed in the front while the people who provided for their logistics were prosecuting the war from the rear. I gave comrades some uniforms, clothes and shoes to the commanders who would in turn distribute them to the rank and file comrades.
“I was part of the guards of store rooms at Chimoio. We guarded the store rooms day and night. In the store, we had bulk storage of food ranging from mealie-meal to beef tins.’’
Thousands of young men and women poured into the refugee and training camps as the decisive stage of the liberation went into full gear. Hence, storerooms needed to be guarded lest the enemy would put spanners in the works through other foul means including food poisoning. He had to be given military training for him to discharge his duties diligently with minimum margin of error.
“I couldn’t go to the front owing to my advanced age; I was 43. I was trained at Base 8 at Pungwe. The instructors taught us gun handling skills and others related to the military. After the Mapinduzi attack and our transfer, we had to remain vigilant. Mbuya Chitima’s daughter (he has forgotten the name) gave us ideological orientation. I vividly remember this song (he sings) Comrade shingisa mwoyo/Hondo yedu irefu . . . I realised that the war needed endurance and patience,’’ Cde Karikoga’s eyes clouded with sadness and nostalgia.
He was there when Chimoio was attacked.
“Previously, Muparuri and his men had tried an insurgency, but it was thwarted after spirit mediums revealed the evil intentions of the culprits.
“It was not the first time the ancestors had helped the comrades. At times, they would warn of impending danger leading to an evacuation of the camp, temporarily.
“This time, the regime came with air and ground forces. I survived by a whisker as I ran away. George Muchemeyi, a herbalist who assisted Dr Herbert Ushewokunze died in that attack. The latter headed Parirenyatwa Infirmary at Chimoio.’’
As he blindly ran away from enemy fire, Cde Karikoga Muhondo, hit a log resulting in the dislocation of his knee. He has never fully recovered from that hurt.
“Dr Vera said I had a 20 percent disability rate; sadly, I haven’t been compensated up to now; of course, the tight fiscus space hamstrung compensation. The pain on my knee is a constant reminder of the travails we had to go through to liberate this country.’’
Today, Cde Karikoga Muhondo walks with a slight limp, but the smile is ever there as he talks about his war years.
As food shortages escalated in the rear, the onus was on the guards to ensure that the little that was trickling in did not fall victim to pilfering.
However, he remembers vividly an occasion when he and his colleagues sought food, Chirenje style.
“My colleagues and I visited the local village in search of food after we had eaten beans only for three weeks. Chitembo Mahaka was in that group. We got the food and hid it in thatch for the guards not to see it and eat it. I sweated profusely as the guards rummaged through our things and ignored the thatch in our hands. I heaved a sigh of relief when we were allowed to pass through with our thatch,’’ he said.
“Our leaders went to Lancaster in September 1979. I was at Pungwe Base. We heard that independence was around the corner; the first thing to do was a ceasefire followed by campaigning and elections. UN buses took us to Masqwanda at the border before the Derera buses took us to Torondo in Zimbabwe close to Old Mutare. Cde Kumbirai Kangai took them to Acturus Farm in Goromonzi where we stayed until 1981.’’
At Acturus Farm, Cde Karikoga Muhondo and his colleagues did a little bit of farming but the general trend was relaxation. He had already written letters to his relatives that he was alive and kicking. It was time to go home.
“A Derera bus took us from Acturus, Goromonzi in October 1981 and I came back to Mount Selinda to stay with my family. My brother, Harry and his family made me part of the family. I am grateful to the Government for appreciating the role of the war veterans. After missing out on the 1997 pay out of gratuities, I went to Liquenda House and Major General Ruwodo assisted me to access the gratuity.’’
What Cde Karikoga envisages is the assisting of the war veterans in accessing good houses in local areas or towns. He says the journey to freedom was arduous, but the sweetness of victory is more than the pain they suffered.
“I am 81 and I am happy that when the call to be of service to my country I humbly submitted to it notwithstanding my age. Most people who flocked to Mozambique were teenagers and those in their twenties. Rarely, did you come across 40 something males and females joining the training,’’ he said.
The war veteran is contented but he feels economic freedom as espoused by the ZIM-ASSET policy document must be pursued to its logical conclusion.
To be free, age is just, but a number. Cde Karikoga Gumireseve Muhondo is one man who defied age to help his country attain independence. He has remained true to the ideals of the liberation struggle.
Online Reporter