Online Reporter
After recounting how he survived a potential massacre by Rhodesian Security Forces, CDE DAVISON JOHN TAKAWIRA MUPFUNYA, whose Chimurenga name was Red Number Mapondera Dzinopfuta, this week tells our Society Editor PRINCE MUSHAWEVATO how his group almost engaged in combat with their own colleagues. This near disaster occurred when they were ambushed while they were travelling from Mozambique into Zimbabwe.
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Q: Our previous discussion ended when you were gathering information from villagers who had indicated that some of your colleagues were selling guns to civilians. What were your findings?
A: It was hard for us to believe that trained comrades would act in such an unbecoming manner. It troubled us; we did not believe it was possible. So, we engaged a number of villagers to gather as much information as we could. After quizzing them, it later emerged that the people they thought were part of our unit were actually Rhodesian government district assistants (DAs).
They wore uniforms that were almost similar to ours, which made some people confuse them with us. Remember, we still had our East African gear, which included khakis. We tried to ascertain the kind of weapons they had and the descriptions the villagers gave did not match those of ours. This convinced us we were right about this group being members of the DAs. Uzumba had protected zones (keeps), so I knew these people (DAs) from there.
Q: What was your next move after learning about their presence in the area?
A: The initial plan was to cross Odzi River, but we now had to be extremely careful, especially considering that we had narrowly escaped death during an earlier attack in which we lost some of our fellow comrades.
There was only one suitable crossing point, meaning the risk at that spot was even higher. At the river, we decided that two of us would cross first, then scout the other end to look out for a possible ambush, while keeping watch as the others followed. But when the time came, three people crossed instead and searched the area. We proceeded, crossing in twos and threes. Meanwhile, villagers fled from the area as soon as they noticed our movement. They anticipated a massive showdown.
Q: Was there a showdown?
A: As we were crossing, we did not know that we were being watched by comrades already operating in the area. They had been informed that a group of new recruits was in the vicinity.
We walked into their “ambush”, and they confronted us. They authoritatively questioned who we were and what we wanted in the area. The situation could have easily turned nasty had we not quickly identified ourselves because we were all heavily armed.
In such situations, we identified each other through signals and codes. They later told us they knew of our presence through Cde Chedondo, who had informed them that we were coming to join the war.
After a brief chat, they took us to their base. For the first time in a long while since leaving Mozambique on foot, we had sadza. Meanwhile, the other group that we had left behind after the earlier attack later joined us. That is when the comrades in the area showed us routes leading to Hwedza, Charter, Mhondoro and Chihota, which were our final destinations depending on deployment instructions.
Q: Did you continue travelling on foot or were other arrangements made?
A: It was game on. We continued the long march, on foot, until we got to Makoni. After Makoni, we were told that we were crossing the Rubicon — passing through farms in Nyazura towards Chiduku in Hwedza.
The journey had no shortcuts; we walked for 12 hours. If you got lost, you could end up in Rusape or Nyazura, so we had to maintain the route.
Our group was so huge that our presence in the farming areas was quite disturbing to the masses, especially when they saw the weapons we were carrying. They would take cover, shouting, ‘Mugabe’s dogs are back for war!’
We tried to avoid them as we feared being detected by the enemy, which eventually resulted in us diverting our route.
We ended up emerging close to Nyazura. We arrived in Makoni around 5pm and left after 6pm. We could not set base in Nyazura due to the large numbers, so we had to proceed to Ruwombwe, which was very far from where we were at that time. It was now early in the morning.
The journey proceeded through an area without trees. We marched until we got to Ruwombwe and established a base. As we pondered our next move there, we noticed a spotter plane that had presumably come from Rusape. It was dropping leaflets that notified villagers that Rhodesian fighter planes would be bombing Ruwombwe the following day.
They had previously attacked Kadzungwe and Chikwena. This got us worried, because these were the very bases that we were supposed to use in the area.
Q: What happened next?
A: We debated on how to react, because if we left Ruwombwe that day, the only possible stop was Hwedza, which was several kilometres away. We were supposed to set base there and then get deployed to different places in the area. Since we understood the tactics of the Rhodesians, we could not take risks, so we left that very same day.
Despite the difficult trip and fatigue, we successfully reached Makanda in Hwedza. That is where the deployment took place. Leaders in that area included (Lieutenant) General Nyambuya and Cde Mupetabere, alongside most D-level leaders representing Njanja, Chihota, Seke and Mhondoro. They had converged to get recruits for reinforcement. I stayed in Hwedza. I am sure you might have heard about the famous Ruzawi war.
I was not directly involved in it since I had been seconded to be a member of the decoy team (often referred to as stop groups).
Our role was to wait in ambush for enemies retreating from the main attack and finish them off.
Our group was deployed deep into the farms, but those who remained at Ruzawi were directly involved in the war.
The Rhodesians came in great numbers, and it was an explosive battle. Had the enemy attacked while we were still a single section, it would have been a disaster for us. However, because comrades had converged from different areas, they found us strong.
Even Cde Tonderai Nyika (Paradzai Zimhondi), the Provincial Commander, was at the base during the attack. The battle was intense. We only got to hear about the combat from our colleagues who valiantly fought the Rhodesians until they retreated.
Q: You can carry on.
A: The advance team already in Hwedza, the Songamberi team, specialised in ground force and had already covered ground.
We were part of the Mufanyaharaka team and most of the battles we encountered in this area were primarily air strikes.
The most crucial battle that I was directly involved in took place at Dzvova. We had travelled back to Mozambique to get supplies and on our way back, we arrived at Makanda base and noticed there were other comrades there. So, we decided to look for another base, Pashanu, but again, we could not settle there. We proceeded further to the Save base during the day.
We quickly paced through Hwedza Mountain and Romorehoto — a place where whites were always camped. All the battles that were happening in the Hwedza area were mostly a result of the surveillance done by whites based at Romorehoto Mountain.
Their binoculars could track activities from as far away as Rukweza.
Movements in the afternoon were suicidal.
We got to a point where we could now distinguish an attack inspired by the mountain surveillance versus one initiated by sellouts. In our case, they saw us marching and started tracking us.
When we got to Dzvova, we saw footmarks that we suspected belonged to the Rhodesian soldiers.
We had our concerns but still proceeded because the local villagers had not warned us about the presence of the enemy in the area.
Next week, Cde Mupfunya will conclude his narration by giving us finer details about the Dzvova battle. He will also take us through his experiences during and after independence.
