Death and survival at Dr Nkomo’s house

THIS is the sixth instalment of our lively discussion with CDE ALBERT NGULUVHE (AN), a ZIPRA cadre whose guerrilla name was CDE MILES.In this discussion with our Senior Reporter TENDAI CHARA, he goes into finer details of the Rhodesian army attack on DR JOSHUA NKOMO’s house in Lusaka, Zambia.

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TC: Cde, we concluded last week’s discussion as you were about to get into finer details of the attack on Dr Nkomo’s house. If you can take us through this attack which claimed the lives of four of your colleagues.

AN : Like I said previously, we had gathered information regarding the impending attack. We were, however, not aware of the day and time of the attack. We did not have information on how the Rhodesian army was going to carry out the attack.

We were on high alert and guarding the house around the clock. We introduced two guarding shifts and on the day of the attack, I was supposed to finish work at 2am. For some strange reason, I did not go to sleep after my shift. Instead, I began chatting with the cadres that were now on shift.

As I was going to the main house to take a nap, a car arrived at the main gate. After arriving at the gate, the vehicle’s lights were dimmed. After a minute or two, another vehicle arrived at the other side of the house. The occupants of this vehicle also dimmed the lights.

The Rhodesians had studied our security protocol in which we dimmed vehicle lights each time we arrived at the main entrance at night. Cde Magwaza, who was originally from Rusape and is now late, was manning the main gate that evening.

So when the vehicle arrived at the gate, he came out of the guardroom and walked towards the car. He was asking occupants of the vehicle to introduce themselves. As he was walking towards the vehicle, a shot rang. We all sprang into action and lay prone (facing downwards). Luckily, or is it miraculously, Magwaza was putting on an oversized Russian wool hat. The first shot from the Rhodesian agents hit Magwaza’s woolen hat instead of his head.

 

“A seasoned officer, he made the grave mistake of trying to hide under a Land Rover during the attack. As he was hiding under the vehicle, the Rhodesian soldiers spotted him and shot him in the legs and abdomen. The Rhodesian soldiers also deflated the vehicle’s tyres and Cde Bhala was crushed into pieces by the crumbling vehicle. Retrieving his mangled body was one of the most painful episodes of my involvement in the armed struggle.”

 

That is how he survived. As we were lying on the ground, we returned fire, sending volleys towards the gate. The house did not have a security fence and was only surrounded by a chain. As a security measure, we had put some sacks around the house so that one could not see what was inside.

Dr Nkomo’s house was sandwiched between a golf course, the Zambian State House and to the other side was the British Commissioner’s house. So when the Rhodesian agents were firing at the house, they were also trying to avoid hitting nearby houses.

Using mortars, the enemy shelled the house from all possible angles. If we had the right type of weapons, I am 100 percent sure that not a single Rhodesian car or soldier was going to leave the premises alive. The Zambian government did not allow us to keep bazookas and other heavy machine guns at Dr Nkomo’s house.

We were only allowed to have our light machine guns and pistols.

Within five minutes, the enemy had stormed the premises. Since we were all lying on the ground, we knew that anyone who was firing his gun whilst standing was the enemy. It was therefore very easy for us to pick our targets.

The death of Cde Bhala, who was a member of the security team, during the attack pained me a lot. It appears death had been stalking Cde Bhala for a long time. Before the attack, he was Cde Nikita Mangena’s driver and was present when Cde Nikita Mangena’s vehicle hit a landmine, leading to his death. After Cde Nikita Mangena’s death, Cde Bhala, who was from Matobo, was now stationed at Dr Nkomo’s residence working with us.

A seasoned officer, he made the grave mistake of trying to hide under a Land Rover during the attack. As he was hiding under the vehicle, the Rhodesian soldiers spotted him and shot him in the legs and abdomen. The Rhodesian soldiers also deflated the vehicle’s tyres and Cde Bhala was crushed into pieces by the crumbling vehicle.

Retrieving his mangled body was one of the most painful episodes of my involvement in the armed struggle.

Roughly, we were about 16 or so cadres and we lost four of our colleagues during the attack.

TC: How many Rhodesian soldiers were killed as you fought back?

AN : I don’t know. You know, the Rhodesians were very clever. Once one of their soldiers was shot and killed, they would quickly retrieve the body and take it with them.

I am sure a number of them died. The following morning, we saw blood trails which also indicated that some dead soldiers had been pulled to the waiting vehicles. We also saw some spatters of human brains at the scene.

We managed to hit and immobilise one of the Rhodesian agents’ vehicle. The Rhodesians had painted their vehicles in the colours of the Zambian army to confuse us.

TC : What happened after the attack?

AN : After the attack, the then Soviet Union gave us special advanced weapons. We moved from the house.

Among the advanced weapons that we were given by the Soviets were AKs with folded butts.

Each member of the security team was given a grenade launcher.

Security was now very tight at the new house. No one was allowed to visit Dr Nkomo at the house.

Those that wanted to see him could only do so at the equally heavily-guarded office. That place was well-protected and if the Rhodesians had tried to come and attack us, we were definitely going to wallop them.

We also changed tactics as we were no longer sleeping inside the house.

Instead, we were now sleeping outside, surrounding the house. The new house had so many security features that we could easily escape under attack.

I wish to one day return to the house and see what it is like now.

TC: Is the house still there?

AN : I don’t know if the house is still there or not. ZAPU owned a number of properties which were used as safe houses in Zambia.

TC: So you were with Dr Nkomo for how long?

AN : I was with him from 1978 up until the early years of Independence. It was during the Lancaster House Conference talks that I was given yet another important assignment. I do not know why I was always being given these special assignments.

Some few days before the signing of the Lancaster House agreement, I was given a special assignment to go to the then Salisbury (now Harare) to secure a place where Dr Nkomo was going to stay after the Lancaster House Conference.

When I started guerrilla training, my guerrilla name was Cde Francis Sizwe. Like I said previously, I went to the Lancaster House Conference disguised as a student by the name Miles Petersen Jubane. I still have that British passport.

The Francis Sizwe name died a natural death during the war. Most people know me as Miles. From London, we flew to Lusaka, Zambia.

Disguised as a returning student from Gwanda, I landed at the Salisbury Airport with three other ZIPRA cadres.

I always laugh each time I remind myself of how I fooled the security agents at the airport as I smuggled into the country my Makarov pistol.

Don’t miss the next edition, which is our last with Cde Nguluvhe, who will chronicle how he smuggled the pistol into the country and went on to secure accommodation for Dr Nkomo in Harare.

He will conclude the discussion by narrating to us the important role that he took in the integration of former Rhodesian, ZAPU and ZANU cadres into the newly independent Zimbabwe security services.