Online Reporter
AS the nation prepares to commemorate the 46th Heroes and Defence Forces days, Zimpapers Politics Hub Senior Reporter, Richard Muponde (RM), had a wide-ranging interview with Dr Arthur Makanda (AM), a war veteran, traditionalist, current director of Curriculum Development at Zimsec and national chairman of the Fallen Heroes Trust of Zimbabwe (FHTZ).
RM: For the better part of last year, the Fallen Heroes Trust of Zimbabwe (FHTZ) was engaged in exhumations of freedom fighters who were buried in mass graves, some in shallow graves, some even dumped in the bush, but their remains and bones are still there and exposed.
And we understand that most of these people whom you exhumed from different places in Mashonaland West Province, in Sanyati, Hurungwe, and other areas, are still lying in mortuaries in Kadoma and Karoi. We are now going towards the National Heroes Commemorations; are there any plans to bury these heroes so that they get closure before we celebrate Heroes Day?
AM: Yes, we undertook an exercise to exhume our fallen comrades who died during the liberation struggle.
Afterwards, some of their remains were exposed by the rain and by human activities, where people wanted to mould bricks, and dug those anthills where these comrades were buried. And the people who then dug the anthills were not really aware that these comrades were buried in those places during the struggle. So, when they came across the remains, they reported and we exhumed those comrades, intending to rebury them.
The same applies with Sanyati; some remains of one comrade were exposed by the rains. And then when we went there, we then realised that that place had actually 27 comrades and we then exhumed the 27. But after we had exhumed the body that was exposed or the remains which were exposed, we met a hurdle where we could not find the other remains.
RM: How then did you manage to exhume all the 27 remains of the comrades?
AM: Spiritually, we were then informed that there are two other comrades whom we needed to first exhume, which were burnt beyond recognition and buried at some place five kilometres away from where we were on the banks of Munyati River.
The spirit medium led us to an 86-year-old Rhodesian Forces member who participated in their burial, who led us to the location. So we went to exhume those comrades and on the third day or fourth day we then exhumed the other comrades.
But all these comrades are still lying in mortuaries. In Karoi, we have six comrades and the remainder are at the Kadoma Hospital mortuary.
RM: What has caused the delay in the burial and closure of the exhumation of 36 former Zipra cadres? I understand you presented a budget to the relevant ministry mid last year?
AM: I am actually very disappointed by the inertia that we are witnessing from some line officers in the Ministry of Veterans Affairs. It is in two parts. One, we submitted our budget to rebury these comrades and we intended to bury them in October 2025, having completed our exhumations in July.
So, we had prepared all the paperwork and other preparations; we wanted to bury them in October and we communicated with the ministry. We did send our budget to the ministry so that they would release funding for the reburials.
The ministry came up with several issues, maybe to throw spanners into the whole process, including demanding that we should inform all the families of the exhumed cadres, which we did for some and not for others depending on the death and manifestation. Informing families is not a bad thing, but it depends on how the death was met; in other words, was it a facilitated death?
RM: Has the money been released yet?
AM: To date, we have not yet received any budget release from the ministry and we are disappointed. Our idea of exhuming these comrades was to give them a decent reburial so that we bring about closure, closure which is in four parts.
RM: Which are those four parts of closure?
AM: The first one is the proper decent reburial of these comrades so we honour them, that when they lost their lives, they were doing it for the nation. The second closure is to unite their spirits with their families.
Then the third part is, you may be aware that, yes, we all believe that they were shot and killed or captured and killed by the colonial forces, but other factors then facilitated these deaths, like when people were sold out to say they are camped or based or operating in this area, tracked by the Rhodesian forces and killed. So there is a need for appeasement.
Those families that sold out these comrades need to pay some compensation or in Shona kuripa, because they then facilitated the deaths of these comrades.
For example, when we were in Sanyati, one captured comrade narrated his story, saying that after he was tortured, he was poisoned but did not die. Then, on this comrade, the Rhodesian Forces used one African Rhodesian soldier to shoot this comrade and from that day, this comrade’s spirit has been haunting the family of that African soldier.
RM: What then needs to be done in such circumstances for the haunted families to find peace and closure
AM: There is a need for appeasement coming from the families of those who sold them out and the soldier, the African soldier who killed him. Unfortunately, our people do not understand these spiritual issues and they think they can wish that away by maybe praying. That cannot be wished away until some payment or some compensation has been paid.
Then the fourth aspect of closure. As a nation, we need to claim reparations from the erstwhile coloniser Britain, so that the families of these fallen comrades are also paid some kind of compensation.
In our African society, it is not only through monetary value. It can be paid using other means. It can be paid as long as the sell-outs and the erstwhile colonisers acknowledge the brutality and pay something towards what I can say, kuripa, in Shona.
That would then pacify the spirits of these dead comrades. So, as a country, we really need to understand this.
RM: What other issues do you think as a nation we should consider when dealing with such a sensitive issue?
AM: There are also other issues that came out as we were exhuming these comrades because they were manifesting and we would talk to them.
And some of the comrades, having realised that their comrades are being exhumed for reburial, came as far as Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia to say, even us who are buried in these countries, we need to be exhumed and be reburied at home because we died fighting for Zimbabwe. So, we need to be laid to rest in Zimbabwe. That’s our home.
That was our sacrifice to say we need to see a free Zimbabwe. So, we need to lie buried in Zimbabwe, in a free Zimbabwe. So, these are some of the things that as a nation we need to think through and say how best can we address this issue.
RM: How would comrades outside the country want to come back home now when rituals were done, including taking soil from these sites, some of which are at the National Heroes Acre. Are they not home already?
AM: Since 1980, I know several rituals have been performed. You know, several ceremonies have been performed to try and say we have brought the spirits or the souls of these fallen comrades home.
But to date, why are we still having challenges where these comrades are manifesting, saying we want to come back home, and yet we have been doing these ceremonies? So, there is something that we are not doing right that needs to be addressed to say how best can we address this since we now have these comrades talking to us through manifestations.
I think we need, as a nation, to ask exactly what will quieten their spirits, what will make them rest, because we have been doing that.
We have been visiting shrines and even after our visits, the mass graves – for those that are in the mass graves – do crack; the fence will actually be trampled upon. Why is that so? I think there is a message that we need to understand, that we need to ask those that are speaking to us to say why this is happening.
RM: As a traditionalist, you have witnessed these manifestations; what was the message?.
AM: Maybe I’ve spoken to one or two, one who came from Tanzania and the one who came from Zambia, always saying we have been sent to tell you that we need to be exhumed and reburied at home. Also remember every land has its own ancestors; probably those of Zambia and Mozambique are also saying your country was freed, go back to your country and rest there peacefully.
I think that’s basically what we need to do.
As far as the sell-outs are concerned, there are a number of issues. Families may not come out to say this is hounding us for fear of reprisals, but as a nation I think we also need to look at this issue to say, as we are exhuming these comrades, what facilitated their deaths?
If it was through poisoning, we address the issue of poisoning; was it coming from families? Because selling out was not only to tell the Rhodesian forces, but also to facilitate the deaths through poisoning. It was a form of selling out of these comrades who were fighting for liberation.
So we need to look at all those issues and say how these families are coping with the avenging spirits of the comrades and ask them to come in the open to share what they did and then, you know, in our African culture, once one admits his or her wrongdoings, ultimately they will pay some compensation or a reimbursement. That’s what I can say for now as far as this is concerned. So thank you.
RM: What is the ministry saying about the budget you submitted last year? Did they come back to you to say maybe you are facing these concerns or what would be the adjustment?
AM: Instead of us having exhumed the comrades and then informing the families thereafter, the ministry wanted us to first inform the families of the comrades before exhumations and also these comrades have got a preference, a place where they want to be buried.
We would ask them whether they would want to be taken to their homes or they want to be buried at a designated place, whether it is a hero’s acre or a new place. So in this case, most of the comrades were saying they want to be reburied at Grand Parade in Hurungwe.
RM: Why is that so, Doc?
AM: They have their reasons and when it is true for the nation to know, they will know why they wanted to be re-buried at Grand Parade.
But one of the reasons is what I have explained earlier on to say some of the comrades of the people that are now buried at this heroes acres, if people go back to their war history, they will find that they were involved in the selling out of these comrades so they cannot lie side by side with these people who sold them out even though after independence, probably they joined the ruling party and in quotes excelled in doing party activities. But those who died will not recognise these activities that they did after independence.
Hence, they prefer to be buried at Grand Parade, which is a new site where they have said only freedom fighters who died during this struggle will be buried.
They are certain that, whether it is Zipra or Zanla, these guys died for this country during the war of liberation. So they are certain they will lie in rest with their colleagues who have the same track history, so to speak.
RM: As we celebrate the Heroes and the Defence Forces Days on the 10th and 11th of August, what will be your message to Zimbabweans in relation to this subject we are talking about?
AM: My message to Zimbabweans is we need to come together and carry out this noble exercise of exhuming and reburying these fallen comrades, exhuming, repatriating and reburying those that are lying in foreign lands. One other spiritual aspect that people may not understand, for example, those in Mozambique, in our tradition, so those probably are being asked to say the same could be happening in Zambia, in Tanzania, in Angola. So my message is let’s come together and embark on this exercise.
It may take us up to five years, but this will be a noble exercise. I am not for the idea of building shrines when the remains are still in foreign lands. So that’s my message.
RM: Thank you, Doc.
