Chronicle Editor
TODAY we wrap up our interview with the former sectorial commander for the Matopos, Umzingwane and Filabusi areas, Retired Colonel Reuben Mqwayi whose pseudo name was Phineas Moyo or Makepesi.
In the past two weeks Rtd Col Mqwayi has been talking to our Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda (MS) about how he abandoned his studies at the then University of Rhodesia (now University of Zimbabwe) where he was doing a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics to join the armed struggle in Zambia via Botswana. After training at Mwembeshi he was deployed to the Southern Front 3 (SF3) and operated in the Filabusi, Esigodini and Matopos, first under the command of Bob Nine Finger before eventually taking over the command when Nine Finger was recalled to the rear to be redeployed in the logistics department. Below are excerpts of the interview:
MS: You were talking about how you re-organised the operations in Filabusi, Matopos and Umzingwane. What sort of problems were you having as a fighting force?
Rtd Col Mqwayi: At first like I said previously there was a problem of some indiscipline, which saw us taking serious decisions like disarming Cdes Cingweni, Killer and Mloza whom we shipped to Botswana on their way back to the rear in Zambia. That was after we had been visited by the regional commissar,
Cde Shumba. He is the one who set out to assist us in re-organising the sector. Remember our sectorial commander, Cde Bob Nine Finger had been recalled to the rear and Shumba came up with a new command element, which saw me taking over the command of the sector. So what happened was that there were other comrades who had done advanced guerilla warfare training while some of us had done the guerilla warfare, the basic one at Mwembeshi. So there was some misunderstanding on how to carry out operations, those were the challenges that we had at the front. For guerillas like ourselves we told those comrades that it was going to be suicidal to follow the methods or theories of advanced guerilla warfare because the situation on the ground did not allow that.
MS: How? Explain to us.
Rtd Col Mqwayi: You know those comrades were trained to attack big installations and also were supposed to hold the ground compared to the basic guerilla warfare of hitting, retreating and to continue harassing the enemy. So when they were deployed they did not have the proper arms for those operations, weapons meant to defend captured territories. At first they did not understand but at the end of the day they agreed that we carry out basic guerillas warfare. We told them that without the proper equipment like anti-air weapons they would be courting trouble.
MS: Then any battles of note that you were involved?
Rtd Col Mqwayi: The battles were many and the specific enemy were the whites. I say so because the Smith regime had armed all the whites, including the farmers. So all the white people were legitimate targets, which we found joy in attacking. In fact the white farmers attacked the guerillas. All the white people were sort of a para-military force for the Smith regime. So we had no choice but to engage them in combat. Then coming to the battles, like I said there were many but the ones that stood out were the ones we fought at Fort Rixon, another near Mtshabezi Mission and the other one in the Avoca area under Chief Maduna in Filabusi.
MS: Take us through those battles.
Rtd Col Mqwayi: I will start with the battle of Fort Rixon where we ambushed trucks that were moving equipment. As usual the truck that was carrying equipment had soldiers. In fact it was a convoy of three trucks full of Rhodesian soldiers. We had done our homework well and laid an ambush at a river. The trucks came for sure and we attacked.
Wawutshaya ulele, there was total destruction there. We destroyed everything there, the equipment and the people. We quickly withdrew in fear of being attacked by the helicopters. That was a very successful battle and our unit was made up of 16 guerillas. The other one was when we planted a mine in the Chief Maduna area where a roads team was working on the Avoca-Silalabuhwa Road.
The roads team was under the escort of soldiers, but I think most of those were District Assistants, amaDA. However, those people were dressed in the military attire of the Rhodesian forces. On that day we killed six enemy forces without suffering any casualties. We then destroyed the roads equipment by setting it on fire. As for the Chief Maduna area, that was the second attack. Before, under the command of Bob Nine Finger we had destroyed a rest camp there. During that time Chief Maduna himself was in prison after being detained by the Rhodesian forces for dabbling in the country’s nationalist politics.
The attack on the rest camp was meant to capture medicine supplies from the enemy forces. However, the most devastating battle that I was involved in is the one that happened near Mtshabezi Mission.
MS: What happened there?
Rtd Col Mqwayi: It was early in the morning, probably around 6am and we were coming from the Matopos area on our way to Filabusi. I was commanding a unit of 24 and when we got to an area around Mtshabezi Mission where there is a range of three mountains where there is also a river we came across an elderly couple. An old man lesalukazi sakhe. Those people were not keen on exchanging greetings with us. I was at the rear of the group with three others.
Then one of the guerillas got incensed ukuthi why are these people not keen to talk to us. The comrade became aggressive and moved closer to the elderly couple. That is when the couple whispered that just nearby there were Rhodesian soldiers. It did not take long before we came under heavy attack from the Rhodesian forces. Our scout group fell under heavy attack from the Rhodesian aircrafts, the helicopters.
At that point another comrade and I retreated into a cave, which, however, could only fit two people. The third comrade who was with us dashed to another spot where he hid. As the fighting was going on the Rhodesian ground forces started moving in. The enemy forces were on us until around 2pm. It was my worst contact with the enemy forces as during that battle we lost six comrades, gunned down by the Rhodesian forces.
MS: Then what about you and the other two?
Rtd Col Mqwayi: We took cover in that cave and later on the Rhodesian forces started combing the area as some of our comrades had managed to break through. As for us we were cornered. We remained in that cave until just by luck when the helicopters had left we saw some of the enemy troops moving around.
Then they came to a spot close by and looked at something. What had happened was that when that comrade who was hiding just close to us, had moved to seek cover he had dropped a grenade. So those Rhodesian soldiers had come across that grenade. Some of those soldiers, we later realised, were part of the group that fell under the call-up group.
When one of them tried to pick the grenade, his senior, a veteran soldier quickly told them not to do that. He moved closer and I think on realising that the pin was still intact picked it up and started explaining to those boys how it worked.
So they moved closer and to us they became an easy target. The two of us hiding in the cave opened fire and also the other comrade did the same from his position. It was a massacre. No one from that group survived.
MS: You had avenged the death of the six comrades.
Rtd Col Mqwayi: Of course yes, but still to me it meant nothing because I was still aggrieved that I had lost six of my troops and that was the biggest loss under my command.
MS: After the ceasefire where did you go?
Rtd Col Mqwayi: At first guerillas from my sector were reluctant to move to the Assembly Points because there was no official communication from our side. We just heard about the ceasefire through the media, radios and so on. Then one day I took it upon myself to travel to Bulawayo where I went to the Zapu offices, which were along Lobengula Street. I registered my concern there and the officials contacted the now late Zipra Political Commissar, Retired Colonel Richard Dube, uGedi who was the liaison officer at the then Brady Barracks.
He came and I told him about our situation. Since we were operating in his home area in the Matopos, he told me to go back and we set a date when he would come to the ground and explain to the forces. Indeed he came and found 18 guerillas ngakibo, which we knew very well. Then arrangements were made that we move to Zezani Assembly Point in Beitbridge, which housed both Zipra and Zanla.
MS: From Zezani where did you go?
Rtd Col Mqwayi: I was attested into the Zimbabwe National Army and the army commander then, the late Retired General Rex Nhongo (Solomon Mujuru) because of my academic background recommended me to go to university in the United Kingdom where I did a degree in Electronic Engineering. On my return I worked in the Signals Department.
Later on I was sent to the United States of America to do another course. During those years I was rising through the ranks and when the late Brigadier-General Frank Muleya was promoted to become commander of Four Brigade in Masvingo I took over as head of Signals in the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. During that time I worked closely with senior commanders, the late General Vitalis Zvinavashe, General Chiwenga and Gen P V Sibanda advising them on the communications and signals issues. I should mention that when I joined the signals, it was headed by Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube.
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