Chronicle Editor
Pathisa Nyathi
Mwembeshi was the first military camp that was established in 1976 in Zambia. Earlier on military training took place in Tanzania, Ghana and Algeria on the African continent and also in overseas countries.
Mwembeshi was not very far from Chakwenga where, in 1971, the warring factions of Zapu went. Those who belonged to the March 11 Movement had already been detained in various prisons in Zambia such as Kamwala following the failed attempts by Zambian Home Affairs Minister Aaron Milner to reconcile the three factions who were gathered at Mboroma, east of Kabwe.
James Chikerema, Zapu’s vice-president was still with the Jason Ziyaphapha Moyo faction when they settled in Chakwenga. Among those were the following: Stephen Jeqe Nkomo, JZ Moyo, George Silundika, Molawa Noko, Amos Jack Ngwenya, Dumiso Dabengwa, Edward Ndlovu, Aaron Ndlovu, Jack Mpofu (Makhetho Ndebele). The African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa had a military camp nearby.
The two factions did not trust each other. As a result Dabengwa and Mpofu reconnoitred the area to make sure the Chikerema group did not attack them. While there, Chikerema broke ranks with Zapu to form the Front for Liberation of Zimbabwe (Frolizi) which was led by US-educated Shelton Siwela. It was time when Zapu/ZPRA had to all intents and purposes fallen apart in Zambia. The Zapu contingent faced starvation. I remember interviewing Jeqe Nkomo and Amos Jack Ngwenya about their experiences at Chakwenga. They pointed out that out of desperation they caught locusts for their meals.
Cadres recruited in 1976 proceeded from Nampundwe Transit Camp to Mwembeshi as pioneers at the new military camp. That was the famed Group of 800 who included the girls from Gwanda. Their stay at Mwembeshi was short-lived. They were soon on the move to Mgagao in Tanganyika during the time when the Zimbabwe People’s Army (Zipa) was being established in an attempt to unite the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZPRA) and the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (Zanla). Two military training camps, Mgagao and Morogoro had been prepared to receive the cadres from Zambia and Mozambique. Infiltration into Rhodesia was to take place from Mozambican soil. The experiment was a monumental disaster with high costs in human fatalities.
Sterlington Shumba was among those cadres that moved from Nampundwe Transit Camp to Mwembeshi. They were a group of about 500.
They were to undergo basic military training whose syllabus comprised the following subjects: Physical training, Political education, Armed and unarmed combat, Combat tactics, First aid, Military intelligence, Topography, and Military engineering. The training programme was condensed so as to last a mere 10 weeks as some cadres within the group were scheduled to leave for further training overseas.
Indeed, after 10 weeks the trained cadres were driven to Freedom Camp (FC) near Lusaka. Their travel documents were processed in readiness for their departure. Sterlington Shumba got his second combat name. He became Matthew Moyo. This was common for those proceeding overseas to destinations such as the Soviet Union. Andrew Ndlovu was one such. In their initial training or when still in Botswana they were given their first combat names. In February 1977 they left from Lusaka International Airport. Their destination was not revealed to them. They took a circuitous route to their destination. It was a journey that lasted 32 hours. It turned out their destination was Moscow in the Soviet Union. The flight took them through Addis Ababa and Budapest.
Practically all ZPRA cadres who have been interviewed about their experiences in the Soviet Union never fail to refer to the extremely low temperatures that they experienced. “It was cold when we got to Moscow and with our African clothes of flimsy material, we got pretty cold until after five hours. We were provided with overcoats from Moscow. We connected a flight to the city of Simferopol in the Soviet Republic of Ukraine. Our college called Simferopol Military Academy trained guerrillas and soldiers for liberation movements and armies from Angola, Mozambique, South West Africa, Guinea Bissau, Lebanon, the PLO and Zapu.”
In the Soviet Union the cadres were doing advanced studies in their areas of specialisation. In addition to those areas each cadre did the following subjects: Russian Language, Political Education, with emphasis on Marxist-Communist Philosophy, Guerrilla Warfare Administration, First Aid, Combined All-Arms Combat(conventional), Communication, Motorised and Mechanical fighting units, Military Engineering, Military Intelligence and Unarmed Combat.
Sterlington Shumba, now Matthew, counter intelligence. That was a very sensitive specialisation in military terms. As a result, Sterlington took a cover-up subject as his specialisation. After a period of 22 months he passed with flying colours. Initially their instructions included interpreters for the various national groups. After some time when the cadres’ grasp of the Russian language was deemed sound enough they were withdrawn. But even then there was always an interpreter hanging around. Only towards the completion of their training did the cadres discover that all the instructors and interpreters were KGB (Committee for State Security) operatives. Some of them were on orientation courses while others were on active duty. The daily routine included times for road run, bathing, breakfast, political information (news for the day and its analysis), classes, lunch, siesta, supper and finally another round of political information (evening news and its analysis).
There were times when the trainees were taken out on field work.
The programme was packed and included, during certain times, excursions. The last two weeks were spent at Odessa, a port on the shores of Black Sea.
There they were subjected to tests in battle assimilation (manoeuvres). Sterlington says after their completion of training they got to know that the Russian soldiers who were assisting them with the manoeuvres were the very ones who invaded Afghanistan two weeks later.
An impressive pass out parade was arranged for the graduates. The parade was attended by Zapu’s Party Representative in Moscow. After completing the course the graduates took a flight back to Lusaka.
Londile Moyo
Online Reporter