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CDE Ekem Moyo pseudonym Cde Volta Siwela was at some point during the armed struggle deemed too young to undergo military training in Zambia, but as fate would have it via some “mischief” he was sent to Libya for training. Today the man who was called a Kijana (youngster) during the armed struggle, has been entrusted with chairing the ZPRA (Nitram Properties), a committee tasked with liaising with the Government on how to return ZPRA properties confiscated during the post-independence disturbances in the 1980s. Last Wednesday the diminutive Cde Moyo in the company of his committee’s spokesperson, Cde Shelter Muchechesi walked into our newsroom for an interview with our Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda (MS). Cde Moyo said seeing his father dragged and bundled into a vehicle by the Rhodesian forces for his political activities against the colonial regime gave him the stamina to stand up against the racist system.
Below are excerpts from the interview. Read on. . .
MS: Cde Moyo welcome to this interview. At first we would start by you giving us your background. Who is Ekem Moyo?
Cde Moyo: Some people know me by my war name, that is the pseudonym, Volta Siwela. However, I was born Ekem Moyo at Manama Mission Hospital in Gwanda District on 1 January 1961. I am a twin, my twin sister Tibello Moyo whose pseudonym was Cde Betty Chifamba is working as a nurse at Gwanda Provincial Hospital. She is Mrs Nare. In fact, my mother, Rebecca Tlou had two sets of twins. My village is in Ngoma area of Gwanda District and for my schooling I started my primary education at the local Ngoma School. Unfortunately, my mother passed on soon after that. After that sad period, my mother’s people took all my mother’s children, that is the seven of us to her village. The reasoning was that my father, Rasimphi Moyo as a man could not look after us as we were still very young. However, one by one we returned to our father. By 1974 we had all returned to our father’s homestead. All in all our father had 15 children from three women. I then continued with my education and I went up to Grade Six at Ngoma where I started my primary education. My area is a Sotho dominated area.
MS: What drove you to get interested in politics and the armed struggle?
Cde Moyo: There was an incident that happened at our homestead and it involved my father. It made me sit up and realise that blacks were being ill-treated by whites. Although I was still very young that incident woke me from the political slumber. What happened is that one morning we woke up to find our homestead surrounded by the Rhodesian forces. Those Rhodesian forces lifted my father up and bundled him into their truck in full view of the whole family. Seeing my father hapless at the hands of other men was painful, I could not stomach it, but there was nothing I could do. Before that incident it had never crossed my mind that there was another man who was stronger than my father. I always believed that my father was the strongest man around. As if that was not enough my brother, my father’s son from umama omdala, Mathambo was arrested when he was found mobilising for Zapu in the Halisupi area of Gwanda. He was then detained at WhaWha Prison near Gweru and was to die in detention. My sister, Julia’s son, the first daughter in our family, Thamson Moyo had left the country in 1975 to join the armed struggle although during that time I did not understand what was happening. After his arrest my father returned home after a week. Then in January 1977 my twin sister Tibello left the country for the war with other youngsters from our area. Things were now moving very fast.
MS: Then yourself when did you join the armed struggle and what were the circumstances that led to that?
Cde Moyo: A few months down the line after my twin sister had left I was sent to the grinding mill and when I returned home, I found all the youths, those aged 13 and above having been rounded up by the ZPRA guerillas. Those comrades had left a message that those who were not at home but fall in that age group should follow. Excited and also afraid of not following their orders, we followed.
MS: Take us through those circumstances.
Cde Moyo: We were three and as instructed we followed. I did not even have my lunch which was isitshwala with amasi. I was ready. We picked what we could and we were on their trail. We ran for three hours non-stop and caught up with that train of people resting on the river bed of one of the small rivers in that area. You would not believe it, the guerillas had rounded up about 300 people. There were so many youths there. Some of them were coming from as far as Nuanetsi and Beitbridge. When we got there I was shocked to come face-to-face with armed people. It was my first time to come across guerillas. They were dressed in olive green military attire. The first thing that came to my mind at the sight of those men was to take to my heels, in fact, I tried to run away. However, two of the guerillas called me by my name, they were Komithi Dhlomo and Mperekeng Marami, they were from Ngoma, our village. So they knew me and that settled my nerves. I then started to relax a bit. The guerillas kept us there until the evening. When it was dark we started moving and we walked for hours and hours through the bush towards the border with Botswana. When we got to the Shashe River the guerillas ordered us to walk in a single file as we crossed the river. One of the guerillas there was Brain Mashila who during the war operated in the Mberengwa and Mwenezi districts of Midlands and Masvingo provinces respectively. After crossing over into Botswana, only two guerillas continued with us while the rest returned to Rhodesia to continue with their operations. We then got to Gobajango.
MS: How was the atmosphere at that point?
Cde Moyo: We were all very tired and when we were given food, we could not even swallow it. Our throats were very dry, it was painful to swallow the food. Abantu bacina bevuba isitshwala ngamanzi ukuze kube lula ukuginya (people ended up mixing sadza with water to make it light). People were totally worn out. Vehicles then came to take us to Selibe-Phikwe where we spent three days before being moved to Francistown. We were in Francistown for three months. Then came the time to be taken to Zambia. It was not straightforward for us youngsters when we were taken to Zambia. There were certain qualities that they were looking for.
MS: What were those qualities?
Cde Moyo: On the day there was a selection process for those going to Zambia two senior ZPRA commanders, Cephas Cele who I was to learn later on was the Chief of Personnel and Cde Maseka came to the camp. They made us do 10 press-ups each while keeping a close eye. From just those 10 press-ups, they were able to judge how physically competent one was. There were technical aspects they were looking for. I was among those who were selected to go to Zambia and I was very excited. The fact that I was also going to board an airplane excited me more. We were eventually flown to Zambia and we landed at Lusaka International Airport now Kenneth Kaunda International Airport. From the airport, we were driven to Nampundwe Transit Camp. We arrived at dawn and I was shocked by what I saw there. Everyone looked just like ghosts, abantu bonke babeyizipoko nje.
MS: Faced with such a situation what quickly came to your mind?
Cde Moyo: The fear that struck one or me in particular was that: “so I will be like these people I am seeing”. Just touching down at Nampundwe quickly changed people. The atmosphere there was something else.
n To be continued next week
Online Reporter