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A Rhodesian Prime Minister, Godfrey Huggins, was well known for his avowed horse and rider policy where the African was the pliant horse and the white man rode the animal at will. He metaphorically clothed the black man with blinkers. This is the man who supported the Federation idea which would stop majority rule in the three territories that were ruled by the British in South-Central Africa, namely Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
In those years of mass nationalism in colonial Zimbabwe, Allan Chikwanda, a diminutive lad from Sakubva, who had just finished his Form 2 at Sakubva Secondary School, found himself knee-deep in nationalist politics notwithstanding his young age. He had joined ZAPU Youth structures at the age of 16 in 1962.
‘’I found myself in the thick of things in 1962 after I had finished Form 2 at Sakubva Secondary School. At that time, chances of proceeding with education were extremely difficult to come by. Remember, the racists were reluctant to see a large pool of educated blacks as they feared an insurrection from that class of blacks.’’
‘’Somehow, Sakubva was a hot bed of African nationalism in Mutare. George Marange recruited me to become part of the ZAPU Youth Wing in 1962 when I was in my final year of Rhodesia Junior Certificate and I obliged. Little did I know that it would be a roller-coaster ride.’’ Cde Allan Chikwanda said.
Winston Field, the Rhodesian Front leader, lost the leadership of his party to the ultra-right Ian Douglas Smith and repression against Africans increased. Sakubva is the oldest suburb in Mutare and it was originally meant to house men only as the authorities did not want a family to accompany its breadwinner to town.
Men were there to serve the capitalist system; therefore, women had to remain in the periphery of the economy -the rural areas. Unfortunately, that spawned urban prostitution as live-in girlfriends ended up destroying a marriage that subsists but has been hard hit by racist policies which were anti-family.
Many families broke up as a result of that. Those were the days of Chisamba Singles, Chineta, Maonde and Chitungo to mention but a few areas in the sprawling suburb, Sakubva, where national politics took centre stage. Africans had reached a stage where they wanted their independence despite the threat of life imprisonment.
Indeed, Zimbabweans in rural, farming, mining and urban areas had reached a decision where they would say, “kusi kufa ndekupi?”
“Other cadres thought I fitted the bill of being the District Youth Chairperson.
“That was in 1964; I was 18. I organised people in Sakubva in our quest as a party to enable people to be conscious of the existing oppression that needed to be weeded out. By that time, ZAPU had endorsed calls for the use of the gun to remove the white minority government. We had heard of the exploits of the Crocodile Gang and how it had mustered the courage to kill a white man, a thing unheard of since 1897 when the combined forces of the Shona and Ndebele shocked the BSAC,’’ Cde Chikwanda reflected.
He organised marches that were reminiscent of the Defiance Campaign in South Africa as the Zimbabweans demanded one man-one vote. In those demonstrations, they sang revolutionary songs. Those songs emboldened them.
“As we toyi-toyed in the streets, informers joined us. These informers were black like us and poor like us but they had sold their soul to the devil. In 1964, I was arrested and charged at Sakubva Police Station, the one adjacent to Sakubva Musika that we now call ZRP Mutare Rural.
“The police officer in charge saw my small frame and concluded that I was a young man-a juvenile who cannot be send to jail,’’ Cde Allan Chikwanda continued with his reflections.
He was put under house arrest at house number 11 in 11th Avenue. His youthfulness served him from going to jail although authorities warned him it would be a matter of time before they captured him. He had nowhere to run but he couldn’t contain the desire to free his country in one way or the other. He had to report to the police every three days and remain restricted.
“I continued to encourage the young women and men to sneak out of the country and help in the liberation of the country. Word got to the Special Branch people that I was still a recruiter and they came to pick me up after I had been given a reprieve by the courts that I was innocent and there was no need for them to treat me like a common criminal. The police told my father if I got detained, I would never be released.’’
Thus, in 1965, Cde Allan Chikwanda was restricted at Hwahwa in Gweru. Informers tracked him as he went about galvanising people for the imminent Chimurenga. With the evidence they had gathered, it was easy for the white judicial system to send him to a restriction area. He had to fill the restriction forms.
‘’I was reunited with Cde George Marange who had recruited me in 1962. Hwahwa was designed in such a manner that ZAPU and ZANU members were not allowed to inter-mingle.’’
It was a classic case of divide-and-rule tactic meant to antagonise the black nationalists. It had served them well in the past but this time it wasn’t going to succeed.
Life at Hwahwa Restriction Camp
A restriction camp was a place far from the madding crowd, as it were, where the “terrorists” would be settled and they won’t “pollute” other Africans to agitate for majority rule in Zimbabwe. The area would be fenced and guarded to ensure that no one escapes to spread his/her “toxins” to the masses.
“As we got into the restricted area, we broke into song and dance. Those from the ZANU side joined in. Try as they might to stop us from singing in unison, they failed. Unity was always amongst us although the authorities wanted to see disunity among us. We knew that divided we fall and united we stand.’’
Restrictees, were deemed a bunch of dangerous humans who could influence other Africans into rebelling against white rule; for that, they had to be banished to areas where they had minimal contact with the other indigenous Zimbabweans.
The myth that ZAPU and ZANU were essentially Ndebele and Shona based respectively had to be perpetuated although serious scholars of History will tell you that in both political parties elements of all Zimbabweans were found.
Hunger strike at Hwahwa
They say, “a hungry man is an angry man”. Food at Hwahwa was not up to standard.
“For a while, regular meals of sadza and beans were the in thing. What made matters worse was the beans that was poorly cooked and it appeared the relish had dead pests in it. As for the sadza, it showed there was not much heat that reached it in the course of the cooking. We decided to go on a hunger strike if it was the last thing we would do,’’ Cde Chikwanda said with a grim face. At the beginning of the strike, the guards did not take them seriously.
“In our midst, were giants of the liberation struggle that included Cde Nxebetsha and Cde William Dzawanda Musarurwa. Those were intellectual giants and they oriented us in the philosophy of the struggle.
“Accordingly, when they urged us to embark on a hunger strike we rejected the food brought to us by the guards. They came to me and told me I must eat the food as I was still young and had a bright future in front of me. I stuck to my guns.
“Six days went by; they came with the beans; we ignored the food and survived on drinking water. We didn’t capitulate. On the seventh day, the guards brought sadza with beef and vegetables as relish. We began to eat and from that time up until I left Hwahwa, there was a balanced diet.
“I realised that indeed, unity is the pillar of a struggle.’’
Cde Chikwanda is indebted to the late national hero, Cde Willie Dzawanda Musarurwa, for his political orientation.
“He taught us about imperialist wars, the First and Second World Wars that killed millions of people. He said the whites used black soldiers to fight their sinister wars but were unwilling to allow the Africans freedom to choose their own leaders. He said it is the right of every person to chart his/her destiny. In that regard, it was important to fight the racist Rhodesian until majority rule knocked on the Zimbabwe door,’’ Cde Chikwanda reiterated the importance of History in the understanding of the struggle.
Release, and walk to freedom
After six months, Cde Allan Chikwanda signed the release papers and went back to Mutare. He didn’t stop recruiting people but then the authorities were hard on his heels. If he was caught, he would be jailed.
“Following a tip-off, I went to Chimanimani and stayed at a Wattle Company Estate where I worked as a clerk. That was in 1968.
“Chief Ngorima arranged to have me get employed but nine months later, the heat became unbearable as I continued to recruit people who had to cross Rusitu River and join ZANLA camps in Mozambique. I had joined ZANU by that time not because of any ideological differences but because Chimanimani was the gateway to Mozambique that housed ZANLA training and refugee camps.’’
It was not long before he had to pack his bags and go back to Mutare since the Rhodesian Special Branch looked for him at the Wattle Estate.
“I lay low in Mutare and got employed by the Electricity Supply Commission. Underground, I continued to recruit. I remember recruiting 40y young men led by one George to go to Mozambique using the Chibawawa route.’’
Independence came in 1980 and he transferred to Middle Sabi where he worked at the ZESA depot until he retired at the age of 65.
“I am a child of the struggle. With my acre at Madzadza Irrigation Scheme, I feel empowered although I think more can be done to capacitate the agriculture department.
“We have to return to the net exporter of maize status of the 1990s. None but ourselves can change the economic dire straits the ship of state is navigating.”
That was Cde Chikwanda’s parting shot.
From Hwahwa to Independence is the story of Cde Chikwanda who went on to champion self- help projects after independence. As a young man, he sought the narrow path to self-determination and the path led to independence.
Online Reporter