adminFreedom Mutanda Chimurenga Files
DURING the war of liberation in the then Rhodesia, Ian Douglas Smith’s dogs of war used every trick in the counter-insurgency book to forestall the nation’s liberation ideals. One of these, clothes poisoning, nearly cost Cde Tugu Kashiri aka Lazarus Ndlovu’s life in Mutoko at the height of the Chimurenga in 1978. Regrettably, seven of his colleagues perished. How did he survive?
“I am comfortable in a size four pair of trousers, yet the sell-out had sizes two and three. All comrades who wore the trousers died. We later gathered intelligence that the man had worked in cahoots with the enemy. Needless to say, we punished him for such a heinous act of betrayal. He was a businessman we trusted absolutely,’’ Cde Kashiri, a barrel chested veteran of the liberation quietly said, but sadness clouded his eyes.
Where did the journey begin?
Born on August 13, 1958, Cde Lazarus Ndlovu, attended school at Mabee Primary School in Chipinge up to Grade Six and something happened that changed his life forever.
He was sjamboked by a racist farmer over cotton. “We went to Robert that is now known as Arda Chisumbanje to pick cotton as we usually did during our spare time. Somehow, a green cotton ball went into the pocket. As we put the cotton on the white plastic bags, a white man saw the green cotton ball. He was livid with rage. Out of the blue, he sjamboked me so hard that I am scarred for life.’’
Cde Lazarus painfully went home, but he was angry at the system that did not punish a white who had beaten him excessively.
He received that severe beating in August 1975. He was 17 years of age.At home, he heard about the FRELIMO victory in Mozambique and how all Mozambicans were dancing because the Caitano regime had fallen flat on its face in disgrace.
“Radio Maputo talked about the joys of independence. A Mtetwa who organised cadre entrance into Mozambique encouraged me to join the war. He told us the war was driven by a justice motif and I decided there and there that my wounds were to be avenged when I take the enemy head-on,’’ Cde Kashiri said.
Journey into unchartered territory
“We were the first to open a new base at Chibawawa after I had spent four days at Espungabera. During my sojourn at school, I was a very good Muchongoyo dancer. Thus, some commanders identified me at Chibawawa and recommended that I go to Chimoio where I received military training,’’ Cde Tugu Kashiri remembered wistfully.
At Chibawawa, there were the Watoto and Vazee, young children and old people respectively. Many of them were eager to be trained, but their ages did not allow.
Cde Lazarus went to Chimoio gladly; his sole reason of coming to Mozambique via Machazi, was to fight and fight he would after training.
“Cde Aggrey Chaminuka trained me alongside Cdes Keys Dzamira and Takawira at Takawira 1. We joined the first Mgagao group of 500 cadres to get into the front in 1976. My group were deployed in the Tangwena Sector in Mutasa District of Manicaland. Our Detachment Commander was George Onyango whereas Itai Mabhunu was the Section Commander,” Cde Kashiri remembers.
At first, they moved in groups of six and later, the group’s number was increased to nine. The reason was that General Josiah Magama Tongogara used the few manpower resources to deploy personnel from Gaza to Tete. Of course, more men and women were to join in the intervening years. “After we arrived at the areas where we had been deployed, we waited for a signal from our commanders. We had to fire shots on the same day; our people would know that we were there and the white authorities would have problems in deploying fighter jets or helicopters to fight us,” Cde Kashiri revealed the elaborate tactic which surprised the enemy.
Ambush at Mt Jenya
There are many contacts with the enemy that Cde Kashiri had, but he remembers the Mt Jenya one vividly.
“We were coming down from Mt Jenya which was our day base. During the day, we spent it resting at the Mt Jenya Base and at night, we mingled with the povo. On that day, at dusk, we moved down the mountain and we reached the Odzi and Nyakatande rivers confluence. Suddenly, a staccato burst of gunfire lit the dark night. The enemy had carried out an ambush and in the ensuing catfight, a shrapnel hit my right underfoot.”
It took a full one and a half months before a full recovery to his foot occurred. He remained at the base in Mt Jenya. In the meantime, paramedics worked round the clock giving him medication until he fully recovered.He didn’t leave the front after such a horrendous injury. When he returned to action, he was made PC-Political Commissar-of his section.
What were his duties?
“My job description was to tell the povo to tell the whites what they wanted to hear. White soldiers asked peasants if they had seen the terrorists-ipi ro gandanga? In the early days, the povo would say they did not know. Now, I told them that they had to tell the soldiers the truth.’’ Cde Kashiri said.There were many bases in the Tangwena sector; Cde Kashiri remembers Gandanzara, Chiduku and Watsomba bases. He recalls with nostalgia the songs they sung at all night vigils.‘’In 1978, I was still in the Tangwena Sector. Cde Sadza took me back to the rear in Mozambique. The High Command felt that the war was drawing to a close and there was need now for preparations for the
post- independence army. My going back to the rear in Mozambique was to be interviewed by the commanders there on my suitability to be trained as a pilot. It was General Tongogara who interviewed me and I couldn’t make the grade as the bulk of the Mathematics questions were Form Two material. Those who succeeded were sent to Ethiopia to be trained.’’ He doesn’t regret his failure because he left Zimbabwe before he had gone to secondary school.In spite of failing to go and be trained as a pilot in Ethiopia, Cde Kashiri went to that country which is a symbol of resistance to colonialism to be trained in regular infantry in Abyssinia. For six months the Ethiopians trained him in regular warfare.
‘’On returning from Ethiopia, I was redeployed to the Takawira Sector under Commander Perrence Shiri and operated in the Mutoko Region. It was in Mutoko that I survived the clothes poisoning orchestrated by the enemy in 1978.’’ Cde Kashiri revealed.
The dog incident
During the liberation war, Zanla and Zipra had to mingle with the masses for them not to be caught when the going got tough. In terms of food, the people gave the cadres that through-out the war. It was during one of these days when the comrades got food from the povo that Cde Kashiri came face to face with dog meat.
‘’At Chonzi, I came face to face with dog meat. A sell out came with meat and sadza to the base. As was the custom we asked him to taste the food and he refused outright. We suspected foul play. We beat him up as the organiser and we demanded to see the animal hide. We got the shock of our lives after we saw that it was a dog that we had to eat,’’ Cde Kashir said.
As the politicians negotiated for the final road to independence, Cde Kashiri remained in the trenches and he heard about the ceasefire agreement while he was out there in the trenches. “After the announcement of the ceasefire, I went into the Dendera Assembly Point in Mudzi District. During that time, there was independence fever through-out the country. On August 12, 1980, I was attested into the Zimbabwe National Army at Guinea Fowl Barracks in Gweru,’’ said Cde Kashiri who survived bullets and betrayal in the bush from 1975 up to 1979.
Back to school after independence
Lazarus Ndlovu left Mabee Village in August 1975 as a greenhorn and a Grade Six drop-out, but returned as a member of the Zimbabwe National Army in 1980.Due to President Mugabe’s exhortations to all members of the defence forces that they must progress with their education, Cde Tugu Kashiri burnt the midnight oil to improve himself academically.
“As a quartermaster, I had to up my knowledge. In 1984, I began my academic journey that ended in 1988 when I finished my ‘O’ Level with passes in Mathematics, Geography, Science and Shona. Naturally, I was in the seventh heaven. That came about thanks to independence. Because I had some ordinary level subjects, the army allowed us to do some courses such as Carpentry at Tsanga Lodge in Nyanga and Upholstery.That was in preparation for my life as a civilian,’’ Cde Kashiri acknowledged the role of the army in his education.
Military campaigns
Cde Lazarus Ndlovu whose nom de guerre is Tugu Kashiri had been in the trenches from 1975 to 2006. He saw duty in Mozambique, Somalia and DRC.It was during the Democratic Republic of Congo campaign that Cde Kashiri was hit on the same leg he suffered a foot injury in the Second Chimurenga at the Battle of Kabalo.
‘’In 1998, in a contact with the rebels, I was shot on the same foot I endured an injury on many years ago. This time I was amputated, but Government facilitated my getting an artificial leg. Thus, I can move around without much of a hustle.’’ Cde Kashiri said.
He is retired now.
‘’I am retired now and I am in the thick of things to ensure that what we fought for is realised and continues to be realised. I am the Zanu-PF Ward 27 Branch chairperson and the chairperson of the Chipinge Disabled War Veterans Association. My life is full now as I grow cotton and I am perturbed with the low prices of cotton which makes it unprofitable for us to be farmers,’’ Cde Kashiri ended with a flourish.Cde Kashiri lives at Machona near Vheneka and is a family man.
Online Reporter