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Freedom Mutanda
Post Correspondent
FREEDOM fighters and war collaborators and community members all agree that the liberation war was not a stroll in the park.
Manicaland, as the gateway to Mozambique which offered training bases and refugee camps played a key role towards the country’s attainment of independence.
The country had suffered colonial brutality from September 12, 1890.
First, according to war veteran, Cde Maxwell Ndunduma, there was a long border between colonial Zimbabwe and Mozambique, with Manicaland sharing the longest stretch.
As a result, some young men and women who came from as far afield as Harare, Masvingo, Gweru and other places used the long porous border to cross into Mozambique.
He said: ‘’People used the passing points dotted all over Manicaland to cross into Mozambique. Some of the crossing places were found in Nyanga, Mutasa, Chimanimani and Chipinge. The Rhodesians were overwhelmed due to the huge numbers which came especially after the decisive phase of the armed struggle which began after the 1972 Altena Farm attack in the North -East.’’
Along the border, chiefs’ jurisdictions extend to the neighbouring country. Examples of such cases abound.
They include Chiefs Musikavanhu, Gwenzi, Mapungwana, Ngorima, Muusha, Chikukwa, Mutambara, Zimunya, Tangwena, Saunyama and Mutasa.
Mozambique has Ndaus and Manyika as well. There is a thin line dividing Mozambicans and Zimbabweans along this great stretch of land.
Therefore due to the relationships of the people from the two countries, Rhodesian security forces had a torrid time trying to bottle the ‘insurgents’. Anyone they thought was a stranger would be proved otherwise by the chief and his subjects who would say the young man or woman belonged to their village. It is along these routes that the settler army planted land mines which killed a number of people who crossed the border to visit their relatives on the other side.
However, when such incidents occurred, the Rhodesian propaganda machine gloated that ‘terrorists’ would have been killed.
Famous nationalists who passed through Manicaland are the late Zimbabwe Founding Father, President Mugabe and late national hero, Cde Edgar Tekere who were helped by the Tangwena people on their way to rekindle the fire of Chimurenga after the Détente exercise, a product of Vorster and Smith machinations meant to derail the armed struggle.
Secondly, a deluge of cadres went to Mozambique for training in the 1970s and they came from the seven districts of the province.
A female combatant popularly known as Mbuya Chingwingwi in Chipinge said in the camps, there were many young men and women who hailed from Manicaland, and some of them remained in refugee camps as they were too young to be trained as freedom fighters.
‘’We had a massive number of cadres from this province at Chibavava,’’ she said.
She added that at the front, there was no mention of the differences in gender as the women went neck to neck with their male counterparts.
Cde Promise Dhliwayo is a war veteran who fought the war in the Mbire area of Mashonaland Central. He comes from Chipinge. He said although he fought in Mashonaland Central, he fought alongside freedom fighters who had one vision for the country, notwithstanding tribal differences.
‘’We were trained in our thousands. I remember getting into a lorry with the bulk of my friends who had left Musani in search of freedom that could only come if we fought in unity,’’ he said.
Many boarding schools along the border contributed young men and women to the cause. Schools that quickly come to mind are Chikore, Mutambara, Mount Selinda, Regina Coeli, Emmanuel, St Augustine’s, Hartzell and many others.
Mr Samuel Tusabantu remembered the day that the current army commander, Lieutenant General David Sigauke left for the freedom trenches.
‘’We were close to sitting for the ‘O’ Level examinations. The boys and girls decided to go and take up arms. They left before dawn,’’ he said.
Some of the noteworthy cadres who left schooling to go and fight for independence are the late Major General Eliah Bandama who left Chikore to join the liberation war and the current Police Commissioner General Godwin Tusabantu Matanga, among others.
The former MP for Harare South, Ms Margaret Dongo left Gideon Mhlanga (formerly Gazaland Secondary School) for the fighting trenches.Teachers played a part in the conscientising of learners for them to have a revolutionary mind.
Ms Bertha Chikangaise said in their interaction with learners, teachers would talk about the need for Zimbabwe to have majority rule.
‘’They said the country had to be ruled by the majority. Consequently, you would see a whole class leaving the school in the dead of the night. Mr Gladman Chahweta at Chikore was one of those teachers who sparked the revolutionary zeal,’’ she said.
The story is told of how spirit mediums made victory certain.
In most of these districts, there were powerful spirit mediums who made it happen.
For example, at the beginning of the Second Chimurenga, Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole and his colleagues approached a spirit medium of Chief Makopa, the 10th Chief of the Mutema Dynasty, for spiritual guidance in the execution of the war.
Cde Jabulani Matembudze, a war veteran, fought in the Chiduku area in Makoni District.
He spoke about how the spirit mediums helped in the execution of the war.
‘’The spirit medium we consulted gave us pieces of twigs which we had to carry every time. There was an incident when we were ambushed, but we survived. Throughout the time we were in the Chiduku area, we had very few casualties,’’ he said.
Each specific area had a spirit medium who had to be approached first before any gun was fired. Thus, the traditional leaders and spirit mediums ensured victory for the people.
The chimbwidos and mujibhas were couriers of information to the comrades and this explains why a large contingent of these people are found in the province.
Their cooking and carrying of weaponry from the rear made the fight for independence easier for the freedom fighters. Workers on estates and towns near the border contributed monthly to ensure that provisions for the comrades were adequate.
Ms Florence Chibuwe, whose father worked at Smaldeel Estate in Chipinge said: ‘’Our parents met after pay day. They would buy basics for the comrades and a Mr Pato would be the go between.”
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