Msika: A dedicated nationalist

Walter Muchinguri
Snr Writer & Researcher
Zimpapers Knowledge Centre
ON August 5, 2009, the nation lost an illustrious nationalist, whose sacrifices and unquestionable patriotism saw him being unanimously declared a national hero and being laid to rest among other illustrious sons and daughters of the soil at the National Heroes Acre.

Former Vice President and Second Secretary of Zanu PF Cde Joseph Wilfred Msika was a visionary leader and fearless founding nationalist who stood firm and strong till his last breath.

He passed on at West End Hospital after a long battle with hypertension.

He was 85.

At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife Maria, three children, Lucia, Shelton and Taguma and several grandchildren.

Cde Msika will forever be remembered as a man of principle and integrity, who demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the nation by joining the fight to liberate the country at a tender age of 19.

The late former President Robert Mugabe, described him as a man of high stature and a fearless freedom fighter.

While consoling the Msika family, Cde Mugabe urged it to “derive comfort and solace from the tribute sure to flow in abundance and in diverse forms from the nation that he helped liberate and found.”

Cde Msika established himself as a fearless trade unionist and a brave and consistent fighter for Zimbabwe’s total emancipation during his years in detention, which earned him the nickname Bruno. He will also be remembered for his frankness, candid talk and as a defender of justice, who remained determined to uphold the ideals of liberation principles and honest leadership.

He was born on December 6, 1923 at Nyariri Village under Chief Negomo, Chiweshe in Mazowe District of Mashonaland Central Province.

In 1937, he attended primary school at Salvation Army-run mission school, Howard Institute as a day scholar and later as a boarder until he completed Standard 6.

His father was a polygamist whose first wife bore him several daughters and Joseph was the first born son to the second wife and the family as a whole.

Like so many African boys of his time, Cde Msika wanted to become a teacher so his father sent him to Mount Selinda School in Chipinge, Manicaland Province that was run by the American Board mission, where he trained as a carpentry teacher.

He also studied and passed a Junior Certificate Examination by correspondence, which spoke loudly about his desire to advance.

At the same time, the young Cde Msika believed that it was his duty to contribute to the upkeep of his father’s family, an indication of his love and responsibility towards his family.

This prompted him to take up a part-time job at a transport firm in Bulawayo to help pay school fees for the younger members of his family.

He taught woodwork at Usher Institute in Matabeleland from 1944 to 1949 and became very active in nationalist politics.

In 1950, Cde Msika joined a Bulawayo-based furniture manufacturing company, Bauden and Striver as a cabinet maker. He rose through the ranks to become supervisor and a leading hand. He then left and joined a clothes retail concern, Orkin Lingerie and remained with the company up to 1953 when he was offered a better job with a new clothing company that was head-quartered in Johannesburg.

Cde Msika later became a clerk at the Consolidated Textile Mills, also in Bulawayo and was elevated to the post of chief clerk before he was promoted to the post of an administrative officer.

Cde Msika was a gifted football player who initially starred for the school team at Mount Selinda and later Usher Institute. During his time at Usher he used to travel as far as Bulawayo to play football, and later did the same while turning out for Mashonaland United that was later known as Zimbabwe Saints.

Cde Msika was so good that he ended up being selected for the Matabeleland Regional select team known as the “Red Army”.

He continued to excel in the game such that he was selected and played for the Rhodesia Pick (national football team) between 1960 and 1963.

He played alongside the likes of Freddy “Dusty King” Gotora and Barnes “Chiwareware” Pfupajena. He only gave up the sport because of his heavy involvement in politics.

After his experiences in different work environments and general injustices and oppression in the country, Cde Msika decided to take up trade unionism and joined the Textile and Allied Workers’ Union (TAWU) in 1954.

Together with others, he used Bulawayo as a meeting place for trade unionists.

As a leader of TAWU he was instrumental in the formation of a semi-federation of unions at a local level in Bulawayo called the Federation of Bulawayo African Workers Union (FBAWU).

The FBAWU leadership was behind the crippling 1958 national strike. The federation was later replaced by another called the Federation of Southern Rhodesia with Cde Msika becoming its president.

It was during this period that he met other founders of the early liberation movements such as Masotsha Ndhlovu, Benjamin Burombo and Dr Joshua Nkomo.

Cde Msika also received a lot of inspiration from ideas of Pan-Africanists like Chief Albert Luthuli and Clement Kadali and the first generation of African nationalists Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Malawi’s Kamuzu Banda and Ghana’s Kwame Nkurumah.

Cde Msika used his influence in trade unionism to launch the first African National Congress branch in Bulawayo and became its first chairman and later its founding chairman for Bulawayo in early 1957.

The Bulawayo-based ANC later became the Southern Rhodesia African National Congress on September 12, 1957 after merging with the Salisbury Youth League at Mai Musodzi Hall in Harare Township (now Mbare) with Dr Joshua Nkomo as its president and Cde Msika its treasurer. In February of 1959, he and the other ANC leadership were arrested and detained at Khami Maximum Security Prison where he met other nationalists from Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland such as Orton Chirwa and Daudi Yamba from Selukwe (Shurugwi) with whom he struck a strong bond. He was later transferred to Shurugwi and ended up at Marandellas (Marondera) Prison. It was in Marondera that he first met Cde Mugabe, a young teacher who had just returned from Ghana to help lead the fight for the country’s liberation.

When the two met, Cde Msika did not know Cde Mugabe and was pleasantly surprised when the latter greeted him by name, “Makadii vaMsika?” (How are you Mr Msika?).

This was to mark the beginning of a long term relationship between the two, as colleagues and comrades in the struggle that only ended after Cde Msika’s death.

Narrating his experiences in prison to his biographer Professor Sam Moyo, Cde Msika said they were often locked up in solitary confinement as a form of punishment at the whims of the colonialist jailers.

They were also subjected to electric shock treatment, indiscriminate beatings, denial of medical care and many other forms of torture. Cde Msika, said in the interim, they were shocked at the treatment that they were receiving but soon adjusted to the situation.

They also realised that the struggle was in its early stages and that independence was coming rapidly to other African states.

Upon his release in 1961, he was elected councillor in the newly formed National Democratic Party that was formed while he was in prison. When the Zimbabwe African People’s Union was born on December 19, 1961 to replace the NDP that was banned, Cde Msika was elected founding Secretary for Youth Affairs.

This was at a time when 365 nationalist leaders had been forbidden from entering or remaining in any African reserve, including their own homes. At the same time the settler regime had banned political rallies, meetings and police had set up heavy surveillance and were threatening to arrest anyone caught defying the orders.

Cde Msika showed courage by taking up leadership under these circumstances, which was testament of his exceptional leadership qualities. In 1962, ZAPU was banned under the provision of the unlawful Organisation Amendment Act and Cde Msika and other leaders of the party were arrested save for Dr Nkomo who was out of the country at the time.

This was after militant protests that were masterminded by Cde Msika and others in 1962.

This gave the regime, which was under pressure from the far right white electorate to act and arrest its leaders.

A report compiled by the colonialists blamed the protests on the leaders. The report indicated that between January and December 1962, there had been 33 petrol bombings, burning of 18 schools and 190 churches, plus 27 attacks on communication infrastructure, which showed that the struggle was intensifying.

After ZAPU was banned, Cde Msika and others decided to adopt a more aggressive form of resisting the white regime, and they formed the People’s Caretaker Council (PCC) as a replacement with Cde Msika becoming its secretary for External Affairs.

The thinking behind the formation of the PCC was that instead of continuously forming parties that could be banned, it was easier to just declare the people of Zimbabwe a party, which would then leave the regime with no party to ban unless it was foolish enough to try and ban the people.

While this was happening, differences between ZAPU leaders led to its split and the formation of the Zimbabwe African National Union in 1963 under the leadership of Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole.

The split came after a meeting held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where Cde Msika and other ZAPU executive members had gone to try and strengthen the idea of formalising the formation of a Government in exile as a new strategy to counter increased arrests and detention of nationalists. During the meeting, Rev Sithole, Morton Malianga and Leopold Takawira proposed to dispose of Dr Nkomo, who was back home at the time, from his position, but Cde Msika protested and walked out of the meeting, in a show of his unquestionable loyalty and allegiance to Dr Nkomo.

From late 1963, Cde Msika organised several successful rural meetings, which they held under a cluster of trees, surrounded by open ground for them to easily spot policemen that would be approaching.

He was also instrumental in the formation of the Madiro Party (later called Pungwe), which was a PCC/ZAPU innovation that took the form of a funeral gathering and used as an occasion to play, sing and dance for about three days while political organisations went on behind the scenes.

Cde Msika used this platform to deliver political education and to raise funds for the nationalist cause, while at the same time planning more violent forms of resistance, mainly sabotage missions.

At the beginning of 1961, ZAPU sent its cadres for guerrilla training in Ghana, Algeria and China. Cde Msika was again involved in organising a group of 100 people that carried out acts of sabotage around the country.

This was in line with his belief that the only way to remove the colonial system was through armed struggle. He then spearheaded unrest in urban and rural areas, which involved the burning of buildings and vehicles and pelting of police with stones and bottles.

Cde Msika also recruited young people especially those who were already ZAPU members and he tasked James Dambaza Chikerema, the then head of the Department of Special Affairs that was established to handle issues relating to the armed struggle, to deal with the recruitment. The recruits were taken to countries in the Eastern bloc through Zambia and Tanzania.

Cde Msika took charge of smuggling of arms into the country from Zambia at the expense of his life.

The PCC was banned in August 1964 and ZAPU re-emerged with Cde Msika still within its leadership.

He was arrested at Josiah Chinamano’s house in Highfield, Salisbury (Harare) and taken to Buffalo Range Prison before being transferred to Gonakudzingwa Detention Camp for one year. He was released in 1965 and re-arrested after two weeks after which he was sent back to Gonakudzingwa for three years and at some point shared a cell with Dr Nkomo.

He was then transferred to Buffalo Range Prison in 1974 and was released later that year.

Recounting his experiences in prison, Cde Msika said he remained strong due to the conviction that he was innocent and his strong desire to free Zimbabwe from colonial rule.

“As an innocent man, I had not committed any crime,” he said. “My conscience was clear. I had been imprisoned for my political views. Our party was not fighting the white man, but the very unjust and inhuman racist system.”

During his stay in prison, Cde Msika attained his Ordinary and Advance level qualifications and studied Political Science, Public Administration, Constitutional law and Economics with the University of South Africa. This was in line with his belief that education is a major tool in the country’s development.

In 1974, Cde Msika and other ANC members flew to meet the Front Line States’ leaders in Zambia to participate in the ill-fated Victoria Falls Bridge Conference that ended in a deadlock.

Cde Msika flew to London to relay the results of the conference. He told reporters that: “The ANC might consider whether there is anything to be gained by sitting down with Ian Smith again. But this will not be a negotiation. The time for that is long past. It would be to discuss only mechanics of the immediate transfer of power to the majority.”

This was a clear indication that the ANC was going to escalate the struggle. Thereafter there were disagreements within the ANC which led to the formation of the United African National Council led by Bishop Abel Muzorewa and others refused to attend the Unification Congress among other things.

ZAPU held its own congress and Cde Msika was elected Secretary-General while the party resolved to place greater focus on intensifying the struggle. In 1976, Cde Msika was instrumental in the formation of the Patriotic Front and was a delegate to conferences held in Geneva, Lusaka, Dar es Salaam, Malta and finally Lancaster House in London, where the roadmap to Zimbabwe’s independence was crafted.

In 1978, he was elected ZAPU vice president at the party’s Congress following the assassination of Cde Jason Ziyaphapha Moyo.

In 1980, Cde Msika was elected Senator and then Minister of Natural Resources and Water Development, a post he held until differences that arose in the fledgling united Government.

Cde Msika then dedicated his time and energy to fostering unity among Zimbabweans and his dream became a reality on December 22, 1987 with the signing of the Unity Accord that gave birth to a unified Zanu PF.

He was then appointed Senior Minister of Public Construction and National Housing in 1988 and in April of the same year became Minister of Local Government and Urban Development, a post he held until 1995.

During this period, he was Zanu PF’s chairman and also a member of the Politburo, Central Committee and National Consultative Assembly.

After the 1995 general election Cde Msika, started working at the party’s headquarters on a full time basis and was tasked with restructuring and re-organising the party.

Following the death of Dr Nkomo, Cde Msika was unanimously elected Second Secretary of the party at the 3rd Zanu PF People’s Congress held on December 17, 1999 in Harare.

On December 23, 1990 he was sworn in as the country’s Vice President by the late former President Mugabe.

Cde Msika was then appointed chairman of the Land Acquisition Committee, which spearheaded the land reform programme, after the launch of the Third Chimurenga.

His wishes were to ensure that all landless Zimbabweans get land, regardless of their status, in fulfilment of the wartime vision.

In 2003 he was appointed Zimbabwe Football Association patron, taking over from Vice President Simon Vengai Muzenda, who had passed on. His appointment as a “father and trustee” of the association and its “controller and asset manager” was significant given his passion for football. He proved to be a great fundraiser for the national football team, the Warriors.

Cde Msika officially opened the ZIFA Village and commissioned the artificial turf at Rufaro Stadium. Cde Msika will forever be remembered as a leader with a great heart and compassion.

He was involved in the construction of Ekhusileni Medical Centre in Bulawayo, a state-of-the-art hospital initiated by the late Dr Nkomo and Chikombedzi hospital. This was after he saw a patient being ferried in a scotch cart to a hospital 20km away during one of his rallies.

At the time of his death, Cde Msika had managed to acquire an ambulance for Chikombedzi Hospital, but had not handed it over.

He also provided clothes and food to orphans at his Ndire Farm in Glendale and sourced maize seed and fertilisers for disadvantaged people in Chiweshe.

Cde Msika also took time to engage the youths at his home on the struggle for Independence, the need for land reform and the importance of upholding the principles of sovereignty and black empowerment.

Cde Msika also succeeded Dr Nkomo as chairman of the Development Trust of Zimbabwe, which is involved in farming activities countrywide.

A Guide to the Heroes Acre: Some basic facts about Zimbabwe’s heroes and the Heroes Acre. (2019) Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services.