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CDE WATSON KUDARO, whose Chimurenga name was Cde Kuda Munyama, was a fearless guerilla fighter renowned for his daring exploits and courage. During the liberation struggle, he participated in numerous battles, where he not only defeated enemy soldiers but also tragically lost comrades. This week, he begins by sharing with our Political Editor KUDA BWITITI how his journey to join the liberation struggle began.
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Q: Cde, please start by giving us a brief background of yourself.
A: My name is Watson Kudaro. I was born in 1957, in Chibuwe village, Chipinge. My parents are the late Night and Masodzi Kudaro. I am the last-born in a family of four.
I attended Chibuwe Primary School in the late 1960s and early 1970s. To help my parents pay for my school fees, I had to work on farms owned by white farmers.
We were victims of child labour, but we had no choice as it was the norm those days.
However, it was difficult to proceed from primary to secondary school because the colonial regime used what was known as a bottleneck system.
Q: Tell us more about the bottleneck system.
A: The system made it difficult for one to proceed from primary school to the secondary level. We faced many barriers.
For example, when you were about to proceed to secondary level, they would make you do extra work in their fields.
Lorries would come to ferry us from the school to take us to the white man’s farms when we were in class.
This would distract our learning processes. I was not able to proceed to secondary school because of this system. I was fed up and decided that the only way to deal with it was to liberate the country from Ian Smith’s colonial rule.
Q: Describe how you joined the liberation struggle.
A: I first had the burning urge to join the liberation struggle in 1974, when we heard that Frelimo was winning the war across the border in Mozambique, as there had been a ceasefire. We shared a lot with Mozambique because our village in Chipinge is about 30 kilometres from the Mozambican side and we also had relatives and friends from across the border.
It was exciting to learn that they were defeating the colonial forces in Mozambique. However, Mozambique’s official independence was only later confirmed in June 1975.
On that day (June 25), there were wild celebrations in our community.
Our determination to join the liberation struggle grew.
Soon, the conversation among the young men in our community was that we had to emulate what Mozambique had done.
We had to liberate the country.
I had three friends — Irvine Chitore, who was also my cousin; Hatton Makuyana, who had roots in Mozambique; and Michael Jeza.
We regularly discussed that it was time for us to join the war because we were at the right age.
Makuyana was particularly influential because he knew firsthand how Frelimo had defeated the Portuguese.
Q: Do you remember the actual day you left the country and crossed into Mozambique?
A: It was sometime in July 1975. When I left home that day, my mother had an intuition that I was up to something. She asked me several times if I was going to join the war.
She feared that I would die. However, I repeatedly denied it, even though I knew that I had made up my mind to fight for the country’s liberation.
On that day, it was very cold.
After leaving our village, we passed through several mountains until we reached the mountain at Musiridzwi, where we slept.
Our plan was that from Musiridzwi, we would connect to Bhinya Road, which was the route used to cross into Mozambique.
So, in the morning, we set off using Bhinya Road, on the mission to cross into Mozambique.
However, just as we were about to cross, we heard the sound of gunshots.
We soon realised that the culprits were the Rhodesian security forces, who were firing at us.
Mozambican villages were in sight, so we ran, even as the gunshots continued. We were too close to Mozambique to turn back home, even though bullets whistled past us.
Miraculously, the three of us managed to reach the other side, and we escaped unharmed.
Soon after crossing, we walked into the Mozambican villages.
We were well-received by the Mozambicans, who had heard the gunshots.
They congratulated us for successfully crossing into their country and showing determination to fight for liberation.
One of the elders in the village ordered that a cock be prepared for us.
He also ordered one of the villagers to accompany us to the nearest Frelimo base, where we would receive instructions on where to go next.
Next week, Cde Watson Kudaro tells us about his experiences in Mozambique as he prepared to receive military training.
Online Reporter