The attack on Mushumbi Pools is still on the villagers’ lips

We continue our interview with Lieutenant-Colonel (Rtd) Nimrod Ndlovu, who during the armed struggle, was known as Cde Vincent Sakala or Osmond Fomoja. 

In our previous article, Lt-Col (Rtd) Ndlovu told our Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda (MS) about the preparations for attacking Mushumbi Pools Garrison in then Sipolilo (Guruve), Mashonaland Central Province. Today, he resumes the conversation about the attack on Mushumbi Pools and meeting ZANLA guerillas who were also in the area. Below are excerpts from the interview. Read on….   

MS: You were talking about some members of the Reconnaissance Unit, including yourself, getting lost along the way to Mushumbi Pools Garrison, what finally happened?

Lt-Col (Rtd) Ndlovu: Cde Ephraim, who was the commander of the Recc Unit and four other comrades who also had been operating in the area finally reached Mushumbi Pools Garrison. They did a good job of assessing the situation and coming up with a report, which they presented to the commanders on how to attack the target. However, unknown to us,the situation changed soon after at the garrison because of new developments.

MS: What happened?

Lt-Col (Rtd) Ndlovu: It so happened that another ZPRA unit attacked Kanyemba Garrison and the Rhodesian soldiers evacuated from the place. Those soldiers then fled to Mushumbi Garrison and camped outside. So, because of that development, our appreciation of the situation at Mushumbi was no longer accurate. 

We didn’t know that there were troops who had camped outside. So, when planning the attack on our sand model we didn’t include the presence of those enemy soldiers who had evacuated from Kanyemba. Those enemy soldiers were deployed outside the garrison.

MS: Take us through the attack.

Lt-Col (Rtd) Ndlovu: From our base near Angwa River, we moved to Mushumbi Pools. We got there at about 8pm. We then deployed nicely without being detected by the enemy. The platoon under my command that is A was deployed on the left flank, platoon B in the central position and C on the right flank. 

When we got there some Rhodesian soldiers who were camped outside might have detected our movements as one was overheard saying “there are people around.” Then one said “don’t shoot as we are within the camp.” Then behind the three platoons, we deployed the Mortar Unit and they were the ones who initiated the fire as planned.  Their bombs were landing directly inside the camp and that caused a lot of chaos. We caught the Rhodesians unaware and there was a lot of chaos.

MS: What about the other troops like yourself?

Lt-Col (Rtd) Ndlovu: We followed suit and fired and our fire was very incessant and heavy. We were heavily armed. We had only one casualty, Cde Borehole, the medic who was hit by a splinter from our bazooka and we retreated with him to safety. The attack took about 25 minutes after which we made a tactical withdrawal. People in that area are still talking about that battle. I was there recently with other comrades on a vetting exercise of war collaborators. 

After the attack, we moved quickly and set up a base some  kilometres away. We were later told by villagers that they saw the Rhodesian army trucks picking up the injured enemy soldiers and the dead.  A large number of enemy forces perished in that attack. It was that battle that excited the villagers and we won their hearts and minds. The following day, an old woman remarked to some of the comrades and said: ‘Vana vangu kana dziri pfuti dzenyu takadzinzwa nezuro, nyika muchaitora, asi kana arimabhunu, dzokerai kuZambia kwamakabva ikoko’.

MS: How did the Rhodesians react to your attack on Mushumbi?

Lt-Col (Rtd) Ndlovu: They deployed helicopters the following day, which started hovering around the place. We had retreated to a safer place. Unknown to us as ZPRA was that there was the presence of the ZANLA forces in the area. An old man was then sent to look for us by the ZANLA comrades and tell us about their presence. 

The ZANLA comrades had also been very impressed by our firepower. The old man approached my platoon and told me that there were other freedom fighters who wanted to see those people who had attacked Mushumbi Pools. At that point, the detachment had been split and deployed according to platoons. 

MS: What was your response to that?

Lt-Col (Rtd) Ndlovu: As the platoon commander, I told the old man that those people should come and we meet. I then sent word to my fellow platoon commander, Cde Twoboy (Mukahanana) to reinforce my platoon with his troops as we were unsure what might happen. We were also suspicious that maybe those people were Selous Scouts. At that point, I had not appraised my commanders on the ground, Jonas Donga (Wilson Dube) and the now late Colonel Dan Dutsa. Donga was the zone commander while Dutsa was the senior intelligence officer. These two had also been part of the battle at Mushumbi. They had moved to a place across Hunyani River.

MS: Then tell us about the meeting with the ZANLA guerillas.

Lt-Col (Rtd) Ndlovu: The old man became the go-between and we moved to an agreed position. I then told the old man to go and tell the commander of the ZANLA unit to come forward and we meet at a central position where there was a big tree. I moved to that tree and my counterpart from the ZANLA side did the same. At that point, there was tension and anxiety as our troops had deployed. They were following the unfolding situation from their positions.

MS: What did the two of you do when you stepped forward to meet?     

Lt-Col (Rtd) Ndlovu: We greeted each other and he, a handsome looking man, congratulated me on behalf of the entire unit for a job well done on Mushumbi Pools Garrison. Interestingly, the ZANLA guerillas had heard the sound of our gunfire. His name was Norman, a pseudo name of course. I met him after the ceasefire as he served in the Zimbabwe Defence Forces just like me. However, Norman later left the Zimbabwe National Army and joined the Airforce.

MS: So, what did you settle on with Cde Norman?

Lt-Col (Rtd) Ndlovu: We spoke about how we could work together as we had a common enemy, the Rhodesian forces, and our goal was to get our Independence. However, I then suggested that he should bring forward his senior commanders on the ground so that I could facilitate that they meet ours. In fact, when we were deployed, the orders from Rodwell Nyika, the now late Brigadier-General Collin Moyo, who was then regional commander had been that if we found ZANLA, we had to work together. He had also  said we could assess the situation ourselves if ZANLA was also willing to work with us. 

To be continued next week with Lt-Col (Rtd) Ndlovu talking about the pact ZPRA and ZANLA guerillas came up with on how to operate together.