adminFreedom Mutanda
Watching war movies may be fun to the die-hard film lovers as they see soldiers pumping iron and literally duck bullets; one could hear groans and chuckles in the movie house as the audience empathises with the protagonist in the story line.
Watching ‘Vietnam War’ movies may appear surreal but to the woman who left Zimbabwe as an eleven-year-old, wet behind the ears, as she recounts two of her encounters with the brutal tooth that war is death, we find ourselves convinced that the liberation struggle was not a stroll in Meikles Park.
Meet Cde Gamuchirai Zvombo (50) a happy-go-lucky woman who is ever smiling but behind that smile lurks a grim determination and bitter memories of a war she was part of albeit young for about five years in the thickets and forests of Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
A night fire-fight with
the Rhodesians
“In 1978, we camped at Muumbe and as usual, we went to our night base. We slept rough out there in places where people visited occasionally. The blankets barely helped us since the area is very cold in winter. On that particular day, Muemesi, the spirit medium told us that we had to be vigilant as there was likely to be a contact with the enemy. We knew that she was always right although we took her premonition with a pinch of salt for no-one had seen a bhunu in that area for a long period of time. It was a liberated zone, to all intents and purposes,’’ Gamuchirai Zvombo remembers.
Liberated zones were places where the enemy white soldiers did not control during the liberation war; they had given up hope of ever controlling that area. Comrades would have defeated the enemy and to reach there, the white soldiers had to use the air-force. Without ground support, it was difficult to make an impact on the comrades.
That is precisely what the Chinese Red Army under Mao Ze Dong did during the Long March that culminated in Chiang Kai Shek relocating to Taiwan in October 1949.
“There were comrades that passed through Muumbe en route to Fort Victoria (Masvingo). It was the usual practice for them to interact with us briefly before they continued with their expedition. The comrades had provisions that included bullets, clothes and other logistics that they had been given at Espungabeira. We went to prepare to sleep,’’ she continues with her narrative.
Men and women had separate corners in the bush that they used as their sleeping quarters. Although young, Cde Gamucharai Zvombo was so tall that many people thought she was 20 when in fact, she was 15. Because of her frame, she was assigned to the department of logistics and went out with the older boys and girls when they went out to fight the enemy.
“At about 4 am, I woke up and went to fetch water. It was pitch dark. I was a trainado. There was no moon but I knew the path to the stream the way I knew the back of my hand. I took the pail of water and called out to Chiuya Zimbabwe, the girl that I normally went to the river with. Suddenly, I heard something whizz past my ear and heard a man in front call out and collapse. All hell broke loose,’’ Cde Gamuchirai fell down in fear.
“Cde Mabhunu, the commander cried out to the rest of the comrades not to respond to the attack. You see our battle formation would result in us shooting each other. That way, friendly fire would kill more people than the enemy did. In a dark situation, the best way is to obey the orders of the commander and we did. We ran away like cowards but that saved the day for the two groups. In the melee, two Chimbwidos died as they attempted to flee from the fire-fight. They shot me in the thigh but I continued running until I reached a forested area in Mozambique.’’ Cde Zvombo’s first meeting with the white soldiers had nearly ended in death for her.
The following day, the comrades met at Maposa’s homestead before noon. They always had a place that they would meet after a contact but the discreet nature of their profession meant that they would have to meet there in batches. Cde Zvombo’s group, thirteen in number had been decimated.
“We lost Cde Zvakanaka Muhondo, the man with a guttural voice but very athletic. I cried. I had never seen a dead person before but here I was looking at a dead comrade. Cde Mabhunu asked us to bury him close to the site of the one sided battle. It was war; a fifteen year old girl had to brace herself and I did.’’
When people talk about Pan-Africanism, they may not know that the old Organisation for African Unity had a Liberation Committee housed in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, which was responsible for logistical help to liberation movements in Africa. ZANLA and ZIPRA got that help as well.
All weather friends in the Communist block chipped in with help. Moreover, the people in Zimbabwe made it possible for the comrades to get logistical support. Nurses took away medical provisions from clinics and gave the comrades those medical provisions.
“We had a comrade with a medical background who gave me help for the thigh wound to recover. After two months, I was ready to come back in the fold. I continued with my duties of carrying provisions for the comrades. To be honest, I grew terrified as I realised that a bullet shot at you will kill you on impact whether you are a comrade or a povo. Vigilance was the game.’’
Muumbe remained a liberated zone up to the end of the war.
Life in the war as a woman
Women fought the whites side by side with men from the time the war reached the decisive phase that is, 1972 to 1979. Though in between, there was détente, the war got hotter and hotter as it reached the peak stage. Women did not retreat when the going got tough.
“Many people look at women as the weaker sex but the liberation struggle showed otherwise. One of the girls who went with us to Mozambique could not remain resolute. One day, we woke up to see her gone. The commander, Mabhunu, told us that she had become a sell-out and if anyone came across her, you must know that Lindiwe was now the enemy and can’t be trusted. Those girls left in the front now had to prove that they were loyal. Life was hard; at times, we had to use unhygienic material when menstruation took place.
Cotton wool was a luxury that visited us once in a blue moon. We did not go back on why we went to war at a tender age.’’
How did women cadres bathe?
“There was no discrimination during the war. Most of the girls were clad in jeans. Female cadres had an area where they had their bath. At times, we did not use soap to bathe after it would have ran out. Clothes, when they are exposed to the elements, tear easily and because of our situation, there were times when we had to ‘ask’ business people in our area to give us clothes to wear. Life for the female combatants was not rosy’’ she said.
When a sympathiser turns
into a sell-out
Cde Zvambo whose family name is Lucia Bodhla remembers her first stay at Menard Muumbe’s home.
“Our movement from Rebai in Chikore as four girls in 1975 saw us arrive at a very important Mujibha, Menard Muumbe’s place, who supported the comrades very much. We stayed there for close to six months. I was a watoto which is a Swahili word for the little ones. I had grown fond of him as I saw his energy being driven towards matters that would result in Zimbabwe’s independence,’’ Cde Zvombo reminisced.
Matters came to a head towards the end of the war in 1979. Menard, all of a sudden, became the number one enemy of the comrades.
“One day, we woke up to a blood curdling cry from a man whom we later saw to be Cde Menard. A comrade was pulling him as he attempted to rise. When there was a stop to his torture, he attempted to flee but a bullet to the thigh stopped him dead in his tracks. He begged the comrades to stop tormenting him and let him die. Cde Chaminuka did not accede to his demand. Finally, a comrade shot him on the head and he died,’’ Cde Zvombo’s eyes cloud as she narrates the ordeal.
For close to five years, Menard had been the oasis of the liberation struggle in that part of the country. His memories had gone up in flames.
“Cde Chaminuka said the comrades had been tipped that Muumbe was a double agent. However, I could not believe it because he was a spirit medium who helped the comrades when they were in a quandary. Where we used to set up base became a no-go area due to strange things that happened there.
“Apparently, his spirit was restless and haunted us incessantly. To this day, I don’t know if it was true that Menard was indeed a sell-out,’’ Cde Gamuchirai Zvombo was almost in tears.
As we celebrate our hard won independence, it is important to think about those who could have been victims of jealous and malice.
Thirty six years on, Cde Zvombo remembers vividly the day Menard breathed his last.
Today, Cde Zvombo is happily married to Timothy Chimovha Mashava, a traditional healer, at Kondo, Chpinge. The couple has five children.
She remembers those incidents as if they happened yesterday. She takes comfort in the fact that Zimbabwe regained her independence after a protracted struggle. Cde Zvombo salutes the resilience of the Zimbabweans in the face of adversity; they faced a mean war machine but because of their unity, they triumphed.
Online Reporter