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LAST week, Cde WATSON KUDARO, whose Chimurenga name was Kuda Munyama, told our Political Editor KUDA BWITITI about the challenges they faced on their journey from Mozambique to Zimbabwe. During that journey through Gonarezhou National Park, they circumvented landmines and survived hunger. This week, Cde Kudaro speaks about how his team of ZANLA combatants captured an enemy soldier and how the incident captured global media attention.
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Q: Where did you set up base after the tortuous journey to cross into the country?
A: We proceeded to Matibi; this was an operational area. After arriving at Matibi, I was placed in a new Section because some of the comrades from my first Section, who had been appointed on our way from Mozambique, had perished whilst they were crossing into the country. Matibi thus became my first operational area. This was sometime in mid to late 1977. Residents of Matibi were mostly of the Shangani tribe. So, I learned a bit of the Shangani language in that area. We were involved in several battles in Matibi. The battles were so numerous that I cannot readily remember them all.
Q: Tell us about the battles that easily come to mind from your time in Matibi.
A: I once downed a Rhodesia Security Forces (RSF) plane.
Q: How did you accomplish such a feat?
A: It was a day when the skies were clear, at an area called Chapomwa. We heard the whizzing sound of a small helicopter, which was flying at a low level. I got sight of the plane and using my AK47, I fired at it, applying rapid fire.
Soon after firing at it, I saw some smoke in the air, but the plane kept going, flying away westwards. I then asked my section commander if we could follow the plane to see if the enemy soldiers had been killed. He would have none of it, as he didn’t think that was a good idea.
It was confirmed later that the plane crashed after I had gunned it down. I was very proud to accomplish that feat, particularly because these were my early days of operating at the front. Another memorable incident was when we captured a white enemy soldier. His name was John, but I cannot recall his surname.
Q: Please explain how you captured him.
A: I think our commanders had received an instruction that if we ever captured an enemy soldier, he would have to be brought to the ZANLA headquarters. So what happened on that day is that our commanders who were in front of us went to the tarred road whilst we followed. We then saw John driving a RSF vehicle alone. The commanders, who were armed with AK-47 rifles, ordered him to stop and quickly grabbed him, leaving his car on the road.
We then brought him to our base in Matibi and placed him at a temporary dwelling that we used to call “Poshto”. He stayed with us for several days, as the commanders were waiting to take him to the ZANLA headquarters in Chimoio. Personally, however, seeing an enemy soldier every day was not quite ideal. It kind of irritated me that we were keeping an adversary at our base. I wanted to eliminate him.
However, our commanders insisted that he would not be killed. John often refused to eat the sadza that he was offered, preferring to eat meat and watermelons.
One fateful day, we put our guard down and John escaped.
Q: How did he escape?
A: He was supposed to be under guard for 24 hours, as our sections exchanged the duties of guarding him. Somehow, someone snoozed on the job and he escaped.
Q: What was the response from the comrades after John escaped?
A: As soon as we found out that he had fled, we set out on a manhunt to recapture him. In battle formation, we searched the surrounding areas for John, but for some time he was nowhere to be found. However, we then got to a homestead where we found a lady and asked her if she had seen a white man. She responded that indeed she had seen him and advised us to check the nearby trees. We found John hiding in a tree. We then took him again into captivity. It was decided that it was no longer safe to keep John in Matibi.
He had to be transported to the headquarters in Chimoio at the earliest time possible. After he was taken to Chimoio by one of our sections, his story made headlines in both the local and international media. John gave interviews, revealing that he had neither been tortured nor ill-treated by the ZANLA forces. His story was able to present a compelling narrative about the ideology of ZANLA forces. We were not just trigger-happy “terrorists” who were hell-bent on killing white people, as the settler regime branded us.
We were a revolutionary movement that was fighting for a worthy cause to liberate our people. Therefore, John’s case helped us to sell our ideology and policies to the world.
I can say that the capture of John was the highlight of my time in Matibi.
After that, I moved to Gwanda, where I was also involved in many battles against enemy soldiers.
Next week, Cde Kudaro speaks about the battles he fought against the RSF in Gwanda.
Online Reporter