Chronicle Editor
Pathisa Nyathi
IN the last instalment we identified food, shelter and transport as critical needs not only for refugees but also the trainee combatants in the various military camps. In order to meet the various needs, the liberation movement, Zapu, needed to have party structures that would adequately meet those needs and channel resources to end users, beneficiaries and consumers, whatever the case might be. This preparedness became apparent following the air raids on Zapu refugee camps in Zambia in October 1978.
Several letters of appeal were written to various funders appraising them of what had befallen the refugee camps, quantifying the damage inflicted and detailing the facilities and needs required to alleviate the ordeal of the vulnerable refugees. The Secretary for Projects, Edward Ndlovu, was at hand to compile a comprehensive inventory of needs so that funders got to know the areas where their financial and material assistance could be channelled. In some instances, the Secretary for Projects went to address organisations where he highlighted the predicament in which Zapu needed immediate relief assistance to avert a humanitarian catastrophe. As seen in the last instalment, he approached PLO leader Yasser Arafat on the recommendations of Zapu leader Joshua Nkomo.
Once material items were received, the Welfare Department took over the distribution role to ensure the goods and services reached the end users. That department was therefore always ready to receive and distribute social welfare donations. Within Zapu’s management structures there were directors of various departments that were activated to deal with certain issues specific to their portfolios. At the National Executive Committee (NEC) level, there were secretaries and sometimes their deputies that co-ordinated the operations of those departments. It was some administrative arrangement similar to what obtains in Government where there is a minister who runs a ministry which manages the affairs falling under the portfolio of that particular ministry. The Director equates to the Permanent Secretary while the Secretary is the equivalent of a minister.
We could here give a few examples. Comrade Artwell Bokwe was Director for Welfare. Whereas Comrade M Mthuthuki was Director for Education, Zapu Vice-President Josiah Mushore Chinamano was Secretary for Education. Before him George Silundika was responsible for Education. In February 1979 there were changes made in personnel for the administration. For example, Obert Matshalaga was the Director for Youth Affairs at a time when Mrs I Dlomo had been appointed Deputy Secretary for Youth Affairs, while at the same time holding the post of Secretary for Soft Goods Production.
The Logistics Department was important as whatever had been received required transportation to the final destinations. At the time, towards the end of the struggle, Daniel Madzimbamuto was the Secretary for Logistics. At that time the Department for Women’s Affairs was run by Mrs L Sihwa while her boss, the Secretary for the same department was Mrs I Dlomo. The Foreign Affairs Department was cross cutting as it played an important role in liaising with foreign embassies and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), some based within and others without Zambia. In a nutshell, it took some coordinated effort to effectively handle relief effort for the benefit of the refugees.
It should be appreciated that the fighting arm of Zapu, that is the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZPRA) ran its parallel departments though comparable to what the civilian element was doing. For example, ZPRA had its own Department of Military Intelligence (MI) with its Chief. Prior to 1971, during the days of Special Affairs, Dumiso Dabengwa was Chief of Intelligence and Reconnaissance. After 1971 when Rodgers Alfred Nikita Mangena became the Chief of Staff and effectively ZPRA Commander, Gordon Munyanyi (Tapson Nkomani Sibanda, “Terror Man”) took over as Chief of Intelligence. In 1978 a number of changes were introduced, all calculated to entrench the Zapu leaders who were released from detention. Some long-serving members who had served under JZ Moyo were redeployed as Party Representatives.
Munyanyi was posted to Tripoli in Libya. In due course the Department of Intelligence within ZPRA was removed and became a standalone department known as the NSO under the directorship of Dumiso Dabengwa.
Let us now return to the needs of refugees, whether they were felt after bombings or before. Most of the needs existed throughout the entire period. The new needs after bombardments related to, in the main, wheelchairs, crutches and artificial limbs. Medical supplies were critically important given the not-so-healthy conditions under which the refugees lived. For example, reports indicated that there was a lot of dust at Victory Camp (VC), a situation that led to respiratory complications. Mention was made of several maternity cases at VC. Pregnant women needed delivery services, surgical equipment and drugs.
Zapu had several medical doctors that rendered medical services to both the refugees and trainee combatants in the various military camps. Dr B Malaba was the Director of Medical Services and under him were several medical doctors trained in the friendly socialist/communist countries. There was Dr Benjamin Dube, Dr Gordon Bango, Dr Sylvester Ndlovu, with ancillary staff, inter alia. Medical supplies were destroyed during the Rhodesian air raids. Relocation to Solwezi to the north-western part of Zambia saw increased incidence of malaria, typhoid and bilharzia. There was greater need for medical supplies in terms of drugs.
The north-western part experienced higher rainfall and poor drainage within swampy areas.
Medical supplies went along with the need for sanitary ware. The large numbers of women and girls in refugee camps made the provision of sanitary ware all that critical. There were funders that targeted that particular need. There were tailors that had been trained to augment clothing items arriving from overseas countries. Sewing machines and bales of cloth were sourced and women at the VC turned cloth into clothes.
Given so large a population of refugees, it was important for Zapu to engage in food production. In order to deal with that need, an Agriculture Department was created under the secretaryship of Amon Jirira. The Party had farms where there was agricultural production. At Freedom Camp Zapu ran piggery and chicken projects. Tractors and other agricultural implements had been provided by funders to assist towards food production. This was a way of achieving, within some limited scope, self reliance. It was a thrust that Zapu brought back home at independence where its acquired farms were producing a lot of beef cattle, milk cows, porkers and baconers, chickens and vegetables. Secondary schools such as George Silundika and Jason Ziyaphapha Moyo followed a school curriculum that was production-oriented. As is well known, the essence of self reliance gave way to over reliance on food produced elsewhere. ZIMFEP schools soon became unfashionable.
The idea of self-reliance was strongly embedded in Zapu’s development ideology. The Party was not only engaged in food production projects, but also in soft goods production which was given due emphasis. A department was created to deal with the production of soft goods. Naison Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu was the Director of the department. Mrs I Dlomo was the Secretary for the Department for Soft Goods Production. Khutshwekhaya, Bulawayo’s first black mayor after independence, was a leather worker. There was within the refugee camps a great need for footwear. During raids on Workshop Camp, implements for the requisite production were destroyed. There was thus need for replacement of lost equipment.
To be continued
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter