The ManicaPost
Freedom Mutanda and Sifelani Tonje Post correspondents
Through the training and engagement with the enemy years — Cde Epson Chigebengengwa continues with his story. Cde Chigebengwa’s story drew responses from many readers and the following are some of the sentiments brought forward by avid readers of this column. His experiences at the front shows that a number of comrades could not make it to Zimbabwe and the nation is proud to have sons and daughters who were selfless in their look at life.
Claudius Chiwenda writes: “Much thanks to you Cdes because makapukunyuka nekupukunyutsa isu vana veZimbabwe. Now you are happy and we are happy too. You said you are happy and we too are happy. You said you are blessed and we are also blessed. Thank you very much comrades. Kutaura chokwadi, handidi nemi. Nanhasi, I salute you the gunners because mune ushingi neuchenjeri. Naizvozvo,ndikatambudzika, ndiri mumusha mababa vangu. Ndinoramba ndiri mumusha mababa vangu. Vakoma,I salute you.”
I guess, Claudius is well aware of the role of the unsung heroes and heroines of our struggle. We won’t flog a dead horse. However, we thank him for appreciating the heroics of our gallant brothers and sisters as they tell the nation how we came to be what we are today. From Osborne Dam comes this letter written by Terence Mwedzi, “your column is very worthwhile Mr Mutanda. I salute you. Ngazviende mberi! Rambai muchitipakurira tizive kwakabva nyika yedu.”
Forward ever and backward never, is our motto as we seek to give voice to the thousand and one unsung heroes, be it the collaborator, the mother, father or businessman who made it possible for the fighters to keep on going seeing that freedom fighters relied on the povo to survive. A regular reader from Rusape,Patrick Madondo, says, ‘‘Makadii vaMutanda. Umm history iri muManica Post ya 25 November 2016 yekuChimoio inorwadza zvikuru. Zvakaoma mukoma hey”.
Last week, we promised to come back with how Cde Epson Chigebengwa went about his training and some of the contacts he engaged in with the Smith regime before ceasefire came in December 1979.
He picks up the story.
Following the arrival of Cde Robert Mugabe and his words of reassurance, things took a turn for the better as an influx of young women and men came to be trained as freedom fighters. There was then a sense of direction as the Dim Dim took centre stage. Commandant Matsinye who spoke Shangaan led from the front. His words boosted our morale. Meanwhile, the Buzi River continued to flow right beside the old pig farm and it is there that we went to try our luck in fishing notwithstanding the real risk of being gobbled by crocodiles that were teeming in there.
We met trained personnel and our desire to go and be trained made us always jumpy every time a lorry rumbled out of the camp. Being an untrained civilian is a disadvantage in a war situation especially at a refugee camp where the regime air force could bomb you with impunity any time.
I remember Mark Dube, P C Johnston and a Chenyu who helped a woman after an outbreak of typhoid at the camp. I remember Sarudzai Gomo, Matienga, Teurai Ropa as some women who were at Chibawawa. Food supplies had improved but still there was no training for us. Eliah Bandama was in the first group to go and be trained; I waited anxiously for my turn. He was trained at Tembwe. I went to Tanzania and boarded the plane Detta which accommodated 90 passengers; I am happy I didn’t fall sick as some of my colleagues soiled their clothes with vomit. At Mtwara, we disembarked from the plane and my fellow trainees in the Mapinduzi ship joined us on our way to Nachingwea training base. It is close to Malawi and I was among the 5 000 cadres of the Songamberi group.
It must be noted that there were three groups that were trained in Tanzania. These are Songamberi, Fanya Haraka and Sasa Mariza. In total, close to 30 000 cadres were trained in Tanzania. Each regiment had 1000 trainees. I was in Regiment 4; our trainers came from the Tanzanian Defence Force. Every day, we had to undergo a 10 kilometre run, obstacle crossing and warming down activities. Physical fitness was the trainers’ number one priority.
In the process of training, we did gun handling, dismantling and all safe procedures, company movement and crawling. In the first phase, we got immense knowledge on light guns; in the second phase, we graduated to heavy artillery specialisation. In that training, we were led by Albao who looked Indian and he was 2.15 metre tall.
Some died during the course of the training. I specialised in anti-air guns as we were told AK 47’s alone will not bring independence. A 12.7mm gun is placed on tripods; it is operated when one is standing and it is operated by a group. Soon after a contact, it is disassembled and we were very sure that the Smith regime would capitulate because of the heavy fire power that Songamberi cadres had.
After nine months in training, we were ferried back to Mozambique and arrived in Quelimane ready for deployment into the interior.
First assignment-Chimoio aftermaths Chimoio was bombed by Smith forces in an attempt to forestall the liberation struggle by hitting the perceived training bases thereby instilling fear in anyone who might want to cross the border. We were sent there to clean up. Most of the mass graves were cleaned up. There were open chasms; I came face to face with rotting corpses; cadavers lay topsy-turvy in a grotesque manner. Shattered limbs and torsos cried out to be buried. Eyes appeared gouged out. Contorted and grimacing faces with complaining and unseeing eyes met us as we went about the business of burying the dead comrades.
The Takawira sector went to Pungwe base and awaited deployment. It was late 1977. We crossed into Zimbabwe through the Chikukwa area in Chimanimani; we crawled and used our buttocks to scale mountains. I had a sub machine gun, bandolier and ammunitions. We carried out the Charter sawmill attack and surreptitiously went to Mhakwe. Some of my colleagues went to Nhedziwa, Chayamiti, Mata at Hotsprings (Rupise), Chakohwa and Wengezi and crossed Odzi River to go to Bocha —Marange area.
Wengezi convoy attack
Soon after the Chimanimani turn off and after crossing the river, there is a savannah forest area that is now used by the Ministry of Defence for training purposes. There are some curves that force vehicles to slow down. In March 1978, we mounted an ambush. It was a combined operation that used the expertise of several sections. The operation included 60 guerrillas. A convoy of vehicles was coming from Umtali on its way to Fort Victoria. There were 7 puma vehicles and several armoured cars. Some civilian vehicles were sandwiched in between; they included buses.
We allowed the cars to reach the killing zone, a curve, and I had the recoilless which barked the language of death. One of the armoured cars lost control, moved for some distance before it caught fire, spun, keeled over and landed on its roof. At that time, my colleagues who had mounted the ambush with the precision of a military strategist, fired at the military vehicles while the other civilian drivers were bewildered. The soldiers did not take our ambush lying down. The dreaded NATO croaked menacingly. Some of my colleagues retreated into the bush while others advanced with confidence.
Regime forces were overwhelmed by our sheer numbers. The LMG shouted. There was a funeral silence; it was a death silence. It appeared as if someone sang a funeral dirge. We didn’t approach the scene of the contact; the silence told the story. We retreated into the forest. We knew the soldiers would be on to us in no time; indeed, helicopters came later. We met at our GP (gathering point) at Tsetsera and we moved into Bocha but not before attacking the Mutsago Rest Camp and overrun it as it had three houses that we burned.
We attacked Hyggi farm; I had a nasty experience there when I could have died from friendly fire. A bullet grazed my hair. It was too late to engage in a “take cover” drill for the bullet ricocheted off a Mubvangazi tree close by. It was a comrade who had shot at the enemy that was about to open fire at us and we would have been history if that lad had not done what he did. Soon after that we engaged in a fight against a combined operation of the enemy air force and ground forces.
Bezel bridge attack
We knew our attacks would get a backlash from the Smith security forces. Therefore, it was important that we lie low for some time. Nevertheless, the Selous Scouts cottoned on to us. They monitored our movements. Although we had beaten them before, they followed us on horseback and found us at Charasika where they mounted a spirited attack. We were seven; we fled because we knew fighting them would be futile. After all, Mao said “when the enemy attacks, we retreat.”
In December 1979, our leaders told us that there would be a ceasefire and we had to respect it. Thus, my group went to Dzapasi Assembly Point in Buhera and waited for integration. Educated cadres were the first to be considered; a specific number from ZANLA. ZIPRA and the Rhodesian soldiers was considered for the integration into the Zimbabwe National Army. I was demobilised and given $900.
I went to Mutare and bought some blankets and a few things for the family and off I went to Chibuwe. I met Hardy Chiororo at Mwacheta who offered me a lift from Mwacheta turn off to Chibuwe. My family was happy to see me after five years of separation. I decided to go back to school. Universal College of Commerce in Harare is where I did my External Junior Certificate. After 18 months I passed six O’ level subjects in 1983. I was an untrained teacher for years and married Alice Mazvura from Wedza who gave birth to five children.
Now, I am a trained teacher and am looking forward to getting employed as an ECD teacher having trained at Gwanda Teachers’ College. We fought for equal opportunities for all people and I am glad that I decided to say to myself, age is nothing but a number. I still feel that those who went to war might need to be physically and psychologically rehabilitated as we met traumatic experiences during the war but it is important to note that the government has done much to make our lives comfortable.
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