‘Why am I being threatened for my memories?’

THE series of articles published by Sunday News under its column, Lest We Forget where I gave my account of the armed struggle have not gone unnoticed as expected. I have received different sentiments from the reading public, some being praises while others are from people casting aspersions on my person. While I have no control over people’s feelings, what concerns me are threats directed at me. I am sure some people would want to kill me as some say they wish they could buy all my published articles and books to burn them. By the way I am a published author having penned my memoirs detailing my life in the liberation struggle.

Those casting aspersions on me say I have now been bought with money hence I am now publishing in a Government paper, Sunday News. That should be dismissed with the contempt it deserves. So guys what should I do? I just want to impart my historical truth. I will never turn against the revolution.

Sunday News for publishing these articles does it mean I am the only one to have contributed to their Lest We Forget column. I am shocked that the debate is still raging.

Anyway that aside, I take this opportunity to fill some gaps which I believe might have been left out during the interviews with Sunday News Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda, but are of paramount significance to the literature of our liberation struggle as newspapers are the first drafts of history. We need every detail in reconstructing our liberation war memories. Below are my additions to the published articles:

Fell ill in operation areas

I was going to say to you ( Sunday News), one day go to Kezi at a place called Egagwini, there is a homestead owako Gau Moyo. The man worked as a taxi driver for Rixi in Bulawayo. They will tell you of a guerilla commander who got sick and they kept him for a month there. That guerilla happened to be me and they went on to get an inyanga from Number 4 near Sun Yet Sen who treated me. And I woke up to continue with my operations. I had a team of commanders who were unwavering. George Moyo wako Maphenduka was a champion.

The other thing is that I was not “overly critical” of National Security Organisation (NSO) as I did not know their mission. The only thing is that as comrades in arms each organ had its own role that was not similar to the other. And that being the case the reporting systems were different.

Conventional Forces

On the conventional forces the 500 troops that came from Mulungushi for a comb up had their NCOs (non-commissioned officers) and I was with Kohima trained officers, the likes of Musonda who was my second in command and others like Lt -Col Sambulo, Richard Moyo and others.

The regular forces had been trained to hold ground and the modus operandi was now changing from the hit and run guerrilla tactics we were used to, hence the Battalion was to comb the area along the Great East Road in Zambia but little did we know that the Rhodesians were planning to bomb Freedom Camp (FC) and Mkushi which they did on 19 October 1978.

Southern Front

When I moved to the Southern Front as the commander, Cde George Chavunduka was my commissar, Casper Dube ( Col Dutsa) was the front intelligence officer deputised by Witness Moyo. The front communications officer was Cde Fred Tapela (Charles Ndlovu) younger brother to Thambolenyoka. The logistics was under Sylvester who had been newly appointed unfortunately I cannot recall his surname.

There was a unit that was operating in Namande, Maranda areas of Mwenezi District of Masvingo. The guerillas that were based there had been an offshoot of the first guerrillas that had been deployed in 1976 by none other than the commander himself, Cde Alfred Nikita Mangena from Mozambique during the Zipa era. Those included Brain Mashila, Gaddafi, Thatha, Farai Muzorewa and others.

Changes at the front

When I got there in February 1979 I changed the command structure of that region (SF2) as there was a need to restructure and bring in a new pair of hands to head the region. Hence we removed Brain Mashila who had been there since 1976 and replaced him with Reeves who had come from Mulungushi for purposes of discipline and he was deputised by Thathani Dube. I then poured a big force that was Mulungushi trained to blend in with the guerillas that had been in the field. The situation on the ground changed dramatically.

One day while in Gwanda I called for a gathering at Silonga which is situated east of Ntalale bordering Dendele communal lands. A total of 300 guerrillas from Gwanda converged there and I addressed them from 11am up to 5pm and I discovered that over a 100 had selfdeployed and each had various reasons to have self-deployed mostly in their home areas that included some commanders of units. Therefore, I had to move some to SF2 which covered areas such as Mberengwa and Mwenezi.

In my field assessment starting with Plumtree I covered Sanzukwe in Mangwe, Kezi, Mambale, Sigangatsha, Gagwini, Mahongola, Kafusi, Manama, John Dip, Silonga, Nhwali, Toporo, Matshutshuta, Siyoka and Makhado. Then I went to Namande and Maranda in Mwenezi, Chegato, Masase and Dolo Range. From there I moved to Gwatemba and Dadaya Mission after which we went west to Filabusi. Under my operational area we worked with Umkhonto WeSizwe (MK) not only closely but they were under the command of those who were in those operation areas where they had been deployed.

Starting from Sanzukwe in Mangwe they operated with us and they engaged in our battles as well. Some are still in shallow graves in Zimbabwe unless MK has followed up to rebury their comrades. We still have comrades who operated with them in all those places. We worked closely in many areas for instance we used their vehicles in Botswana. And we liaised with MK in many fields so when Dabengwa (Dumiso) suggested after the ceasefire that they be removed we had the fear of returning them to Botswana instead we opted to return them to Zambia. I personally escorted them to Victoria Falls for their crossing back to Zambia. I left behind their commander and others who chose to remain in Zimbabwe. It must also not be forgotten that the South African apartheid army was present in the southern front and their major base was south west of Chikombedzi south east of Rutenga.

Their staging base was at Mazunga

Cde Irvine Khulekani Sibhona is the last ZPRA front commander for the Southern Front (SF). He operated under the name Cde Baberton Muzwambila. He is currently

based in the United Kingdom.