‘Why I joined the liberation struggle’
WE continue our discussion with Cde DANIEL SIGAUKE (DS), a former ZANLA combatant who left the comfort of his parents’ home and made the tortuous journey to Mozambique, where he joined the liberation struggle. Last week, he introduced himself and narrated to our Senior Reporter TENDAI CHARA (TC) how he left home and travelled to Mozambique via Chimanimani. He now takes us through what happened when his group crossed into Mozambique. Read on …
TC: Cde, you concluded your narration by telling us how your group of six youths crossed into Mozambique via Chimanimani. Kindly take us through your early days in Mozambique.
DS: Thank you! From the border area, we then moved further into Mozambique.
After walking for a short distance, we met FRELIMO soldiers who interrogated us.
I think that was around the same time Mozambique got its independence.
We were then taken to the FRELIMO camp where we were given bananas to eat.
Since we were very hungry, we even ate raw bananas.
We roasted some.
The FRELIMO fighters kept interrogating us; they wanted to make sure we were not Rhodesian spies.
One of the FRELIMO soldiers shot at us and told us to go back to where we had came from.
We stood our ground and told them we were not going back.
Convinced that we were determined to go for military training, the FRELIMO soldiers then allowed us to stay with them.
We were then taken by tractor to Chikamba Dam camp, where we stayed for a week or so.
More recruits continued to come into Mozambique. We ate mostly sadza and fish during the brief stay.
When there were about 70 recruits, we were then ferried by FRELIMO vehicles to Zhunda Base, which was further inside Mozambique.
There were so many of us at this camp. The living conditions were very bad; we lacked basic items such as plates.
As for food, we ate whatever was available on the day.
During that time, the late President Mugabe was at this base and so was the late national hero Cde Edgar Tekere.
After staying there for a long time, the recruits became restless and were clamouring to go for military training.
We were idle and as young people, we wanted to see action.
But this was during the détente period and training had been suspended.
The first group of recruits that went for military training was ferried to Tembwe in Tete province.
Tembwe was further to the north of Mozambique. My group was the first to open Nyadzonia Base, which was a former FRELIMO operational base.
When we arrived, it was in bad shape; the wooden structures there had seen better days. Our first task was to build new structures. More recruits came from Zambia.
Cde Teurai Ropa (Joice Mujuru) came to Nyadzonia during this time.
Cdes Gutura, Amos Tsana and Charlie Saudhi were also at the base during this time.
Food was always scarce.
The roads became impassable whenever it rained.
As a result, trucks that delivered food struggled to make it to our base.
When they got stuck, we at times had to walk for close to 20 kilometres to the major road to collect food.
When the food arrived, we would first cater for the kids.
It was a very difficult time for us. When we were going to Mozambique, we assumed we were going straight into training and after that, we would be deployed in urban areas and fight the white man.
We didn’t know that it was going to be a long process.
That was in 1975 and I was 18-years-old. TC: Were you not tempted to leave the base and return home?
DS: No! The situation back home was terrible and staying in Mozambique was the only option.
What we desperately wanted was the training. In my case, I had a bone to chew with the whites back home.
I had a nasty incident with some white folks during an agricultural show event.
As I was walking past the stands, one white guy in army uniform approached me and lit his cigarette.
Without provocation, he rubbed the burning cigarette against my forehead.
He then laughed and walked away as I writhed in pain.
When I went to Mozambique, my other desire was to come back and avenge the humiliation I suffered at the hands of the white soldier.
So, when we were now at Nyadzonia, there was no turning back.
The war spirit was also amongst us and urged us to soldier on.
To while away time, we often sang revolutionary songs and the likes of Cde Serima, who is now a farmer in Gweru, entertained us. The liberation songs kept us upbeat and united. Some recruits, however, tried to run away and were caught.
Before training, I worked briefly at the base clinic.
The late national hero, Cde Willard Duri, selected us during parade and we were taught basic first aid.
We also walked around carrying wooden imitations of guns.
We were trained on how to cover and crawl. We also maintained a basic level of fitness.
By the time we finally went to Tembwe for training, we had done some basic training. We knew what was expected of us.
In early 1976, we were taken by lorries to Tembwe.
At Tembwe, we sang the song “Tembwe Chikoro Chedu Chehondo.”
Food was scarce at the camp and we often had a piece of potato for supper.
At times, we ate sadza with pieces of course salt as relish.
During the dry season when rivers got dry, we had to dig shallow wells in river beds. Lice were pervasive and we often joked about them as a way of keeping our spirits high.
There were over 700 recruits, if not more. After the long wait, we were then trained.
Some of our instructors were Cde Black Moses, Tito and Ronny Ngarava, among others.
Our political commissar was the late John Chimbande, the former Zimbabwe Ambassador to Mozambique.
He was in charge of political orientation. After training, we found ourselves idle again as war operations were yet to resume. Finally, we were deployed to the front, in the Guru sector, which bordered Mozambique’s Tete province.
My group had the likes of Cdes Peter Santos and Zhosto, among others.
From Tembwe, we rested a bit at Battaliao, a base which was close to the border, before moving on.
By then, we were not experienced in actual fighting.
Our group was ambushed before it got to the war zone.
I was injured in the leg and I was taken to Changara in Mozambique for treatment.
I was then transferred to Chimoio. Some of my colleagues were seriously wounded and others died during the attack.
At Chimoio, I met Marko Veremu, a fellow cadre who was also nursing injuries.
Veremu was operating in the Gaza area.
At
Chimoio,
we also had the likes of Cdes Lot Sibanda, Zhepe, Joe Pay, with Cde Chihuri —the former police Commissioner-General — as the base commander.
I was then trained to become a military instructor specialising in telecommunications. I also doubled as a political commissar.
I moved from one base to the other teaching the recruits the aims of the war and how we were going to execute it.
I was stationed at Mapinduzi Base, where I also specialised in the operation of the heavy machine gun (HMG).
*In our next installment, Cde Sigauke will talk about the other experiences he came across during
the war.