Gen Tongogara foresaw his own death

01 Feb, 2015 - 00:02 0 Views
Gen Tongogara foresaw his own death

The Sunday Mail

For the first time in public, Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces General Constantine Chiwenga spoke about his last conversation with Cde Tongo.

 

tongogaraABOUT three weeks ago, Nyaradzo Tongogara, the last born of late Zanla commander and national hero Cde Josiah Magama Tongogara, was at it again.

A commemorative ceremony to mark the 35th anniversary of Cde Tongogara’s death was scheduled for Army Headquarters on January 28 and Nyaradzo wanted me to attend.

Despite giving her assurances that I would attend as I always do, after every two days she would call again to ask the same question.

That’s Nyaradzo for you. I always joke with her that she must have got the drive from her father. When Nyaradzo wants something, she will get it.

So last Wednesday I was at the commemorations organised by the Josiah Magama Tongogara Legacy Foundation, formed in 2012.

I greeted the widow of the great commander, Cde Angeline Tongogara, and as usual she gave me a two-minute lecture and asked why I don’t visit her at the farm.

“Inga pamakambouya naCde Charamba (Presidential spokesperson) ndakakupai mahewu wani? Hatidi kungoonana pasuch occasions,” she chided.

Since Independence she had never opened up to talk about her husband and sometime in 2012, with Cde Charamba, we managed to persuade Nyaradzo to sweet-talk her mother into an interview.

What an emotional interview it was.

Since then Nyaradzo is like my younger sister and her mother has become my mother also.

[SEE ALSO: Note from a hero’s grandson]

I am now a Tongogara by association.

And last Wednesday’s commemorations were really loaded emotionally.

For the first time in public, Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces General Constantine Chiwenga spoke about his last conversation with Cde Tongo.

He actually first apologised to Mrs Tongogara that he was going to reveal something new.

Some in attendance could not hold back tears as he spoke.

Below we publish excerpts of that wonderful delivery on Gen Chiwenga’s last conversation with Cde Tongo.

* * *

When we got to Mapai, after Cde Tongo had already left for the Lancaster House talks, we got bombed from the 5th to the 10th of September 1979 when the Lancaster House talks officially opened.

We were bombed day and night by the Rhodesian forces.

When that was over, I had to go back to Chimoio to collect arms, come back with the reinforcements and go to the war front. When I was preparing to go to the war front, a delegation led by Charles Ndlovu (Webster Shamu) and the late Darlington Munyaradzi came and said to me: “Cde Tongo wants to talk to you.”

I said, “To talk to me? About what? We are still at war.”

I asked them how they had arrived at Mapai because there were ambushes over a stretch of about 300km. There were land mines all over the place.

I said we can’t leave this place but they said no, Cde Tongo wants to speak to you today. I had to get into the Land Rover. I actually asked to be given a mattress so that I could sleep at the back.

We drove from around 7pm and arrived in Maputo at around 2am. I went straight to Cde Mayor Urimbo’s flat.

When I got there, Cde Mayor Urimbo was already waiting for me.

Cde Urimbo was the national political commissar, deputised by the late Cde Josiah Tungamirai and then myself. So, Cde Urimbo said: “Cde Tongo wants to speak to you.”

He phoned and just one kick, Cde Tongo was on the phone from Lancaster. He – without much greetings – said: “Dominic, (Gen Chiwenga’s Chimurenga name) I have already organised with Rex, meaning General Mujuru, to give you a force of 500 fighters. This morning I want you to drive to Chimoio and those forces are already waiting for you there. I want you by the time ceasefire is declared, to be in Marondera.”

So I said, “Yes shefu, I will do that.”

He said “But, Dominic, this is the last time I am speaking to you. I won’t see you again.” (Long pause.) That was Tongo. So I asked, “Where will you be?”

He says, “Ahhh, munin’ina, we are discussing, but go and look after the President, go and look after the forces. We won’t see each other but as things develop, I will tell you.”

Cde Tongo used to tell us that “the day I die, is the day you will get your Independence”, and true to his words, this is what happened.

So Cde Mayor, as my senior, said: “What is it that you were talking about? You seem to be very sorrowful?”

I said it was nothing, but the old man, even though I am so tired, is telling me that I should get a vehicle and drive to Chimoio.

On December 9, I got my 500 men and women and we were on our way.

The ceasefire caught up with us unfortunately before we were in Marondera. Even though I was injured (I had been shot twice in the chest), we still continued with the journey.

On December 21, I went into a comma. After I came out of the comma on December 26, I got two disturbing news reports the following day.

One, a very disappointing one – that was now on December 27 – was that Cde Tongo had died. And the second was that the ceasefire (agreement) had been signed and that we were all wanted at the assembly points.

I actually said no, no there is no ceasefire, we continue with the war.

So those who have read stories that the ceasefire almost broke down . . . I was part of that.

I also had another wild colleague who was in the north in the name of Air Marshall Perrance Shiri. He also didn’t want the ceasefire.

This is what happened.

Now, Cde Tongo comes back from Lancaster. He had to go and explain to the combatants in Chimoio that there was now a ceasefire. Unfortunately, he could not get there. It’s now history. Cde Tongo was tragically killed in a car accident while on his way to Chimoio.

So his word was fulfilled. On that tragic day, a dark cloud hovered over all the combatants wherever they were – inside and outside Zimbabwe.

All those who supported and gave us the means to fight could not accept the news – whether it was Frelimo, Chama Chama Pinduzi.

Even in Zambia, nobody accepted that. Nobody could understand what had happened.

But we had to come to fulfil Cde Tongo’s dream. What we want today, going forward, is to fulfil what Tongo would have done if he had lived to this day.

He is with us and he will continue to guide us. Heroes don’t die. They just fade away.

All that is happening today . . . Cde Tongo foretold that.

To you all, I want to say here was a true hero of the Zimbabwean revolution. A patriot. A man who stood by his principle. What he said is what he would do. Today for those of us who got training and inspiration from him, we salute him and say: “Wherever you are, Cde Tongo, the commander of commanders, we salute you and you must rest in eternal peace. What we can do is to do exactly what you taught us.”

To the colleagues who are former members of the High Command, I think it’s only nine of us left, we should never tire and never sell out the revolution.

Never, ever. Never under any circumstances. It does not matter how much you will be offered. It does not matter what you can be promised to be in life.

Let’s keep the legacy of our commander and pass on the baton to the next generation so that Zimbabwe will remain the Zimbabwe that Cde Tongo used to talk about.

* * *

As he hugged Mrs Tongogara, Gen Chiwenga received a standing ovation.

Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Deputy Minister Monica Mutsvangwa went on to give an equally emotional speech and at one point broke down as she narrated how she received the tragic news of Cde Tongo’s death.

Long live Cde Tongo, the commander or commanders!

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