The Sunday Mail
Cde Solomon Marembo
I was very happy to meet President Mugabe at the 21st February Movement celebrations in Masvingo on February 27, 2016.
He is still very agile in mind and body at 92.
He is physically fit; that I could tell. I was happy and amazed that at that age, one can be mentally alert and be in such good shape.
The President is an example to both us, senior citizens, and the youth on how one can live long if they do the right thing.
President Mugabe at Sikombela
When I went up on that stage to greet him, emotion overwhelmed me as I came face to face with two individuals who were in Zanu in the 1960s: President Mugabe and Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The President said he was very happy to see me and other peers.
He also inquired about my health and whether everything was well with me. He could easily relate the past.
He invited me to visit him, to a meeting.
That meeting, he said, should include all ex-detainees with whom he had time with at Sikombela so that we can catch up and discuss issues on his heart.
The last time I had had such a chat with President Mugabe was in 2004 at Edson Zvobgo’s funeral.
Many years have passed since then, and many things have occurred.
And here we were, some 12 years later, chatting again at Great Zimbabwe.
It was an overwhelming encounter, one I will forever cherish.
My mind drifted to Sikombela where the President, my colleagues and I were once detained during the liberation struggle.
It was a difficult period; one required a steel pulse to keep his/her heart going.
A feminine voice broke the glazed look on my face, preventing my thoughts from wandering further down the path of history.
First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe said it was evident President Mugabe was happy that we had come.
Amai Mugabe said she is gladly going to cook for us when we come for our meeting with the President.
I was humbled by her proposal and gladly accepted it.
Detention
I was born in 1938 and became politically active in the 1960s.
As youths, we were known for acting against the white regime, especially in Masvingo where I was an influential figure for Zanu.
Vice-President Simon Muzenda was my friend and a political colleague in the province. When Cde Muzenda was imprisoned, I then took over as Zanu’s political leader in Masvingo.
Being one of the few youths with a driver’s licence, I used to drive Zanu leaders Ndabaningi Sithole, Leopold Takawira and President Mugabe to rallies and meetings.
The time I spent with them drew us closer.
At the height of nationalist politics in the 1960s, the Rhodesians banned all political parties and arrested all significant Zanu members.
I was one of those arrested and the first to be sent to Whawha Prison. The top Zanu leadership was also there, including President Mugabe.
There were two camps: one for Zanu and the other for the People’s Caretaker Council.
We were in prison for some time, and this is when I interacted with President Mugabe regularly. One morning, the guards woke us up early, ordering us onto trucks that were parked in the yard.
We did not know the destination.
It only became clear during the journey that we were heading in the general direction of Gweru.
Our truck turned right when we got to Gokwe. And there stood Sikombela Detention Centre with several apartments made out of corrugated iron.
The place was crawling with police officers.
There was a parameter fence to separate inmates and the surrounding community. We later learnt that villagers in the area had been told that we were mad people.
The conditions at Sikombela were inhospitable.
The apartments we lived in were susceptible to excessive temperatures, both hot and cold.
This area was also tsetse fly-infested. I might add that it was also heavily infested with Rhodesian forces!
However, in spite of such tough conditions, we remained resilient and our leaders encouraged us to stay strong.
President Mugabe was among the leaders who lifted our spirits as we knew him to be a bookworm.
He always read and shared his knowledge with others.
And because of his teaching experience, he taught fellow detainees. We also knew him as the best draughts player. No one could beat him at that game. He outwitted everyone and people were amazed by his abilities.
President Mugabe also chaired our camp’s disciplinary committee which dealt with cases of misconduct.
The highlight of our detention, though, was the Sikombela Declaration.
This was a document we crafted and smuggled to our leader Herbert Chitepo (who was in Zambia), telling him that we were now prepared for the armed struggle.
So, this declaration was the basis for the creation of Zanla, Zanu’s military wing.
Freedom
We left Sikombela in 1966.
I remember our names being called out on that day. First to be called was Cde Robert Mugabe and others with military training.
They were taken to Harare Prison via Kwekwe, and I was to join them later. I was eventually released, so was the President.
In the 1970s, I served as Zanu’s Mashonaland chairperson, in charge of the area covering modern-day Harare and Mashonaland East and Central.
In 1979, I was privileged to attend the Lancaster House Conference. I was a provincial leader thus I went to London to represent the people on the ground.
President Mugabe and other leaders wanted to know the people’s views and what the people wanted them to present at the Conference.
Upon returning home, I told one Rhodesian police officer at the airport that the days of ill-treating blacks were over: we were taking back our country.
After Independence, I chose private sector work. I was managing director of a number of firms and then started my own companies.
Cde Solomon Marembo was speaking to The Sunday Mail’s Chief Reporter Kuda Bwititi in Harare on March 2, 2016
