The Sunday Mail
Cde Nelson Chadamoyo, whose nom de guerre was Cde Mashiripiti Kufakwemunhu (MK) is one of the fighters who joined the liberation struggle towards independence. He tells our reporter Norman Muchemwa (NM) of his experiences in Mozambique and at the front in the Buhera area in Rhodesia.
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NM: You are one of the fighters to join the liberation struggle at a time the Ian Smith regime was feeling the pressure of black resistance against its continued rule. Can you tell us who you are and what motivated you to fight for independence?
MK: I was born Nelson Chadamoyo on August 5 1956 in Chadamoyo village, Murehwa in Mashonaland East Province. I was the third born in a family of 10, being six boys and four girls. I went to join other comrades fighting for the liberation of Zimbabwe at the end of 1976 in Mozambique. My liberation war name was Cde Mashiripiti Kufakwemunhu.
But before I went to fight, I need to explain events that happened earlier. I went to Magunje Primary School in Murehwa, where I did Grade One to Seven before coming to the then Salisbury in 1975. I was never formally employed, but used to do manual work for the whites including being a gardener in the Waterfalls area. Then one day, a small white boy nearly knocked me down while riding his bicycle.
This did not go down with me and I slapped him twice on the cheek. Such action against a white person was trouble. The parents of the boy and some neighbours teamed up against me, but I managed to escape to Murehwa. It was April 1976.
At that time, the liberation struggle had intensified. A few days after my arrival, I encountered a group of six comrades. I still vividly remember Cde Short and Cde Masango, who used to carry a bazooka.
There were a lot of activities by the liberation fighters in our home areas including the night meetings, mapungwe. It did not take long before I became an informant of the comrades. Then, I travelled to Mutare around August 1976 to see my uncle. I had a friend, Fanny Mbizi, whom I had last seen while working for a timber company in Mutare. While in Mutare, I heard that Fanny had left the country to join the liberation struggle.
I also had a friend at Magunje Primary School in Uzumba, Ackim, whose Chimurenga name was Cde Shungu. When I ran away from Salisbury, I got to Murehwa to be told that he had left for the liberation struggle. He is late now. These are the people who gave me the motivation to join the liberation struggle.
NM: When and how did you finally decide to leave Mutare and join the struggle?
MK: While in Mutare, I think around September 1976, I met Bobo Kangara and Herbert Dzapasi, who were from my rural home in Murehwa. Herbert and my brother worked at the same company in Mutare and we had exchanged ideas on crossing into Mozambique to join the liberation struggle.
I told my uncle, Denford Vambe, of my desire to join the struggle. Uncle Denford, who was young brother to the late Douglas Vambe of the famous Zbc news drum beat, did not object to my idea. He just said I needed to be careful if that is what I had decided to do.
I then met Kangara and Dzapasi to plan our mission. At the end of 1976, we boarded a bus to Zimunya. I cannot remember the name of the bus, but we dropped off at the 22-kilometre peg along the Zimunya-Marange road. We started walking eastward.
It was a new terrain, but we kept walking and while we were around the Burma Valley Estate, a small plane hovered towards our direction. We hid under some shrubs on an anthill and waited for some time until we were sure it was safe to proceed. It was getting dark and we met some people coming from their gardens and they asked us where we were going.
We told them we were going to Katerere area. Interestingly, we just knew the name of the area, but we could see puzzled faces on these people since it was in the opposite direction and far from where we were. But one of them gave us directions and we later found out the directions were to get to the border with Mozambique. We had lied to them, but they had since figured out our mission and assisted us in an indirect way and we crossed into Mozambique.
NM: Sorry Comrade, but could you provide the exact details of how you crossed into Mozambique after meeting these people?
MK: We did not take the directions with suspicion. Something told us we had been given the right track. We kept walking and in the morning we arrived at the border. We bought some food to eat at a grocer’s shop near the border area. We then walked a distance from the border and found a crossing point. There were landmines that had been planted by the Rhodesians along the border.
Ndipo paye patinoti kana usingazive chinhu hapana chinokuwira. When I reflect on how we jumped the border into Mozambique, I get stomach cramps because we walked through a minefield and we were unaware of its existence. When we crossed to the other side, we were intercepted by Frelimo soldiers that we used to call Camaradas.
They were waiting to ambush Rhodesian soldiers who regularly crossed into their territory to lay or check their landmines. One of the Frelimo soldiers pointed a gun at us.We threw our food and other items onto the ground and raised our hands.
This was where we lost our identity documents. Three more soldiers appeared from different sides. They interrogated us on our mission and after they were convinced, they took us to a nearby village. The villagers prepared us some food and we ate. We stayed in the village for the night. Without any identification, it was during our stay in that village that we decided to adopt new names. We all knew the comrades did not use their real names.
Herbert called himself Paradzai Mabhunu, Bobo became Muchapera and myself Mashiripiti Kufakwemunhu. We had adopted these names from the comrades we had known back home.
Then in the morning at around 3am, one of the Frelimo soldiers came to pick us up.
We started walking until we reached some township. That is when we met a group of other boys including Cdes Chinx Chingaira, Bvumazvipere, Masango. We were now around 15 and we did not know Chinx at this point, but later. We spent days with these Frelimo soldiers and they were now travelling with us while making communications with the leadership. It was now early 1977.
We had camped at one of the former Frelimo bases. The Frelimo soldiers then took us to Doroi Camp. I had never seen so many people in one area in my life. We were immediately taken to the security department for vetting.
After the vetting which lasted some days, we were divided into groups. There was Cde Joseph Chimurenga, who was the commander at Doroi, we also had Cde Tenheka and Cde Tsuro, among other senior members.
NM: You were finally in Mozambique, how did you get trained and who were some of your instructors?
MK: The first group that started training, end of June 1977, was Battalion Z and people stampeded to join this group. We waited for some time while other recruits were taken to countries such as Tanzania and Romania.
Due to the overwhelming numbers, more bases were created and I was put in Base Three where I was deputy base commander, even though I was yet to receive full military training. I had just been equipped with basic military exercises.
After some time, we were moved to Mudzingadzi camp where we further received basic training. Around July 1977, we were taken to Chimoio where I underwent full military training. The late Major-General Trust Mugoba was one of our senior instructors at Chimoio. On 23 November 1977, Chimoio was bombed by the Rhodesian soldiers. This was towards the end of our training which we were supposed to finish in December.
NM: You witnessed the bombing of Chimoio? What were your experiences and how did you escape?
MK: It was and is still a traumatic experience. I managed to escape through an area where there were pigsties because the attack began from an area opposite where we were.
There was confusion and I think most people were killed because they did not know where to run to. I remember at one time soldiers fired at us, from a helicopter, as we ran. I managed to escape and hid in a cave.
In that cave, there were other people including Cde Sojarababa, who is still alive. After the firing had died down, we got out of the cave and walked towards Mudzingadzi. It was not a good experience because many of the injured were trying to reach Mudzingadzi and we helped fellow comrades. Some died as we rendered assistance.
There was a farm where some Portuguese farmers used to cure their tobacco. Taikuti kuma hanger. That is where some of the comrades took refuge. We were to go back to Chimoio to bury the dead. It was an unpleasant experience because some bodies had started to decompose.
While at Mudzingadzi, the camp was attacked by the Rhodesians. At that time, I knew the likes of Cde Chinx.
The commanders there included Cde Mark Dube, who later became Governor for Matebeleland South. We were fortunate because there were no casualties in that attack.
NM: You mentioned Cde Chinx, can you set the record straight for us on his training?
MK: Let me clear something concerning rumour that Cde Chinx never trained. I trained with him, but he did not go to the front. Besides, not everyone ended up at the front. We had various roles to play. That is why we say the war was not won by one person, but it was a contribution by many people through various roles.
Cde Chinx had an important role through his music and motivating comrades in camps. I think he played it well.
NM: After your training when were you finally deployed to the front and what were your experiences. Can you also take us through some of the battles you still remember?
MK: Towards mid-1978, that is when we were deployed at the war front. We joined a group code-named Sasa Mariza Mariza that was coming from Tanzania.
This group was led by Cde Master Zvamushemushe, who was a member of the General Staff. In the front we were deployed in the Buhera area. My first encounter with the enemy was when we had just crossed the border into the country around Chikwekwete area, it was a very serious battle in which many Rhodesian soldiers lost their lives but from our side, we never encountered any casualties.
It was my first time to engage in a battle and I was carrying a light machine-gun.
It took me sometime to fire the gun, but when I finally did, I made sure that I had to hit the target.
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That was the first time I killed a person and I saw one of the white soldiers being tossed into the air by the LMG. We were around 20 comrades in that ambush.
When we reached our operating area, our section commander was Cde Granger. We also had Cde Saudi Arabia commanding us. We fought so many battles in Buhera but most of them we used the hit and run tactic to evade direct contact with the enemy.
This was an effective strategy in the guerrilla warfare. I still vividly remember another battle in the Bangura area near Chiururwi Dam. We had a direct contact with the Rhodesian soldiers and we surprised them with our fire power. Only two comrades were seriously injured with Cde Masango losing part of his right hand.
N.M: Can you explain the events at the end of the war and which assembly point where you at before independence?
M.K: After the battle at Bangura, which was towards end of 1979, we received news of the death of General Tongogara.
We were crossing Save River to the other side of Buhera. I went to Dzapasi Assembly Point under the company called Gandanzara which was responsible for security. I was commander of this company. At independence, I joined the Zimbabwe National Army Armoured Car Regiment until 1982 when I left for the Zimbabwe Republic Police. I retired from the police service in 2008 as chief inspector.
As someone who participated in the liberation struggle, I feel appreciated and my role as a freedom fighter is recognised.
I urge Zimbabweans to appreciate where we came from and where we are going
If people or the leadership take a wrong direction, we are not afraid to tell them that this is wrong, that is our position as freedom fighters. We need a clear path that is in line with where we came from.
