The Sunday Mail
Cde Alice Karimatsenga, whose nom de guerre was Petty Marungamabhunu, is one of the female combatants to confront the Ian Smith colonial government. Our reporter Norman Muchemwa chronicles the war story of Cde Marungamabhunu, as she narrates how she joined the liberation struggle.
*****
Q: You were one of the female fighters in the male-dominated armed confrontation against the colonial regime. Before we talk of your war experiences, can you tell us who you are and what motivated you to join the liberation struggle?
A: My name is Alice Karimatsenga. I was born on April 9 1960 in Nyanga (Manicaland), in a family of nine – from my mother’s side.
My father had three wives.
I went to Sanhami Primary School in Nyanga until 1975 when I completed my Grade Seven. In 1976, I crossed into Mozambique to join other comrades who were waging a war against the Ian Smith government.
My war name was Petty Marungamabhunu. My joining the war was a result of encounters I had with a group of guerrillas in Nyamapfeni Village in Nyanga.
We used to hear from our elders’ secret discussions that there were freedom fighters who were coming from training in Mozambique to intensify the war of liberation.
I was 15 when I was introduced to the fighters who had set up base in our area.
These fighters used to do night meetings or mapungwe with our parents. My parents, having understood why the war was taking place, did not have a problem when we started going to the base with food for the comrades. It was such encounters that saw me and other young girls and boys from our area being recruited to join the liberation struggle. We were about 30. We were taken to the first base near a mountain close to our homestead painzi paSmart.
We camped there with the comrades for about two days. On the second day, the place was attacked by Rhodesian soldiers.
There was a boy in our group who had sold us out. I have forgetten his name, but his father, Martin Goremusandu, was a member of the Rhodesian army.
I think the comrades who were leading us relaxed because there was a man who came to take away the boy, claiming the family did not want him to proceed with us.
The comrades did not object.
The actual attack took place while we were at a rest camp at Luangwa. We were attacked by helicopters at around 4pm.
Nine untrained young boys and girls, as well as one comrade, were killed in that attack. I remember very well seeing the comrade being shot as he tried to cross an open field.
We followed one of the comrades into a nearby bush, where we hid in a cave.
The Rhodesians were determined to kill us. They beefed up the air strikes with a ground force.
We only managed to get out of the battlefield at around 4am, tikaenda paSmart. Patakasvika takanzi masoja aSmith akanga averenga vanhu, and they feared they could return.
Since we were still near our homes, I went back home. I was really traumatised by the attack.
Q: After the battle, what happened next?
A: After some days, a message came through the local contacts of the freedom fighters that all the boys and girls who were at the base when it was bombed should return. Some of the comrades at this base included Edwick, Harrison, Bazooka and Tito.
When I returned to the base, I was in the company of my younger sister. But the comrades asked her to return home because she was deemed too yopung.
We eventually managed to cross into Mozambique with the assistance of Cdes Edwick and Tito. This was around May 1976.
Our group had five boys and four girls, as most of them were told to go back to their homes due to their tender ages. Amongst the girls, we had my aunt’s daughter, Jane Mandipa.
There was also Quinn Chikwiramakomo and Ever Sanhami.
Our journey first saw us sleep at a certain village after Nyamapfeni area.
While there, we heard gunfire at night. We later learnt it was a confrontation between Rhodesian soldiers and comrades at Samakande.
The comrades were led in that battle by Cde Joboringo. We could hear the gunfire and the bombardment since it was close to where we were. Many people, including civilians, were injured or killed during that battle. Cde Joboringo and his group had retreated into Mozambique.
We then crossed Kairezi River in the early hours of the following morning; ndipo patakasangana negroup rana Cde Joboringo pabase remakamarada. When we arrived, the injured were being treated.
Q: You were now in Mozambique, so how then did you go for actual military training?
A: We left that base and walked the whole day and found a place to sleep at night.
We then proceeded with our journey the following morning and arrived at a base called Pamupata Wegwenya.
Nzvimbo iyi yaiva pakati pemakomo makuru. That was a very scary place. During the Mozambican liberation struggle, many people lost their lives at this place, so inzvimbo yaityisa zvikuru iyoyi.
We stayed at that base for some time. Our group had grown in numbers, and this included trained comrades and recruits.
We stayed at that base that was under the Chitepo sector. We were oriented at this base on why we were fighting the Rhodesians. We also received basic war tactics and drills.
Nyadzonya and Pungwe Bridge had been bombed. War and food supplies to Chitepo sector had been affected. We were then tasked to carry the materials to Chitepo sector.
Q: You were yet to receive military training and now you had this task ahead of you, how did you handle this?
A: This was a very difficult task. We started our journey crossing the area between Kairezi and Nyamombe rivers, around Rwenya area. We used to cross into Mutoko area, which was the Takawira sector. We would carry different types of material for use by the comrades at the front.
The materials included different kinds of ammunition, and they were heavy.
I had not received military training and we risked being intercepted by the Rhodesian soldiers.
Asi nekufamba kwenguva takanga tajaira.
There was no role differentiation when it came to carrying material.
After some time, the material supply situation improved and that is when we were taken for training at Tembue.
We arrived at Tembue around November 1976. That was the time when there was talk of Vapanduki or Vashandi group.
I had met one of these Vashandi members called Cde Pfepferere while still at Chitepo sector, but he did not stay there for long.
Q: Can you tell us some of the leaders at Tembue during the time you arrived?
A: There was Cde Elias Hondo, who was camp commander; Dzino Machingura; John Chimbandi, who was political commissar; and Cde Tendi, who was wife to Dzino Machingura.
We were politically oriented by Cde Chimbandi, and it was the same message as we had received while we were in the Chitepo sector.
But when we interacted with ana Cde Hondo and Cde Mapipi, vaitipa politics dzevashandi dzaiva nesupport yana Cde Dzino. I was privy to information on the problems that this Vashandi thing was causing. As a result, I stopped attending the Vashandi meetings.
This period saw food supplies being cut off to punish those people who were siding with Vashandi. A lot of people were affected and some even died of starvation at Tembue.
It was a bad situation.
That is when a group led by Cde Tongogara and Rex Nhongo came to our rescue.
Group rana Cde Hondo, Dzino Machingura nevamwe vakabva vasungwa.
A new camp commander, Cde Makasha, then took over at Tembue. Our training then finally commenced. The training ran from end of November 1976 to April 1977.
They brought a lot of food and that is when we started our military training and people started receiving proper orientation.
That was now end of November 1976, and we completed our training end of April, 1977.
To be continued next week
