The Sunday Mail
Today, we conclude our discussion with CDE STANFORD PEACE MOYO (SPM), a former ZIPRA freedom fighter. In our previous discussion, the decorated freedom fighter took us through the military training he received in Tanzania. He also spoke about his active involvement in the war. In this edition, he narrates to our Senior Reporter TENDAI CHARA (TC) one of the saddest periods of the Second Chimurenga, as he gives us vivid details of how Cde Alfred Nikita Mangena, the revered ZIPRA commander, perished.
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TC : Cde, in our previous discussion, you briefly talked about you meeting the ZIPRA commander, Cde Alfred Nikita Mangena, some moments before he died in Zambia. Kindly, give us a detailed account of Cde Mangena’s demise.
SPM : Before I get into the details of Cde Mangena’s death, I want to first talk about the events that took place shortly before he died. As I said previously, I had been recalled from the war front in Matabeleland North province and was now in Nampundwe, Zambia, where I was tasked with collecting war materials and take them back to the front.
When I came to Nampundwe, I noticed that there was friction between the cadres who had been recalled from the front and those who had remained at the rear. Cadres who were coming from the war zones were saying the commanders and those who were at the rear in Zambia were sitting pretty while the foot soldiers were suffering in the war zones. Cde Mangena got to know about these complaints and when he came to Nampundwe, he called for a meeting.
TC: Please, tell us what took place at that meeting.
SPM : During the meeting, he ordered those who were still interested in going back to the front to stand on one side. The fighters who were no longer interested in going back to the front were asked to stand on the other side. We were clearly divided. I decided to go back to the war front, but my friend Callistus Bango, whose war name was Manyonga, and many other fighters, refused to go back. My group was then given weapons and ordered to go back to the front.
Our group briefly set base at a place that was about 30 to 40 kilometres away from the Zambezi River, on the Zambian side of the border. As we were in this area, the Rhodesian army deployed its troops in places that were not very far from where we were.
One day, I was listening to a radio programme called “Sakhelene Zinini”, when I heard a huge explosion from a distance. When we went to investigate, we discovered that some of our fellow comrades who were in that area had attacked a Rhodesian army convoy. I saw a white Rhodesian soldier who had been ripped into pieces, after the Claymore landmines he was carrying exploded.
TC: How did this happen?
SPM : What happened was that one of our guys aimed and shot at the white soldier, and the shot detonated the mines, tearing him apart. Three other Rhodesian soldiers died as a result of the explosion. A Rhodesian army helicopter hovered above us, as we sought refuge in a cave until they left. We then left this place and moved back further into the Zambian side. So, after that ambush, the Rhodesian army intensified its operations in this area.
In one of their operations, the Rhodesian army ambushed and killed 39 ZIPRA fighters. As we were moving further from the place where we had ambushed the Rhodesians, we heard three explosions and saw smoke billowing into the air. We watched from a distance as three helicopters descended on the area where we had heard the explosions.
Our group went down to investigate. As we headed to the place, we gathered from the locals that three of our lorries had gone in the direction from which the explosions were heard. We were told that some of our fellow fighters had been ambushed and killed.
We went to the scene of the ambush and tried to collect the bodies of our dead comrades. We did not have ropes to tie the bodies to pull them away, for burial.
TC: Why were ropes important this time?
SPM : The Rhodesian army was notorious for setting booby traps on the bodies of dead freedom fighters so that when their colleagues came to collect the bodies, the traps would explode and kill those trying to retrieve the bodies.
So, whenever we came to collect the corpses of our dear colleagues, we would first tie a rope on the corpses, then pull them away from their positions. If the corpses were booby-trapped, the grenades would explode during the time the bodies were being pulled away.
TC: What did Cde Mangena do, when he heard about the ambush?
SPM: When Cde Mangena heard about the ambush, he was in Lusaka and he decided to come down and assess the situation. The ZIPRA command element came down to the scene and we dug and buried the deceased. I personally counted the dead.
There is one person I know who survived this ambush. That person is still alive and lives here in Bulawayo. I am still haunted by what I saw at the scene of the ambush. We met Cde Mangena’s group as it moved towards the place where the ambush had taken place.
Our group joined hands with the group that had come from Lusaka with Cde Mangena.
We then buried our dear colleagues around midnight. After burying the deceased, we walked towards the place where we had left the vehicles, some few kilometres away from where our colleagues had been ambushed. After walking for a short distance, Cde Mangena said he was tired and asked for his car to be brought to where he was.
I objected and advised his personal assistant not to bring the vehicle down.
After being briefed about the dangers associated with bringing his car to where we were, Cde Mangena took our advice and abandoned the plan to bring the car.
However, as we were approaching the vehicles, Cde Mangena once again told us that he was tired and could not go on. I think we were only about two kilometres away from where his car was parked.
Had we moved on foot to where the cars were parked, we were not going to get into any trouble. At that juncture, Cde Mangena called Pressman, his bodyguard, and instructed him to communicate with his driver so that his car would come and fetch him.
When Cde Mangena’s vehicle arrived, I went and occupied a seat which, I later on discovered, was reserved for his bodyguard. I was told to vacate that seat and moved to the back of the vehicle as I looked for another seat.
By the time I got to the other side of the vehicle, all the available space had been occupied by other cadres. I was then forced to cling on to the back of the vehicle.
What happened next has haunted me for the rest of my life.
TC: Please, go on . . .
SPM : The vehicle hit a landmine. I was tossed into the air and landed some metres away from the blast. Cde Mangena’s bodyguard, Pressman, died on the spot, so did another fighter. Clinging to the back of the vehicle saved my life. I moved from where I had been thrown and went to the mangled vehicle. Cde Mangena was still trapped in the car and I was part of the group of people who removed him from the vehicle. He was badly injured and in pain. As I held him, he asked me several times what he was dying for. I assured him that he was not dying.
He, however, died as I was holding him in my arms. His last words were: “What am I dying for?” Our highly regarded leader, Cde Mangena, died from the injuries he sustained when his car hit the landmine.
TC: What happened afterwards?
SPM : Cde Mangena’s death was a painful episode that affected a lot of people. Imagine the pain of losing your commander! There was a lot of confusion. Some cadres panicked. Others abandoned their weapons and went to Lusaka. After some time, I was redeployed to the war front, where I operated until the ceasefire.
- Thank you for your time.
SPM : You are welcome.
