Forcibly recruited by the Rhodesian army

IN this continuation from last week’s instalment, Cde George Kufakunesu, whose Chimurenga name was Softguy Chimurenga, narrates to our Senior Reporter TENDAI CHARA the journey that he travelled as a Mujibha up until a time when he was forcibly recruited by the Rhodesian army.

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Q: In our last discussion, you were narrating to us your early interactions, as a Mujibha, with the guerrilla fighters. You also touched on the sensitive subject of how sellouts were treated during the liberation war. Kindly continue from where you left off.

A: In 1979, my mother, who had gone into the bush to seek traditional herbs, told us that she had encountered some Rhodesian forces. I was 22 years old then.

I immediately contacted the other Mujibhas that I was working with and we decided to send some girls to go and spy on the soldiers so that we could relay the message to the freedom fighters. The Chimbwidos went to the bush and pretended as if they were collecting firewood.

We were not, however, aware of the fact that the Rhodesian soldiers had binoculars and that they were monitoring our movements. Around 3pm, all hell broke loose as the Rhodesian soldiers descended on the village.

I was on my way to brief the freedom fighters about the activities of the Rhodesian soldiers when we heard gunshots.

I promptly abandoned my mission and hurriedly went home. The guerrilla fighters had their base at Nyakawende, and the Rhodesian soldiers were based in the Chitombo-Makoni Mountain.

My grandfather, Gideon Kufakunesu, who was coming from visiting a sick relative and was not part of the youths who were conducting reconnaissance for the liberation war fighters, was caught in the crossfire and was shot in the face. Luckily, the bullet only grazed him.

Q: So the Rhodesian forces would sometimes shoot indiscriminately?

A: Yes, sometimes they could just shoot and kill a person whom they would have suspected of being a guerrilla fighter. My grandfather had nothing to do with what was happening that day, but he missed death by a whisker.

As for us the Mujibhas, the Rhodesians had been monitoring us so they knew that we were working against them. Luckily, for us, no one was killed.

The following morning, the Rhodesian forces raided our home. I was wearing clothes that I had exchanged with a liberation war fighter, Cde Rambakupetwa.

I had given him my jeans and a shirt.

Q: So you could go to the extent of even exchanging clothes with the guerrilla fighters?

A: Yes, as Mujibhas, we were very close to the freedom fighters. They particularly liked denim trousers since this type of clothing provided cover. Jeans do not easily get dirty. After noticing that some of us were wearing clothes that had been provided by the liberation war fighters, we were promptly arrested and taken to Chitombo-Makoni mountain.

When we got to the mountain, there were other Mujibhas who had been captured. The Rhodesian forces were on a mission to forcibly recruit Mujibhas. We were then taken to Chikore rest camp where we later learnt that the soldiers were aware of the acts of sabotage that we were conducting.

All along, the Rhodesians were monitoring our movements. From Chikore, we were moved to another Rhodesian camp in Tanda where we were joined by other Mujibhas who had been captured in Chendambuya and other areas. We were 29 of us and one by one, we were interrogated and endured severe beatings for three days.

Q: Tell us about the treatment that you were getting from black soldiers who were serving in the Rhodesian army. Were black Rhodesian soldiers any better than their white counterparts?

A: Some of the black Rhodesian soldiers were cruel and often mistreated us as they wanted to impress their white commanders. I still remember, there was one sadistic black Rhodesian soldier who seemingly enjoyed watching us suffer from the beatings.

From Tanda, we were then taken by lorry to Odzi, near Mutare. On our way to Odzi, the lorry that was transporting us hit a landmine. Luckily for us, we were not injured since the lorry was armour-plated. One Rhodesian soldier shouted that the blacks will not win the war since their landmines could not even destroy a lorry. This comment was meant to brainwash us into believing that the white soldiers were superior to us blacks.

Q: Can you tell us about the Rhodesian training camp at Odzi?

A: When we arrived at Odzi, we were shocked to discover that some ZANLA guerrilla fighters had actually sold out and had defected and were part of the people that were training the captured Mujibhas. Four of these defectors were in charge of our training. At Odzi, we were trained for four weeks. That was in 1979. After the four weeks, I was selected to lead the recruits. I was given my G3 rifle.

Q: What happened after training?

A: After training, we were each given $20 and instructed to go and hunt the guerrilla fighters. As the leader of the group, I was given $40. That was a lot of money then. A lorry was organised for us and we were accompanied by five Rhodesian soldiers. The Rhodesian soldiers were all black. The black soldiers were to be our commanders. We were then deployed to Tanda from where we were supposed to patrol surrounding areas and sniff for guerrilla fighters.

We spent about three days at Tanda and I was once again selected to be the leader of the group. One Rhodesian soldier was assigned to be the overall leader of our group. On the third day, we were deployed to nearby villages where we were to search for freedom fighters. We were given the mission to go and mislead the villagers that the war had ended.

It was part of the Rhodesian propaganda. We went around the villages and addressed the villagers. Since we were from neighbouring villages, locals knew that we had been arrested and were working for the Rhodesian government against our wishes.

As leader of the group, I went and sought the advice of the local spirit mediums since we desperately wanted to find ways of joining the guerrilla fighters. We got the information that we wanted to support the guerrillas.

Q: Why were you eager to join the liberation war fighters? Why couldn’t you just remain with the Rhodesians since they were giving you a lot of money?

A: (Laughs). The liberation struggle had nothing to do with money. It was never about money. We didn’t want to take the dirty, bloody money.

Q: Why is it that there were only black Rhodesian soldiers who were monitoring you?

A: The Rhodesian army was clearly running out of manpower and there were very few whites in their ranks. So the Rhodesian army resorted to using black soldiers.

Q: How did you feel when you were being supervised by black Rhodesian soldiers who were supposed to have been fighting against the Rhodesians?

A: It was difficult. However, there was nothing that we could do. It was a war situation. We knew that one day we were going to leave the Rhodesian army and join the liberation war fighters.

Q: What then happened?

A: As we were being deployed, I was put in charge of a group of 14 recruits. A black Rhodesian soldier was tasked with monitoring our movements. All along, we were, without the knowledge of the Rhodesian soldier, secretly plotting how we were going to escape and join the liberation war fighters.

Liberation war fighters were not far away from where we were based. However, one day, an opportunity for us to leave the Rhodesian army and join the guerrilla fighters presented itself.

In our next instalment, Cde Kufakunesu will narrate to us how his team managed to break away from the Rhodesian army and joined the liberation war fighters. He will discuss with us the “proper” training that he went through with the guerrilla fighters and the subsequent deployment to the war zone.