The Sunday Mail
LIBERATION war fighter, Cde George Bvirwa Shumba’s life is founded on a strong Christian background. He studied towards priesthood but abandoned it to join the liberation struggle. The fighter, whose nom de guerre was Cde Farai Tafirenyika and is one of those arrested during the Nhari rebellion in the late 1970’s chronicles his political life to our Deputy News Editor Levi Mukarati.
Question: Who is Cde Farai Tafirenyika? Where were you born and to who and how many are you in your family?
Answer: George Bvirwa Shumba is my real name and Farai Tafirenyika is my liberation war name. I was born on 5 July 1955 in Buhera, Mudanda area under chief Nyashanu. Ndakazvarirwa pamusha chaipo with one mbuya Makichi being the midwife. Jameson Takawira Bvirwa is my father’s name and my mother is Constancia Pfumisai Munyewende. She came from Chirumhanzu. Originally, my father hails from Chigavakava area, there in Buhera, but he was to later to build his own homestead in Mudanda after marriage. I was born in a family of three boys and four girls. I am second born in that family.
Q: What is your educational background?
A: In 1961, I started Sub A at Mudanda Primary School. I was there up to Standard Three. In 1966, I went to Driefontein Mission for Standard Four. My mother had learnt there. I think that is where I first became politically conscious because I would, at times, manage to read the Motto newspaper. During those days, we followed closely the political activities in Nigeria as they were reported by the Motto newspaper. It was the time of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, who was a top soldier in Nigeria. He served as the military governor of the Eastern Region in 1966 and was leader of breakaway Republic of Biafra. Our generation used to follow world current affairs religiously. We would even cut pictures of characters like Ojukwu and his generals as well as other world leaders before pasting them on our school books.
Q: The period you talk about is a time of increased political activity and censorship of political material by the Ian Smith regime in Rhodesia. How were you accessing such newspapers, considering you were in school?
A: Driefontein Mission was very popular at that time. Robert Mugabe had passed through it and there were missionaries of the Roman Catholic Church who seemed to support our cause in the fight against colonialism. While I was there, we had a lady who was from Uganda and her husband, also Ugandan, who often visited the mission. I realised that this man was into politics because whenever he was at the mission, he often hosted unfamiliar groups of black people at his quarters.
He is the one who came with these political materials. It’s unfortunate that I can no longer remember the names of this couple.
Q: Any familiar names you were with at Driefontein and after your studies there, where did you go to?
A: I was with the likes of Evencio Majoni and the other one who is prominent is Stanislaus Modester, I think he was at one time lecturer at Zimbabwe Open University.
After completing Standard Six, the feeder school for Driefontein was Holly Cross Mission. But I was interviewed to go to Chikwingwizha minor seminary in Gweru to start Form One. At Chikwingwizha, which is under Roman Catholic Gweru Diocese, it was considered that since I came from Buhera, my application be referred to St Charles Lwanga minor seminary under Mutare Diocese. Buhera fell under Franciscan fathers who were overseers of Mashonaland East and the school that was close was St Charles Lwanga minor seminary. That is where I did Form One to Four between 1969 and 1972.
When I finished school at St Charles Lwanga, I then enrolled at Chishawasha major seminary in 1973, for my first year studies in philosophy.
Then during my second year, there was strike. That strike changed my life completely and saw me navigate the political terrain up to this day.
Q: Before your life at Chishawasha; we note that while you were at St Charles Lwanga in Chimanimani, there was a lot of political activities in that area, a gateway for recruits going for training in Mozambique as well as a route for liberation fighters into Rhodesia. What was your experience with these activities?
A: Yes, at Charles Lwanga we were near the Mozambique border. The radio transmission was from Mozambique and we would listen to what was being broadcast in relation to the war in Rhodesia. That definitely had great political influence in me because the issue of the guerrilla warfare started to make sense.
These were the current affairs issues and even the killing of the first white person at Skyline junction in Melsetter, some years earlier, began to have meaning.
I started to understand that the fight was a continuation of past activities meant to show kuti vana mukoma would not rest kusvika vachena vabvuma kusiyira nyika kuvatema. I remember one day we were being driven by Father Mcloughlin, who showed us the spot on which the white man (Pieter Oberholzer) was killed in 1964 by the Crocodile Group.
But I was still a young man and at times would also question if what vana mukoma were fighting against was possible. You see, murungu aive munhu anotyisa and to think a black person would challenge him, zvaiva zvinhu zvinopa pfungwa dzekuti zvingakwanisike here.
But to answer your question; at school we never encountered any fighters. We just heard stories of the war.
Q: Back to your time at Chishawasha, you say the period completely changed your life, what went on there?
A: I went to Chishawasha in 1973 and in 1974, there was David Mukwawapasi who was about to finish his priesthood. Because of the level he was, he was allowed to conduct the Holly Mass services. In one of the masses, the last for him there, he attacked the whites. At that time, most of us could not believe how he had openly spoken against continued white rule in the country. He even used phrases like: “It is high time the whites leave the country and let blacks rule themselves.” After that service Mukwawapasi was expelled.
Before he left the seminary, vanhu vakawanda vakatsamwa because we all saw him as a very holy person.
As a result of the high emotions, boycotting of classes and continuous meetings amongst ourselves, we decided to strike in support with our expelled colleague. Chikoro chakabva chavharwa. You see, the situation was that as we did our philosophy, we respected those who were theologians including Mukwawapasi, because they were preparing to be ordained. That is why we were affected by the decision, by our mostly white administrators, to dismiss him. At the seminary, we had people like David Mangota, John Mutseyami or Sithole and Patrick Tsingano. I later went to war with Mutseyami and Tsingano. Tsingano died at Chimoyo, after the Rhodesians attacked the camp.
Q: Apart from the seminary closing, what action did the administrators take against your action to strike?
A: Let me give a clear picture of how the events unfolded. At the seminary we had people from Manicaland Diocese, which included Mashonaland East; there were others from Gweru Diocese, Chinhoyi, Harare, Bulawayo and Hwange dioceses.
To be continued next week
