The Sunday Mail
HE is a devout Christian and has been subject to interesting tests. At age 24, Rogers Dube became a pastor in 1975. That same year he “swapped” church robes for guerrilla army fatigues of a green pair of trousers and shirt. Known as Cde Daylight Mabanga (DM), he was determined to realise the Biblical freedom through the gun. The former freedom fighter chronicles his political life to our Deputy News Editor Levi Mukarati (LM).
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LM: Some people call you Pastor Day, shortened version for Daylight. Others refer to you as Cde Daylight Mabanga while in some circles you are identified as either Rogers Dube or Rogers Korombi. Who exactly are you?
DM: I am Rogers Daylight Mabanga Korombi. I was born at Manama Mission Hospital in 1951. My father’s name was Simbaimbai Dube and my mother was called Siyamewo Dube.
I later stopped using the surname Dube and adopted Korombi. Our home area is Nhwali in Gwanda South district. That is where I did Sub A up to Standard Six education.
I cannot remember the exact years, makore andisiya.
I have a twin sister, but we were three years apart in school. During the time we enrolled for education, teachers were not worried about our ages.
We had to demonstrate the ability to cross one hand over the head and touch the ear. My twin sister managed to do it before me, that is how she got enrolled in school.
For two consecutive years, I failed to perform the task. The third year, ndakazokwanisa kuisa ruoko nepamusoro pangu kuti ndibate nzeve.
That is when I enrolled at Hwali Primary School. From there, I went to Manama Secondary School. I did not complete secondary education after dropping out of school while doing Form Two around 1969.
LM: Why did you drop out of school and what were you doing?
DM: My father could not afford to pay the secondary school fees. I was taken by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Rhodesia and worked as a youth organiser at Zezani Mission.
One of the pastors at Zezani, Pastor Sijiye, encouraged me to apply to train as a pastor. I was enthusiastic about the idea and followed his advice.
Pastor Sijiye is the one who facilitated all documentation and processes that saw me train as a pastor. I trained at Masvingo Bible School in Mberengwa, which was the training institution for the Lutheran Church in Rhodesia. That was 1973 and I completed training in 1975.
LM: The Lutheran Church has a record of siding with the liberation fighters who were confronting the white government during that period. You were with this church, what was your encounter with politics?
DM: There were a lot of political activities taking place. I was assigned to do pastoral duties at Sukwe Mission in Gwanda near Zezani at the beginning of 1975.
That is where I met Reverend Masiyane who was well-known for his sermons that touched on politics in Rhodesia. He preached against oppression.
I worked with him for a few months before the Rhodesian security agents started making frequent visits to the church interrogating him. We all knew that the Rhodesians were building a case as they were always on his trail.
Reverend Masiyane then ran away and left the country. We were told he had gone to Zambia through Botswana.
Before long or around July 1975, colleagues informed me that the Rhodesian forces were collecting intelligence on me.
I knew I was a target because when Reverend Masiyane left, I also took an interest in politics. I used church services to enlighten the congregants on the unjust situation that obtained in Rhodesia against the blacks.
Because of continued warnings from the Rhodesia security agents, I left the mission church with a friend, Pastor Harmony Mahlambezi Ncube, for Francistown, Botswana. There, we saw a number of people who had left Rhodesia destined for Zambia.
We met a guy called Mkholo who was like a link person between Botswana and Zambia. Being in a foreign environment, we could not ask much on who was doing what. We stayed in Francistown for two months before being taken to Zambia.
LM: We hear many comrades who passed through Botswana talk of Francistown, but without elaborate details. You stayed for two months which is a reasonable time for one to gather information on the goings on. Who exactly took care of your welfare and can you describe the set-up of where you stayed?
DM: Your question is a bit difficult to answer because I have questions I could not get answers on about that place. You see comrade, we were moving into a place we were unfamiliar with. There was no one to ask kuti ndiani ari responsible nezvimbo yataiva.
Daily, people would come and go.
But from my own assessment, it was a transit camp and there were people who were acting as contact persons as well as links. These people would silently scout and use whatever discretion to approach their targets for military training.
When people reached Francistown, they ceased to be either Zanu or Zapu.
If the link for Zanu got to you before the one from Zapu, it meant you would find yourself in the Zanu military training camp.
Only those who came to see specific contacts were guaranteed of going to the military camps of the party they supported back home. Francistown was a transit camp for people who had left Rhodesia going to the war.
The camp was located near the Police Camp in Francistown. By that time, Botswana did not have an army and the police was the main defence security arm.
The camp was created to accommodate people running away from Rhodesia.
It was like a refugee camp, but zvichizivikanwa kuti vanhu ava vane kwavari kuenda.
No one from my family knew I had left the country to join the war. But at church in Sukwe, I had spoken nevadikani kuti handione ndichipedza gore ndirimunyika ndisati ndaenda kuhondo.
Those congregants knew.
LM: How did you leave Botswana for Zambia?
DM: In September 1975, my friend Harmony and I were part of a group that was airlifted to Zambia. There was a flight that came to collect the recruits twice a week from Gaborone.
This meant we first travelled to Gaborone by train to catch the flight. The plane accommodated about 45 passengers.
KuZambia takasvikira paNampundu Camp.
We arrived in the evening.
I later realised kuti pese paisvika ndege kuLusaka, the recruits would be kept within the airport and moved to the camps at night. Nampundu was a camp kwaisvikira varume vese under Zapu.
Zipra cadres ran the camp. The person who was in charge when I got there was Cde Todhlana. He was like the camp commander.
LM: Sorry to interrupt comrade, what was the first name of this person because there was David Todhlana and I am sure he was not at this camp during the time you are mentioning?
DM: I am not sure of his first name, but this Todhlana was a jovial character. I remember him because pane zvakaitika naye neni neshamwari yangu Harmony, which I will explain after detailing how the camps operated. Nampundu was the first port of call for all male Zapu cadres in Zambia.
People were screened first.
That is, those going for full military training, others to JZ Moyo Camp, which was specifically to provide male children with education. There were people who left teaching in Rhodesia and when they got to Zambia, it was decided they look after the children and take them through education.
All boys considered under age were taken to this camp. We also had drivers, medics, bookkeepers, technicians and mechanics joining the war.
The screening would ensure these people were seconded to needy areas within the camps. Not all people went for guerrilla training. Some were requested to take responsibility in particular areas.
On the other hand, all women and girls vaibva kumusha vaienda straight kuVictory Camp.
Though controlled by the Zapu external wing, Victory Camp was 95 percent under the United Nations. Women were taken from there to Mkushi for military training. It was an all-female camp.
For males who had gone to Nampundu, training was conducted at Freedom Camp. It housed all trained Zipra cadres waiting for assignments. Whenever other organisations that were seeking to broker peace talks between the warring parties in Rhodesia sought audience with Zapu or Zipra, meetings were held at Victory Camp or Nampundu which were more like refugee camps.
Mkushi and Freedom camps were military zones and not open to outsiders.
To be continued next week
