The Sunday Mail
LAST week, Cde RICHARD CHIRONGWE (RC), who is currently the secretary-general of the ZANU PF War Veterans League, recounted how hundreds of comrades cheated death after a sellout attempted to poison food that was being prepared at Nyadzonia Camp in Mozambique in 1975. This week, he tells our Political Editor KUDA BWITITI (KB) about the unforgettable trip from Mozambique to Mgagao. This was after he was selected as one of the 700 comrades to receive training in Tanzania.
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KB: Why do you think you were chosen as one of the 700 cadres to undergo training at Mgagao?
RC: Most of the cadres selected among the 700-plus comrades were commanders. Remember, I had been the battalion head of security at both Zhunda and Nyadzonia camps, so I was a natural choice on account of my experience.
KB: How was the journey from Nyadzonia to Mgagao?
RC : From Nyadzonia, we first went to an area called Dondo in Mozambique for a couple of days. From Dondo, we proceeded to Frelimo’s military base in Beira. Here, we stayed for a number of weeks — perhaps even a month.
Cde Chirongwe
KB: What were you doing during that month?
RC: At that base, I still carried my title, which I had been given at Nyadzonia, as head of security for the battalion. So, my role included moving around nearby places in Beira to assess the security situation and stake out potential deserters.
At that base, we were supposed to be picked up by a ship named Mapinduzi.
So, we were waiting for the ship to arrive. This ship was returning from Tanzania with cadres who had been at Mgagao before us. So, we were now replacing these cadres.
The Mapinduzi ship eventually arrived. When it arrived, we were advised that a comrade named Simba was responsible for overseeing our logistics.
We entered the ship around 3pm or 4pm on that day and sat in there for a long time; in fact, until the next day. This whole time, we did not eat anything, but we were seated and chatting, waiting for the next instructions.
KB: What happened next?
RC : The following day, one of the top ZANLA commanders, General Solomon Mujuru, arrived.
Soon after, he started talking to some Tanzanian officials. They spoke in Kiswahili. I could deduce from what they were saying that they were worried by the number of people in the ship, as it had exceeded the 700 required.
So, General Mujuru then looked inside the ship and, because I was seated close to the entrance, he called me and took me to the side.
He asked for my details and I told him my name and rank. He instructed me to get 23 cadres from the ship so that they would go and get food, since we had not eaten anything for over 24 hours.
I went to our camp commander named Blessing and advised him of the instruction I had received from Gen Mujuru.
So, Cde Blessing randomly selected the other 22 cadres and went out of the ship with them. However, Blessing did not know that he had fallen for a clever trick by Gen Mujuru. This was a ruse to reduce the numbers.
KB: So, Cde Blessing and 22 other comrades never made the trip to Mgagao?
RC: Yes, they remained in Mozambique. In fact, some vehicles came and took them and they made their way to Tete under the pretext that they were going to get the food.
So, it was only after the ship set sail that others got to understand how Gen Mujuru had used the trick to reduce the number of people in the ship, as discussed with Tanzanian officials.
Just before we embarked on the journey, I was accorded some time to conduct final security checks before the ship left.
We wanted to check if there had not been other deserters we could find around the area. So, I was actually able to use these final moments before departure to leave the ship and bid farewell to some friends and colleagues in Beira.
When I returned to the ship, Cde Simba advised me to educate comrades on the security requirements for the journey.
Given that Cde Blessing had been left behind, I was now the liaison officer between Cde Simba and other commanders. So, after that, we were able to take off, in what was my first-ever journey by ship.
KB: Describe the journey?
RC: The ship was really big and beautiful. It had about five floors, like a mansion, and was well-equipped with large rooms and amenities.
There was even a swimming pool. As it took off from the harbour, there was a lot of turbulence, so I found that to be very uncomfortable, but I enjoyed the rest of the trip.
As we were in the middle of the Indian Ocean, we were able to see many beautiful creatures like dolphins and flying fish.
We arrived in Dar es Salaam after four days.
We then spent the whole day at the harbour, before we disembarked and then proceeded to the Tanzania People Defence Forces base.
After that, we were ferried by lorries from this base to Mgagao.
Next week, Cde Chirongwe takes us through the military training at Mgagao.
