The Sunday Mail
CDE ONIAS GARIKAYI GOSHA (OGG), whose Chimurenga name was GEORGE GABARINOCHEKA, is one of the most prominent early freedom fighters who took up arms to fight the Rhodesian regime.Along with a small group of other freedom fighters, he took part in the historic attack on Altena Farm, a battle that signalled the beginning of the second and most intense phase of the Second Chimurenga.This week, he recounts to our Deputy News EDITOR LINCOLN TOWINDO (LT) his early involvement in nationalist politics.
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LT: Can you begin by introducing yourself and take us through your upbringing?
OGG : My name is Onias Garikayi Gosha and my Chimurenga name was George Gabarinocheka.
I was born in Chikwaka, Goromonzi, under Headman Biya, on April 4, 1944.
I did my education at different schools, including Kadyamadare and Dewe primary schools.
I later moved to Salisbury, where I attended Donnybrook Primary School near Mabvuku.
During those days, finding placement at school was very difficult.
I remember, my elder brother ended up enrolling at a school in Plumtree for his Standard Four because my parents could not find a place for him at schools near where we stayed.
LT: How did your involvement in nationalist politics begin?
OGG: My father worked for the Rhodesian government for over 18 years.
He was doing backbreaking work for nearly two decades and, as you can imagine, that took a toll on his physical health.
Towards the end of his career, he injured his back while carrying a very heavy safe.
He then opted for early retirement.
Upon retirement, his employer refused to hand over his pension, arguing that he had not served for 20 years, which would have seen him becoming eligible for a full severance package.
So, he received nothing because he had served for 18 years, which was two years shy of 20 years.
It was around that time I began realising how racist and uncaring the white minority government was.
My involvement in nationalist politics, however, began while I was staying in Highfield, a known hotbed of anti-colonial agitation.
We had the likes of Sydney Chinamano and many others who were teaching us about the struggle for freedom.
When ZAPU and ZANU split in 1964, myself and other youths elected to join ZANU.
Around that time, the struggle was beginning to take a really national outlook.
Some of our leaders were being detained in places like Silobela and Gokwe for their involvement in nationalist agitation.
As young people, we were beginning to notice the overt brutality and evil nature of the Rhodesian government.
We were also, at the time, getting a lot of political orientation from reading a newspaper called Daily News, which was published by Thompson Publishers.
We owe a lot of our early political consciousness to that publication.
The newspaper was later banned; I think that was around the time the two main political parties were also banned.
We would often visit the ZANU headquarters, which was at Vanguard House on Railway Avenue, while the ZAPU office was located on Chinhoyi Street.
LT: Can you describe for us what the conditions were like during that time in terms of the political environment?
OGG : There were a lot of strikes and mass action during those days.
In Mbare, in the Kaufman area, now known as Magaba, people were protesting nearly on a daily basis.
In the countryside, cattle diptanks were being filled up with sand while the white farmers’ tobacco crop was being sabotaged.
The country was in flames and ripe for proper political change through increased pressure on the white man’s government.
On my part, I was unable to finish my education.
I left school after failing to sit my Form Two examinations. This was after the authorities tried to force us to sit external examinations in place of the internal ones we had spent years studying for.
In the end, I was unable to proceed further with education.
I was then forced to look for work.
I worked for different companies, including one called Twine Cottage and then another one that was based in Kadoma but had other branches in many parts of the country.
I was doing all manner of menial jobs.
I first learnt about the war following the 1966 Chinhoyi Battle.
This excited me a lot and I knew that one day, I was going to join the other comrades and take up arms in order to fight for our motherland.
A year earlier, on November 11, 1965, the Ian Smith regime had made the Unilateral Declaration of Independence, changing the entire face of the struggle.
This declaration showed everyone that the white racists were not prepared to relinquish their evil deeds; in fact, they were preparing to further entrench an illegal colonial and exclusionary system.
Though we had some indigenous people who were Members of Parliament, including the likes of Samuriwo, we saw these as token reforms meant to distract us from the bigger picture of unseating a racist colonial system.
These MPs were not in parliament to represent the interests of the masses.
All the same, it was very difficult for black people to get into parliament.
Back then, they had a system called qualitative franchise, which required one to have property valued at more than 300 pounds to qualify for contesting for a parliamentary seat.
It was blatant racism.
LT: What was your response to this increasingly racist and exclusionary system of government?
OGG : Out of frustration, I left the country in 1968 for Botswana.
One of the first people I met in Francistown was Phibion Shonhiwa, a ZANU representative in the country.
As was the norm during those days, everyone who wanted to apply for political asylum was supposed to go into detention first while their papers were being processed.
So, Shonhiwa took me to the central prison, where I surrendered to the authorities before being placed in detention. But, in all honesty, it was never my intention to stay in Botswana; I wanted to go to Zambia, where I knew I would undergo military training. While in detention, I met a group of South Africans who were from Umkhonto we Sizwe.
They told me that they had been caught by Rhodesian authorities after taking part in the Wankie Battle before being deported to Francistown.
They told me about how they had executed the attack but were later caught with guns and all manner of munitions before being arrested.
This experience really ignited my burning desire to join the war.
Fortunately for me, I was later released and left the South African comrades behind.
I was to meet one of them years later while undergoing training in Tanzania.
After I was released, I stayed in Francistown for a while.
All the while, I maintained contact with ZANU officials in Botswana.
I remember Simpson Mutambanengwe coming to one of our meetings, asking for a volunteer to go back home to collect a package of Moto magazines.
Moto magazines were known for covering local politics from the perspective of the indigenous masses.
They wanted the magazines in order to get a picture of what exactly was going on back home.
I remember, that was around the time people were being relocated from Charter to Gokwe, which was infested with tsetse flies.
Also, Chief Rekai Tangwena and his people were being persecuted in Gaerezi.
I volunteered to undertake the mission.
So, I travelled back home, where I was handed the package that contained a special edition of the Moto magazine focusing on the persecution of Rekai Tangwena, and another batch of the magazine.
I took them back to Botswana, where I surrendered them to my superiors.
Having excelled in that mission, I was now being entrusted with other missions in Rhodesia to recruit schoolchildren who wanted to join the war.
I remember going to Mt St Mary’s, which was under headmaster George Tazvishaya, a committed anti-Rhodesia nationalist, where I recruited a number of prospective freedom fighters.I personally recruited the young cadres and accompanied them to Francistown.
They would then be taken to Zambia for training while I stayed behind in Botswana.
I remember that I was the one who recruited the late national hero, Josiah Tungamirai, after meeting him in Francistown.
He had skipped the border into Botswana intending to go and join the war.
But when he got into Francistown, he did not know where to go or who to look for.
I remember, he had a small suitcase when I met him. The other one I recruited was John Mawema, who later became deputy director in the President’s Department.
I recruited so many people until I was told that it was my time to cross into Zambia towards the end of 1970.
So, we were taken to Zambia, where we stayed in New Kabwata, at house number 94, where Cde Josiah Tongogara stayed.
I remember being welcomed by Simpson Mutambanengwe, Mukudzei Mudzi and Cde Hamadziripi.
We also met our chairman, Herbert Chitepo. We stayed there for a while, waiting for our numbers to build up before we would be transported to Tanzania.
Next week, Cde Gabarinocheka will take us through his tough military training in Tanzania, ahead of his deployment to the front. Twitter: kuntowaz
