The Sunday Mail
THIS is the penultimate instalment of our discussion with Cde Jacqueline Mukanganyama Tutani, who is narrating about her experiences as a young fighter, courier and senior medical officer during the liberation struggle. Last week, we ended our discussion as Cde Tutani was narrating about the diseases that freedom fighters battled with, and sometimes succumbed to, both at the rear and at the war front. Cde Lavendar Pirai, as Cde Mukanganyama Tutani was known, continues her discussion with our Senior Reporter Tendai Chara.
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TC: Cde, last week, we ended our discussion with you telling us about the diseases that were prevalent during the war of liberation. You can go ahead and narrate to us your experiences.
JM: Yes, we had a disease that we called hurricane. It was caused by a deficiency of vital vitamins in the body. Those afflicted by the disease would walk with a slight limp.
Like I said last week, we had this disease that we called Matekenya.
Victims would have swollen legs and we had to drain puss from the affected areas. Some of the diseases were caused by chemical agents.
The enemy was increasingly resorting to chemical warfare. It would take a long time for a person affected by Matekenya to completely heal.
As a result, a lot of comrades would be grounded for a long time and could, therefore, not go to the front and fight.
TC: I thought this Matekenya disease was not a serious disease. One would be tempted to think that it was one of those minor worm infections.
JM: Matekenya was a serious disease which slowed the pace of the war. Remember, the victims’ legs would be itching and swollen.
For most of the time, victims will be scratching the affected parts and were, therefore, grounded. The diseases also affected us psychologically.
Since one would be grounded by Matekenya, it, therefore, meant that in the event of a Rhodesian attack, the victims would not be able to run.
TC: You can continue with your experiences in the Gonarezhou area.
JM: I remember another sad incident that I experienced as we were coming from delivering war materials.
The enemy spotted us and laid landmines on the path that we used. We were then ambushed.
When the first shot rang, we scattered in all directions and as we panicked, some of our comrades were unfortunate as they stepped on landmines.
A lot of my comrades lost their lives and some had their legs blown off by the landmines. This ambush was carried out at a place that is between the Gonarezhou National Park and the Misawu base, near the Zimbabwe/Mozambican border.
There was also another incident in which we were attacked by soldiers on horsebacks.
Many of our female combatants were captured. The training that we had received proved to be useful during such unfortunate times as ambushes.
We were always alert and we were fit and could run for long distances.
The liberation war was not for lazy people.
TC: Were captured women combatants treated as brutally as the male combatants by the Rhodesian soldiers?
JM: Captured female combatants were, like their male counterparts, also treated badly.
We had reports indicating that some captured female fighters were beaten up and raped.
I cannot say much about how captured female fighters were treated since I was never captured myself.
Since Rhodesian soldiers often spent a lot of time in the bush, without women, some of them would quench their lust on captured female guerrillas.
Sometimes the captured female combatants escaped from the Rhodesians and they would tell us about their harrowing experiences.
Like I said, I was never captured and cannot give a first-hand account.
It is known that Rhodesian soldiers were evil and could do whatever they wanted with captured fighters.
TM: Is it true that combatants returning to base after having escaped from capture were treated badly upon their return?
JM: The general rule was that once a fighter had been captured, automatically that fighter is viewed and treated like a sell-out.
No-one wanted to be captured, but that was the general rule.
When a captured combatant returned to base after escaping from the Rhodesian army, that fighter would have his or her gun taken away and would be thoroughly questioned and vetted.
This was done as a security measure.
TC: Tell us about the downing of the helicopter. Did you shoot down the helicopter?
JM: I shot down a Rhodesian warplane in the Gonarezhou area in 1978.
There were four of us and we came under attack from a Rhodesian helicopter.
We fired at the helicopter until my fellow comrades ran out of ammunition.
After firing my very last shot, we saw the helicopter burst into flames and nosedive to the ground.
It was common to see Rhodesian helicopters being brought down by gunfire.
During the war, many female fighters shot down Rhodesian planes.
I do not know where this belief that female combatants could not shoot down helicopters came from.
TC: You can continue with your narration.
JM: When the war escalated in the areas that we were operating in as couriers, it was decided that we temporarily abandon missions in these areas.
We were suffering heavy casualties.
As a result of the heavy casualties, we were withdrawn from the war zones and were ferried to Xai Xai in Mozambique.
The Xai Xai base, which was at Praia Beach, was located on the shores of the ocean.
Xai Xai was then a small town located near Maputo.
The base was a transit camp to Maputo, the war zone or other bases in Mozambique.
TC: Were female fighters given leadership roles during the war?
JM: Female combatants earned leadership roles during the war.
In my case, I rose to become a detachment medical officer.
This role came with huge responsibilities.
We had sections, detachments and then the general staff.
Female combatants were equally good as their male counterparts.
Enemy bullets were not selective, they killed both male and female combatants.
TC: How difficult was it to lead women and girls during the war?
JM: I was dealing with young women and dealing with girls and women when they are experiencing their menstrual cycles was a bit challenging.
I also dealt with seriously injured cadres and dealing with injured persons can be traumatising. However, as a medical officer, I was trained to deal with all kinds of situations.
We had no choice, the war had to be fought and won.
We also had times when we faced serious water shortages and we sometimes ended up drinking and sharing our own urine.
I drank urine on several occasions.
We could actually thank our colleagues for sharing their urine with us.
The Rhodesian soldiers also poisoned the water sources that we drank from, resulting in death. Up to this day, I am still having this dry cough, which I strongly suspect to have been caused by either poisoned food or water.
Don’t miss the next instalment as we conclude our discussion with Cde Pirai.
