The Sunday Mail
THOUSANDS of brave sons and daughters of Zimbabwe sacrificed their lives by abandoning their families, jobs and studies to join the fiercely fought armed struggle. During the bitter war, they took different roles and responsibilities. While some were involved in the actual fighting, others contributed to the war effort in many ways such as carrying war materials, treating the injured and educating those that were at the rear. For the next couple of weeks, we are going to engage a man who contributed to the war effort in more ways than one. Apart from taking part in fierce battles that resulted in him getting seriously wounded, Cde JOSEPH SERIMA (JS) was also given the responsibility to look after and entertain many children that had flocked to refugee camps in Mozambique. The leader of the Zanu Band, which incorporated such musicians as the late Cde Chinx Chingaira, Ketayi Muchawaya and Max Mapfumo (who rose to national prominence with the Dopiro Crew), Cde Serima’s contributions to the armed struggle are priceless. Our senior reporter Tendai Chara (TC) made the trip to Gweru, where he sat down with Cde Serima and discussed these and other issues.
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TC: Cde Serima, please give us your brief profile.
JS: My name is Cde Joseph Serima and my liberation war name was Muchapera Vavengi. I was born in Gutu, Serima, on August 15, 1952. I did my primary education at Matizha Primary School in Gutu. I went up to Standard 5. After completing Standard 5, I went to work in Bulawayo as a bricklayer. From there, I was deeply disturbed by the treatment that our parents were getting from the white Rhodesians.
TC: How were your parents treated?
JS: They were treated like slaves and second-class citizens. They were overworked and underpaid. When I was in Bulawayo, I used to listen to the Chimurenga songs that were frequently featured on the Zambia Broadcasting Corporation.
TC: Do you still remember some of these songs?
JS: We had such songs as “Nyika yedu Ye Zimbabwe”. That song deeply affected me and shaped my future. It inspired me to join the war and become a fighter and entertainer just like those that were singing the liberation war songs. I was in Bulawayo from 1970 up until 1974. In 1975, I made the bold decision to join the liberation struggle.
TC: Tell us about how you became a freedom fighter.
JS: At first we decided to go for military training through Botswana. However, when we were on our way to Botswana, we were captured by the Rhodesian police and were thoroughly beaten and returned to Bulawayo. I was 19-years-old.
TC: How did you travel to Botswana from Bulawayo?
JC: We went to Botswana via Plumtree. We hiked to the border and I was accompanied by my cousin, Arsenal. My brother-in-law Robert was also with us. When I got to Bulawayo, I went straight home. I was staying in the suburb of Tshabalala then. One of my cousins asked me about where I had gone to and when I told him about my futile attempt to go to Botswana to join the liberation war, he advised me on how I should go about it. For a week, we were busy planning how to successfully make our way to either Zambia or Mozambique.
TC: What happened next?
JS: We decided to go to Mozambique via Mutare.
TC: Where did you get the money to go to Mozambique?
JS: Remember we were working all along and we were saving money for this mission?
TC: So you went as far as saving money just to go to Mozambique to train as guerrillas?
JS: Oh yes! We were determined to go. The three of us had been saving money for the journey.
TC: What happened to those that you went with to Mozambique? Did they return home after independence?
JS: It is sad to say that they did not make it. We lost them during the war. When we arrived in Mozambique, we took separate paths, never to see each other again.
TC: Tell us about your journey to Mozambique from Bulawayo
JS: When we were in Bulawayo, we were then connected to Mr Chipengo, who was a senior Zanu member working for the Rhodesia Railways. Mr Chipengo later on introduced us to his fellow workmate. Mr Chipengo’s workmate vetted us as he wanted to ascertain if we were really serious about joining the war. We went to the railway station and paid our fares as everyone else. We were then given instructions to meet another Zanu official at the railway station in Gweru. We met our contact and were instructed to meet yet another contact at the railway station in Salisbury.
These contacts were the ones that were coordinating our trip to Mozambique. Our contact instructed us to board the train to Mutare. We were also instructed to disembark in Rusape.
Another contact awaited us in Rusape. In Rusape, we met our contact and were driven to a shop which was owned by a businessman called Mr Mandeya.
The businessman knew that we were coming and had therefore made plans for our upkeep. We stayed for two weeks at Mr Mandeya’s place. Each morning, we would wake up, take our fishing rods and head for the nearby Rusape Dam.
We could often meet the Rhodesian police who thought that we were genuine fishermen. During the second week, Mr Mandeya instructed us to prepare ourselves since we were to embark on the final part of our journey. During the two weeks that we were in Rusape, the leaders were making the necessary logistics for our safe journey into Mozambique. The following morning, Mr Mandeya drove us in his car and dropped us at a bushy area along the Nyanga-Rusape road near Nyabadza. He instructed us to wait and board the bus that plied that route. The bus finally arrived and we jumped in. The bus driver was aware of our mission since he had been briefed beforehand. Just after Nyabadza, we saw another group of young people that also waved the bus and joined us.
When we arrived at the Montclair Hotel in Nyanga, a much larger group of people who, like myself, were going to Mozambique, boarded the bus. We drove on and when we arrived at the Nyamhuka turn-off, we took the road that eventually led us to the Troutbeck Inn Hotel. We headed for Nyamaropa. After driving for less than a kilometre from Troutbeck, the driver stopped the bus and instructed us to disembark. We were led into a gumtree plantation. We were almost 25 people. Deep inside the plantation, we noticed a battered tractor which had a trailer. We were instructed to get into the trailer and at no time, the tractor started to move towards the direction of Nyafaru Farm, under Chief Tangwena. We then arrived at Nyafaru Farm where we stayed for a week.
The following week we were taken to meet Chief Tangwena. We walked through gumtrees. We finally arrived at a hut where we were welcomed by Chief Rekayi Tangwena’s wife. We were then led to the chief.
Next week, Cde Serima will narrate to us the interactions that his group had with Chief Rekayi Tangwena. He will also chronicle how the chief showed them the way to the Mozambican border.
