The Sunday Mail
AFTER capturing and badly torturing Cde Sando Kano, Rhodesian forces desperately tried to entice him and his colleague, Cde Tichatonga, into selling out their fellow comrades. They were promised a good life, decent jobs and money to pay lobola for their wives. This, however, could not entice the freedom fighters to turn their backs on the struggle. In our last instalment, Cde Sando Kano described how he bravely escaped from the jaws of death. In this instalment, he narrates to our Senior Reporter TENDAI CHARA how he reunited with his comrades after escaping from the Rhodesian forces. The freedom fighter recounts how, after being interrogated and jailed in an underground bunker in Maputo, he was selected and went for specialist military training in Yugoslavia. As he winds up this captivating narration, he recounts the horrors of war he witnessed after passing through Mavonde, where a nail-biting and decisive battle had just taken place.
Read on.
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Q: In the last episode, you narrated to us how you made good your escape from the Rhodesian forces after eight days in captivity. Kindly continue with your narration.
A: After making good my escape, I crossed Ngungumbani River and headed towards the Marasha Base. I remember there was a chimbwido called Sithembeni at this base on the day that I arrived. I asked her about the whereabouts of the comrades, but she refused to divulge such information. She bluntly told me that I had been captured and was therefore working against the struggle. I tried but failed to convince her that I was on the side of the liberation fighters.
It was only after I sought audience and explained to her parents that I was then given food and directed to where the comrades were. I then made the long walk to Mwembe Base. The base was near Buchwa and Suwita. General Solomon Mujuru was in the area during this time. That was in 1978. Gen Mujuru had an entourage of more than 100 soldiers. You know when a senior commander was in the area, he was often accompanied by many fighters. The Tanzanians were also present and so were the Frelimo fighters.
As you might be aware, in 1978, the war had escalated as we were moving from bush war to urban warfare. We were moving towards conventional war. Instead of platoons, we were having companies. The Tanzanians were now bringing in heavy artillery.
Q: If you can go back to what then happened.
A: Yes, upon arrival at Mwembe Base, I surrendered my gun and grenade. I was subjected to a thorough interrogation which lasted for over two hours. My fellow comrades were not sure whether I was still working with them or I had been turned into a sell-out. Shortly after being handed back my gun, Cde Tichatonga also arrived. The letters that I was writing and communicating with the other fighters when I was still in captivity helped me a lot. Later on, Rhodesian helicopters flew past the base with some Rhodesian soldiers calling on me and two of the soldiers that I was captured with to link with them at Nuanetsi. The Rhodesians actually thought we were now working with them.
Q: What happened next?
A: Mwembe Base was subsequently attacked. We were heavily armed with such big guns as the M90, Bazooka, RPJ 2 and even the sub-machine guns. We downed some of their fighter jets and helicopters. After that battle, we went back to our acts of sabotage, blowing locomotives and engaging the enemy in surprise attacks. We embarked on revenge missions in Chomupoto, Mnene, Ngungumbane and in Zvishavane
Q: What happened to Chauya Chinesu?
A: He sold out and joined the Rhodesian forces. As Cde Tichatonga and myself were escaping, Chauya Chinesu elected to stay put. Even up to this day, we are still trying to locate him so that he explains to us his side of the story. We heard that he later on joined the Zimbabwe National Army and was at one time stationed in Mutare.
Q: Why didn’t the two of you sell out like Chauya Chinesu?
A: The political orientation that we received made it very difficult for one to cross the floor and sell-out. Also, we were possessed by the spirit of war, the spirit of Mbuya Nehanda which urged us to fight on. We didn’t die during the struggle not because we were clever, but we were guided and protected by the spirit mediums.
Q: What then happened after the revenge missions?
A: After six months, I was called by Cde Tongogara to meet him in Maputo. When I arrived at Xai Xai in Maputo, Cde Tongogara was in Chimoio. Before Cde Tongogara’s arrival, I was imprisoned by one comrade called Gutsa who kept asking me why I was captured before. I tried to explain to him that I was not the first one to be captured but he could not listen. I was jailed in an underground bunker, muhandaki, only to be released after five days when Cde Tongogara arrived.
Upon his arrival, Cde Tongogara was not amused when he found out that I had been imprisoned. Gutsa was subsequently imprisoned and put in the same bunker that he had put me in.
Q: Why had Cde Tongogara ordered you to come to Maputo?
A: Cde Tongogara interrogated me, asking me why we lost so many fighters during the battle of Nyamhondo and I explained to him the circumstances that we found ourselves in. General Tongogara was a very good commander. We could have lunch with him in the common dining room and we could talk freely. He then told me that I had been selected for further military training in Yugoslavia.
Q: Tell us about the training that you received in Yugoslavia.
A: After spending three days in Maputo, we went to Yugoslavia. Our group had about 100 fighters, among them female combatants. In Yugoslavia, we were trained, for three months, at the Banitsa Military Academy in Belgrade, specialising in radio signals. After the three months, some of the fighters that I came with returned home and I was told to undergo another training programme.
I remember the late former President Mugabe passing through Yugoslavia on his way to Geneva. He visited me in hospital after I had developed pneumonia. I then went to Zagreb where I was trained in artillery. After that course I went to another town called Zadar where I was trained in intelligence operations.
Q: After Yugoslavia, where did you go?
A: We returned home through Mozambique. On our way to the front, we passed through Mavonde where we learned that a five-day battle had recently been waged. We heard from our colleagues how a fierce battle had been fought. Our colleagues told us that they had been helped by the Tanzanians and Frelimo fighters. Many people died. The Rhodesians wanted to end the war at Mavonde. They were surprised because they did not expect the guerrillas to have the type of guns they were using during the battle.
Some of the guns were brought in by the Tanzanians and Frelimo fighters.
There were such guns as the Katyusha rocket launcher, the 203 mm howitzer, popularly known as the Stalin Sledgehammer. According to witness accounts, the Rhodesians jets would fly over the border and on their way back after bombing Mavonde, the liberation fighters would be waiting for them at the border, before hitting them when they were most vulnerable.
Without their bombs, the Rhodesian planes would be shot down.
General Peter Walls, the Rhodesian military chief, was taken by surprise by this strategy.
Mavonde was one of the most decisive battles which I believe forced the Rhodesians to sign the peace agreement.
Q: When you arrived at Mavonde, what did you see?
A: The scene was traumatic. The smell of death was everywhere. Both freedom fighters and Rhodesian forces lost their lives.
In the next and final instalment, Cde Sando Kano narrates how he was involved in his last battle, the Battle of Rombwe in Rusape. He also talks about receiving the news of Cde Tongogara’s death and the time he spent at various assembly points. Don’t miss this final episode as he pours his heart out and sets the record straight.
