The Sunday Mail
CDE FANUEL TINGASIYE MATSENGA (FTM), whose nom de guerre was TAFIRENYIKA CHIMURENGA OR FARABHUNDU, joined the liberation war after suffering severe brutality at the hands of the Rhodesian regime. He narrates to our Features and Arts Editor, PRINCE MUSHAWEVATO (PM), some of the nasty incidents that pushed him to join the struggle.
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PM : Can you start by identifying yourself and give a brief background about your life.
FTM : My name is Fanuel Tingasiye Matsenga.
I was born on February 13, 1960 in Uzumba, Murehwa district.
I attended Matsenga Primary School up to Grade Seven.
However, before I went to secondary school, issues to do with the liberation war cropped up and I was about 13 years old at that time.
PM: What exactly was happening then?
FTM : Liberation war fighters came to our area in 1973.
The first freedom fighters to pay us a visit were Cde Chando, Cde Tsangadzaoma, Cde Mbada and Cde Shortie Mukorekore.
They were part of the first group to conscientise our community about the struggle.
They told us their mission was to sow the seed of the revolution, after which we were expected to join the liberation war.
The comrades encouraged parents to store food since they wanted to wage a protracted struggle against the white man, which was going to make it difficult for them to engage in any farming activities.
They also wanted us to understand that we were part of them, hence we were supposed to support them with food and information to make their operations smooth.
We were told that some of us would go for military training and later on join the struggle.
The comrades told us the major reason behind the struggle was for us to reclaim our inheritance, mainly land, which had been seized by the Rhodesian settlers.
It is then that I decided to support the freedom fighters.
PM : Can you explain how you started your involvement in liberation politics?
FTM : At that time, I did not take part in the physical battles.
I was only a youth coordinator, undertaking work similar to duties that used to be assigned to war collaborators.
Whoever came into our area, especially from Salisbury (now Harare), had to pass through us.
We were responsible for screening and safely linking the general public with the comrades, including those who wanted to go for training.
In early 1975, we were forced into protected villages (which were known as keeps) and this proved to be a difficult time.
We had just lost one of our leaders, Cde Herbert Chitepo; he had been assassinated by the white man through a bomb.
This sad development affected us a lot.
It was a major setback as the Rhodesian government deployed its heavily armed police to thwart any nationalist agitation, especially after Cde Chitepo’s death.
Our commanders, including Cde Josiah Tongogara, were arrested.
Our area leaders then informed us that we had gone into détente.
At first, we did not understand what it meant.
However, we later learnt that this meant the struggle had to be put on hold since the chaos that ensued after Cde Chitepo’s death destabilised our war strategy and supply of artilleries.
PM : How did you respond to the command to pause considering the relentless attacks by the Rhodesian forces?
FTM : We patiently waited for the next command while in the protected villages.
However, some of us kept in touch with the freedom fighters who were outside the “keeps”, providing them with food.
We ended up being arrested by the Rhodesian government as some villagers, among them an elderly man called Chidhakwa, sold us out.
They would inform the white man that we were feeding the comrades with goats and chickens that we took from people in the village.
After being arrested, we were transferred from the “keeps” to Mashambanhaka Camp, where we would be severely tortured.
I was 15 years old then but got the same treatment as every other detainee in their custody.
The arrests became a routine since I had committed to playing a part in the struggle.
PM : So, each time you were released, you still went back to the protected village?
FTM : Yes. However, it was my arrest in 1976 that completely changed the course of my life.
I was battered while half-naked and without shoes.
The torture was severe that time.
It was not like the other times.
I guess the enemy was now fed up with me.
They probably wanted me to die in their custody that time around.
The pain was so intense that it drove me to look for a gun and join the battle.
I wanted a chance to be able to protect myself from that kind of brutality.
Besides, there was a white man called Chris Metro Peech, who was in the habit of moving around in his Land Rover, beating us up for no apparent reason.
He also pushed me to join the struggle.
So, while I was still in custody, in 1976, the whites were attacked in Centenary.
Several of them died during the attack.
A Rhodesian sellout called Pedzisayi, who was working for the whites at Mashambanhaka Camp, had been left manning the place.
He, surprisingly, informed me that the whites were not happy with my exploits and advised me to escape.
He told me not to go back home since some of them (whites) had survived the Centenary attack and were blaming me for causing the assault.
Pedzisayi said they would come after me upon returning from Marandellas (Marondera) and Salisbury, where they had been taken for treatment.
I then escaped and walked for three days from Uzumba to Salisbury.
PM : What happened when you got to Salisbury?
FTM : I never returned home and my parents did not know where I was.
When I went to Salisbury, I stayed at Magaba (Mbare) for three days under the care of a gentleman called Conwell.
He used to cook green mealies in drums for sale and fed me throughout my entire stay in the area.
On the fourth day, I met one of my uncles, who was in the capital, before I started working for another man named Mr Gatsi, who sold apples.
Along the way, I asked where he usually got his supply of apples.
I knew that most apples at that time came from Inyanga (Nyanga) or Melsetter (now Chimanimani).
He told me that he got them from Melsetter and I convinced him to employ me so that I could one day travel to Melsetter for work.
I did not tell him the real reason I was interested in going to Chimanimani.
I knew about Chimanimani Mountain and I was sure if I got there, I would be able to cross into Mozambique.
I worked for the guy for three weeks and was able to get money to purchase a pair of trousers and a T-shirt, and immediately boarded a B & C bus destined for Chimanimani.
I travelled alone, and when I got to the destination, I went to a place called Gwindingwi Estate, where he had directed me.
The farm was known for massive apple production and I worked there, again, for about three weeks as I did my reconnaissance on how to travel to Mozambique.
I gathered the information and then travelled to Chipinge.
From Chipinge, I boarded a Blue Line bus, whose destination was a farm called Munyasa or Ridhi, which was on the Mozambican border.
This was still in 1976.
I then took two guys, Paul Tandi and Taru, and I travelled with them on the pretext that I had secured a better-paying job, yet I was going to join the struggle.
When we got there, we met some vendors and they assisted us with information on how best to cross into Mozambique.
We successfully crossed the border.
Next week, Cde Matsenga narrates how he ended up at a training camp in Mozambique.
