Some of our fellow comrades were cowards

CDE Baraka Toughguy (born MORGAN MAONDO) (MM) ended last week’s discussion with our senior reporter TENDAI CHARA (TC) as he was about to get into the details of the bitterly-fought Zimunya Battle, which claimed the life of Cde Soul Sadza, a senior Zanu member who was responsible for the guerilla movement’s finances. Read on as Cde Baraka narrates the story.

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TC: Cde, in our previous discussion, you were about to get into the details of the Zimunya Battle. If you can kindly get into it.

MM: Yes, like I said last week, we were on our way to meet Cde Soul Sadza when we decided to rest before continuing with our journey. We were not very far from the base where we were supposed to meet Cde Sadza, who wanted to brief us about the situation in Mozambique.

After sleeping for some few hours, we were awakened by the sound of low-flying helicopters that were flying along the nearby Odzi River. During the war, the Rhodesian army had a tendency of flying low along river banks, as they would be approaching guerilla bases. Helicopters make less noise when they are flying along river banks.

As we were wondering what was going on, the sky was suddenly filled with Rhodesian airplanes. The battle then began in earnest. Since we were a bit far from where the Rhodesian army was concentrating more in its bombardment, we could hear the loud sounds of bombs that were raining on our dear colleagues.

As the war raged on, we found ourselves encircled as we were now inside the Rhodesian killing bag. We fought like cornered lions. Our only escape route was by firing our guns at the Rhodesian soldiers, and as they retreated, we made good our escape. We ran towards the Odzi River and crossed into Marange communal lands. That battle started around midday and ended around 9pm. The battle only came to an end when it got dark. Unfortunately, Cde Soul Sadza, together with hundreds of other fighters lost their lives.

TC: That was your first time to be engaged in battle. Were you not scared and were you composed during the battle?

MM: I did not panic. Remember, we used to fire guns at the firing ranges during training. Due to gun powder, I temporarily lost my voice. My eyes became itchy due to the smoke.

Remember, it was a seven-hour battle. After coming out of the battle zone, we went into a cave and hid. Before that, the situation was chaotic. It was dark and we were now shooting at any moving object. We could not identify our enemy due to the darkness.

The Rhodesian soldiers were also equally confused as they were also shooting at any moving object.

TC: How many comrades died during this battle?

MM: All I can say is that we lost many comrades. During the war, we could not have the luxury of counting dead bodies. In our case, all we wanted was to move as quickly as we could out of the danger zone. However, from what we later gathered from the masses, the Rhodesian army used lorries to ferry the corpses of those that had perished during the battle. The Rhodesian army also suffered some heavy casualties. As the battle was still raging, an order to the effect that we were not going to retreat until Cde Sadza made good his escape was given. So, we were prepared to fight to the bitter end.

TC: From Zimunya, where did you go?

MM: We went back to our gathering points and for close to a week, we were still trying to re-group and re-organise ourselves. That battle was a huge setback. Some fighters briefly abandoned the war and were living among the masses. A lot of verification had to be done as we had scattered all over.

Like I said earlier, after the battle, we crossed into Marange where we fought so many fierce battles. In Marange, we operated in such areas as Chigonda, Chikwariro, Mutsago, Chiadzwa and many others.

TC: Tell us about one of the many battles that you fought in Marange.

MM: I fought in this other battle, which I do not usually want to talk about since we did not win it. This battle was fought in Mutsago Village. We decided to attack the heavily fortified Rhodesian army camp, which was commonly known as the Rest Camp. We did our reconnaissance and after that we then got into our attacking positions. In our positioning, the light infantry was in front.

The light infantry was made up mostly of those that were armed with submachine guns. Behind the light infantry was the artillery section, which was made up of those that were armed with bazookas, mortars and other heavy guns.

What happened was that one of our comrades, a bombardier, made a costly error as he shelled a mortar the wrong way. Instead of directing the mortar towards the Rhodesian army positions, the comrade instead fired the shell towards the positions of some of his fellow freedom fighters.

TC: Why did the comrade do that? Was he a sell-out or a Rhodesian agent?

MM: He was neither of the two. The comrade simply panicked and fired in the wrong direction. Some of our fellow comrades were cowards who often panicked when the going got tough. The war was not for the faint-hearted. We lost so many fighters due to this comrade’s error. We lost such courageous and battle-hardened fighters as Shorty Gumete and Tongai, among others. After the costly mistake, we hastily retreated. The loss was not only moral-sapping, but was also a humiliating defeat.

TC: Was the bombardier punished?

MM: Few of us knew what had transpired, and we did not tell some of our comrades the truth. If the truth had been told, I am certain that some of my fellow comrades would not have been amused, and might have revolted against the blundering bombardier.

TC: So in your case, you continued working with the bombardier without any ill-feelings towards him?

MM: Shorty Gumete’s death pained me a lot. He was not only a courageous fighter, but had also became my close, trusted friend.

I was seething with anger and I failed to forgive the bombardier. The bombardier’s real name was Joshua Pasuwa. One day, Pasuwa was confronted by one of the comrades who told him bluntly that he had caused the death of other comrades. After the confrontation, Pasuwa was transferred to another section as we were no-longer comfortable around him.

We later gathered that when Pasuwa’s section was attacked by a Rhodesian helicopter gunship at Mupudzi Bridge, Pasuwa again acted like the coward that he was and threw himself into a thorny thicket. He was subsequently captured.

When he was captured, he was taken to Bindura by Rhodesian soldiers who went on to brutally cut one of his hands. He was then released in 1980.

TC: Any other notable battles that you can still remember?

MM: I also took part in the famed Grand Reef base attack.

In our next edition, Cde Baraka will narrate to us the part that he played during the Grand Reef airbase attack. The Grand Reef airbase was being used as a springboard of Rhodesian ground and air force attacks in Mozambique.

Cde Baraka will also narrate to us how he missed death by a whisker during the fierce battle that saw him getting badly injured.