The Sunday Mail
This week we begin a conversation with CDE FRANCIS POTAI (FP), whose nom de guerre was Cde Nyika Muchineripi. At the tender age of 19, he made the taxing journey to Mozambique to train as a freedom fighter. Through sheer determination, he made the journey on foot and alone. He, however, possessed one skill that proved to be invaluable to the war effort. Cde Pota shares his story with NORMAN MUCHEMWA (NM).
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NM: You are one of the fighters who participated in the liberation struggle, can you tell us your name and your early life before joining the liberation struggle?
FP: My name is Francis Potai. I was born in Zaka in Masvingo province on February 7 1957.
I went to Madondo Primary School in 1963 – when it was still Sub-A – until 1969 when I completed my Grade Seven. That is the time the syllabus was changing and we were moving from Standard Six to writing Grade Seven.
I enrolled at St Anthony’s Secondary School in Zaka in 1970 for my Form One until the end of the year. I failed to continue with my studies due to financial challenges.
I am the first born in a family of six from my mother’s side, since my father had two wives.
I joined the liberation struggle in 1976 and my liberation war name was Cde Nyika Muchineripi.
Before joining the struggle, I worked as a mechanic at Makombe Mubatsiri in Mashava, and had obtained a driver’s licence.
NM: What motivated you to join the liberation struggle at such a young age?
FT: I joined the liberation struggle beginning of 1976 due to the oppressive environment we were living in, which included mistreatment of blacks by the whites, as well as restrictions on freedom of movement.
My home area of Zaka is one area liberation fighters operated from and by the time I joined the struggle, comrades were now a permanent feature in our area. Due to the proximity of Zaka to the Mozambican border, we used to listen to Radio Maputo and Voice of Zimbabwe, where we could hear a lot about activities taking place both at the rear and the war front.
Most of the information was to urge comrades to intensify the war and also to encourage more people to join the struggle.
Information about why the fighters took up arms was also part of the messages being broadcast at these radio stations. This kind of information and activities in my home area greatly contributed to my desire to join the struggle and fight the regime’s oppression.
I left to join the struggle on my own and walked the journey alone.
NM: You say you crossed on your own from Zaka to Mozambique, did you encounter any challenges and did you meet any comrades along the way?
FP: Yes, I crossed on my own without any difficulties. I could feel the urge to go and that is why I had to take that long journey alone.
I left Zaka and went through Chipinge; there was no transport on those routes and I had to walk, sleeping on verandas of various shops. The fact that I was walking alone helped, to a greater extent, as this would not raise any suspicions. While in Chipinge, at the border with Mozambique, I met a group of 15 comrades who had just crossed into the then Rhodesia, coming to the war front.
This was my first encounter with comrades during the journey. I introduced myself and presented my case, and the commander of the group, Cde Gabarinocheka, was surprised that I had embarked on this journey on my own.
As standard procedure, they did their security vetting for two days and after they were satisfied, they gave me the go-ahead to proceed since they were supposed to be deployed deep into Rhodesia. They gave me directions and told me that as soon as I crossed into Mozambique, I would encounter a group of Frelimo soldiers known as macamarada. They had their base just after the border and patrolled the area regularly.
I did not face any difficulties crossing into Mozambique, as villagers from Chikore Village along the border knew what was happening and they were also of great help as they were familiar with this terrain and activities at the border.
NM: You were now in a foreign land and still alone, can you take us through your journey and experiences from the border?
FP: I crossed the border into Mozambique and true to what the comrades and villagers had told me, I had an encounter with two Frelimo soldiers.
Communication was a challenge but one of them seemed to understand a bit of English, and they took me to a small base that had around 10 to 15 soldiers. They asked why I had crossed the border and I told them I had come to join the liberation struggle.
I had to strongly convince them that I indeed wanted to join the war. The fact that I was alone raised a lot of suspicions and they wanted to be very certain.
After they were convinced, two soldiers took me deep into Mozambique. We walked for some time until we reached Espungabera.
The place where these soldiers took me was much bigger and I later learnt that it was a combined base for both Zanla and Frelimo fighters. By the time we arrived at this base, I was so weak because I had developed malaria – it was the rainy season and there were a lot of mosquitoes.
The security vetting this time around was not intense like the previous one, and I was allowed to join my fellow countrymen.
NM: How was the situation at this base?
FP: The situation at this base was very tough, there was not enough food. We even used grass as blankets.
But having travelled a very long distance on foot, I was very tired to a point where I never bothered whether I was sleeping in blankets or not. There was a clinic at Espungabera; that is where I was treated for malaria. I was lucky to get early treatment because malaria was one of the most deadly diseases at the time.
While still being treated, we experienced food shortages due to the fact that Mozambique was coming from a protracted war of liberation against the Portuguese. I was in that health facility for more than a week, getting treatment before I was released.
While still in that facility, I overheard the Frelimo soldiers and Zanla fighters discussing why there was so much hunger at this place. It turned out that all the vehicles were grounded, so there was no transport to collect food. Storage facilities were at some place kwainzi kuDhondo, that is where food was being kept and it was quite far. This place was more like a rural service centre.
Due to my experiences at home while working at Makombe Mubatsiri, I was used to do ingrecoveries of trucks after breakdowns.
So, when my health improved, I approached one of the comrades and asked him what the problem with the numerous broken down vehicles was.
He told me they had no technical experience to either service or repair them. So I offered my services to try and resuscitate them.
NM: How did the comrade react since you were new and had not yet received any formal military training?
FP: The comrade I approached was from Zanla and he went to have a chat with other comrades and then the Frelimo fighters. He came back to me and they took me to where a fleet of trucks were parked.
To my surprise, three of the trucks only had air lock and I managed to bleed them and they all started working right then. Frelimo used the bush-to-office method and they often had no technical expertise in most of their departments.
When Mozambique gained independence, most Portuguese with technical experience left the country. After I managed to start the three vehicles, then came another challenge: they had no drivers at this camp, so they asked the Zanla comrades that I assist them with the task to go to Dhondo and fetch some food.
At first, the arrangement was accepted, but I only had one trip with them.
I was not aware that the Frelimo soldiers were planning to recruit me to their side so that I keep on helping them. When I came back, the Zanla fighters had arranged to transfer me from that base.
NM: After leaving this base, what happened next and when did you finally receive military training?
FP: From Espungabera I was taken to Muchenedzi, which was also one of the Zanla bases. I spent some days at this base. It was also more like a transit camp for comrades coming to the front.
While at this base, I remember there was a group led by Cde Midzi that was going to the war front. They had all kinds of guns and had been instructed to deploy into Rhodesia.
For those who were still going for training, I still remember Cde Urahwenungu, Cde Spencer and Cde Mhike. During that time, as recruits, we were not allowed to reveal our real names or to share any information about where we came from – this was done for security reasons.
Because of such an arrangement, it was difficult to know some comrades who were either going for training or going to the war front.
When we left this base, we went to Chibawawa. This was a refugee camp and the commander there was Chidhiga, who was a camarada. We stayed there for about two months and this was now around July 1976.
While still there, Cde Jumbo came with a group of other fighters; he is the current Commander 2 Brigade. He was in the administration department and he came to look for people who had technical experience.
He took nurses, teachers and ini ndakatorwa due to my experience in mechanics and as a driver. That is how quickly I managed to leave this place and we were taken to Chimoio.
Some people would stay there for more than a year but I was lucky I left this place in no time.
NM: Take us through your journey to Chimoio and how you finally received your training?
FP: I was taken straight to Chimoio where I thought I would receive training, but before training, I had to help out in the transport department.
The time I arrived at Chimoio was when the war was heating up, people being taken for training, logistics vachimhanyawo nekoko and it basically meant the transport section was a critical and busy section. Transport section yainge isati yave nevanhu vakawanda, hence the need for my expertise.
I remember we – those with experience in mechanics – were taken to Chimoio and we were shown a variety of cars that were left by the Portuguese zvichinzi vanokwanisa kumutsa mutsai.
Our commander in the transport and logistics section was Cde Joe (Colonel Manjengwa). He is now a retired colonel in Mazowe.
NM: While performing these tasks you were yet to receive military training, how did you relate with trained comrades?
FP: Yes, I was yet to receive military training but the comrades were very satisfied with security clearances from the moment I arrived at Espungabera.
They were also happy with how I helped them on our way to Chimoio. There was great demand for mechanics in the transport department.
Like I said before, the war was gathering pace and there was need to carry material to areas close to the border. Some material was heavy, so it was not possible to carry such material from faraway places like Chimoio, so the transport section had to take the material to reasonable places, macomrades vozopedzisa netsoka.
So the kind of assistance I was offering helped me to go for training ahead of other comrades, as cadres with the same technical experience as mine were in demand.
Transporting war material and personnel to the front needed someone who had gone through the paces.
I was finally taken to Tembue around October 1976, where I finally received my military training.
To be continued . . .
