Training at Mgagao fortified our resolve

Last week, Cde RICHARD CHIRONGWE (RC), who is the secretary-general of ZANU PF’s War Veterans League, chronicled how he and 700 other cadres travelled from Mozambique to Tanzania aboard the Chamapinduzi ship to start military training at Mgagao. This week, he tells our Political Editor KUDA BWITITI (KB) his experiences at the camp.

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KB: Tell us what happened soon after you arrived at Mgagao.

RC: When we arrived at Mgagao, it had assumed a lofty status because comrades who preceded us had written the famous Mgagao Declaration, which called for the liberation struggle to be intensified.

So, we knew that coming to Mgagao meant serious business.

We were accorded ranks, in line with our previous experiences.

I was appointed a trainer and platoon commander for our military company named Dubula.

KB: What were your experiences at Mgagao?

RC: One thing about Mgagao was that it was very cold because it is located close to the Equator.

Even crops there were bigger than what we know here.

We also had a farm donated to us by the Tanzanian government, where we grew crops.

There were also some Chinese nationals who lived close to that farm.

KB: What did military training at Mgagao entail?

RC : The training was comprehensive. It encompassed the military aspect, political education, medical training and academics.

In terms of the military side, we learnt about all types of guns, how to operate them and all the parts that make up different types of weapons.

It was an extensive course in weaponry and gun techniques.

Guns were grouped according to the countries where they were manufactured.

We also learnt about military engineering, landmine setting and defusing booby traps.

The list is endless.

In terms of political education, we were lectured intensely about the history of Zimbabwe and why we came to fight the war.

We were taught about what we called necessary sacrifice, which meant, it was essential to sacrifice your own life to free millions of other Zimbabweans.

There was really a lot of comprehensive indoctrination at Mgagao to make you ready and have conviction to fight the war.

So, the training at Mgagao fortified our resolve.

Mgagao also offered academic training.

There were a lot of books to read and, in fact, I actually became a librarian at the camp.

We had many books on inspirational figures such as China’s leader, Chairman Mao, and Russia’s Lenin.

KB: What happened after you completed training at Mgagao?

RC : After our group of 700 finished training, they went to Mozambique or returned home to take part in the war.

However, I remained at Mgagao so that I could be a trainer of other comrades who were coming in.

At the end of 1976, I finally left Mgagao and went to Mtwala, in Tanzania, which is close to the border with Malawi.

There were about 40 of us who were selected to go to Mtwala as trainers.

There were six new camps that had been created, and all these had about 7 000 comrades who had come to join the war.

I was one of the instructors for Regiment 5, where there were hundreds of new recruits whom we trained.

While we were training these comrades, we also received support from the Tanzanian People’s Defence Forces, who taught them on regular warfare, since most of our internal lessons were on guerilla warfare.

In 1977, we returned to Mgagao.

This time, we were joined by experienced cadres who included detachment commanders who had taken part in the war back home or were members of the ZANLA General Staff.

They were Cde Joboringo, Brigadier Mabhenge (Freddy Matanga), Cde Kwainona, Cde Mernard Muzariri and many other seniors.

Our overall commander for that group was Cde Agrippa Chaminuka.

I had the privilege of being appointed Cde Chaminuka’s deputy.

Later on, Cde Chaminuka was deployed to Mozambique and I became the trustee commander of the trainers at Mgagao.

My task included making sure everyone was awake at 3am every day.

I then left Mgagao and was deployed to Mozambique to a base called Takawira, where I was responsible for training comrades on new ammunition such as the M90.

I was later deployed to Maputo, where I was made trustee commander.  Cde Robson Manyika was the leader at that camp, which was a farm just outside Maputo.

Cde Manyika was responsible for manpower training and selecting comrades who went for specialist training in other countries.

So, people were deployed to countries such as Lebanon, Romania and Yugoslavia.

Cde Manyika also sent me to Lebanon for a training course that was called Command and Control, Communication and Information Systems for six months.

We trained with Yasser Arafat’s PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation) from Palestine.

Soon after returning, Cde Manyika again deployed me; this time, to Romania, where I did a course on artillery.  He said the war now needed new skills that we would get from such countries.

While in Romania, I acquired multiple military skills in areas such as aircraft and radar technology.

 

Next week, Cde Chirongwe will tell us about some of the battles he fought, as he made use of the skills he acquired from the training he received in foreign lands.