The Sunday News
IN our interview last week Cde John Simbarashe Hungwe, pseudo name Christopher Magwaza, narrated how he faced racial discrimination at the then Rhodesia Railways where he was employed as a fireman and also how joined the armed struggle at a time when Zapu was facing serious internal problems in the early 70s.
Today we continue with the interview with Cde Hungwe telling our Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda (MS) about his time in the Soviet Union where he rubbed shoulders with revolutionaries such as former Mozambican Presidents Cdes Joaquim Chissano and Armando Gubueza and later on his deployment to the front. Below are excerpts of the interview:
MS: Cde Hungwe, last week you told us that you were part of the comrades who were chosen to undergo further training in the Soviet Union, tell us more about that.
Cde Hungwe: We were flown to the Soviet Union and our destination was the Sea Profoli in Ukraine where we were taken to a military academy and that was in early 1974. That is where our group met comrades from other liberation movements such as the Polisario Front, PAIGC of Guinea Bissau, which was under the colonial rule of the Portuguese, Frelimo, PLAN Swapo and MPLA of Angola. Among the Frelimo comrades were Cdes Joaquim Chissano and Armanda Guebuza who as fate would have it were to later in life become State Presidents of Mozambique.
MS: What were Cdes Chissano and Gubueza there for in Ukraine? Did you get closer to them?
Cde Hungwe: Those two were part of Frelimo senior military commanders who had come to update their military skills.
Remember those two were guerilla fighters and they were there to learn about new weapons as part of their refresher course. On your question on whether I got closer to them, yes I did. They had their own programmes and we had our own but there were times when we could sit and talk, mingle I mean and so yes, I spoke to them on numerous occasions. However, you should consider that at that time they were not Presidents but fighters like us, although they were senior commanders, people who had seen action against the Portuguese. In fact when having meals our table was close to that of the Frelimo. As comrades we will speak. But these comrades from the Portuguese colonies had to leave when the political situation took a dramatic turn in Portugal. There was a bloodless coup in Portugal in April 1974 where the government of Marcello Caetano was overthrown and General Spinola took over. The new dispensation in Portugal then decolonised all its colonies and then our comrades from Mozambique, Angola, Guinea Bissau had to leave as the events in Portugal resulted in the birth of transitional authorities in those countries. So that is how we parted ways with our comrades such Chissano and Gubueza in the Soviet Union.
MS: So what were you in Ukraine for?
Cde Hungwe: As for us the Zipra contingent it was there to acquire more knowledge in artillery, communications, political science, intelligence, anti-air weapons, infantry and engineering. For one to be a senior commander in a force, that person should have covered all the aspects I have mentioned above especially if you are a brigade commander because that unit should be covered with units from the fields of engineering, intelligence, infantry and so on. The commander should be a jack of all trades so to speak. That is why even Eddie Sigoge, a veteran guerilla went with us to the Soviet Union. That is why veteran guerillas such as Chissano and Gubueza were there as well, a commander should keep on learning as well. So in the Soviet Union we were being trained to command, instruct and fight. Remember we were building a force.
MS: How long were you there?
Cde Hungwe: We spent 11 months and our commander for the 11 of us was Sigoge. I deputised him for sometime while Marshal Mpofu was the commissar. When we were about to finish Cde Chad Chigwedere took over as deputy commander to Sigoge. Towards the end of our training we were taken for more serious practicals at what was called the Space City, an advanced training facility where we met the now President of Cuba, Raul Castro who was also attending a military course.
There they were using modern anti-air installations. After that we rounded up our training and returned to Zambia. When we got to Zambia I was deployed to the front in the Chipepo area, which we called the Middle Kariba. It is on the Zambian side and just directly opposite to Chief Saba’s area on the Zimbabwean side. However, I have left something important. You know on our way back to Zambia we passed through Tanzania and at the port the Soviet Embassy officials took us to the port where we were shown three big ships with all sorts of military hardware which included ZGUs, Grad Ps, Gun 75, B10s, AK-47s and several trucks. But you will not believe it that 90 percent of that military hardware never reached the Zipra camps in Zambia.
MS: What happened?
Cde Hungwe: We were told that some elements in our host countries felt we were going to be too powerful more than the host countries themselves. It was not the leaders of those countries but army officers. That was disappointing because the Soviet military attaché had told us that after your training we had decided to arm you. So I spent three weeks at Mwembeshi while Sigoge returned to his duties of being an instructor at Morogoro.
MS: Then tell us about your deployment?
Cde Hungwe: I went to the front in the company of comrades such as Francis Chipunza who was our commander, Ernest Gumbo, the medic, Albert Mudiwa, Arthur Materere. Our unit had nine fighters and there were also others who were deployed there already, comrades like Lawrence, Wilfred, Timothy, Thizi and Dumisani. There was another deployment a few kilometres away.
MS: Then on operations, tell us what was happening.
Cde Hungwe: We used to cross to Rhodesian for operations and return back after carrying out attacks. In one of our first operations and that was in 1975 we had crossed over and when we were on our way to the Zambian side we found out that the enemy had taken our dinghies. Little did we know that there were PATU (Police Anti-Terrorist Unit) details nearby. There was heavy fighting and we were six. We did very well but lost two comrades, one of them being Thizi. We made some capture and one of those captured was a guy called Shumba who was a sergeant. Shumba went on to be integrated into our forces and is now a senior police officer in Harare. From that resultant battle we killed seven and managed to capture some speed boats as well. That incident happened in the Chief Saba area. There were many battles and at times we would lay ambushes or sabotage some government installations.
MS: So you concentrated in the Binga area?
Cde Hungwe: Not all, at times we would get to Lupane, Hwange and Tsholotsho. I was in the unit that shot down a Rhodesian helicopter in the Gwerambira area in Hwange District and also downed two in Tsholotsho at Makhamisa Line near the Dlamini area. During that battle in Tsholotsho we were in the company of 33 recruits. We lost one comrade called James but all the recruits survived and the 11 guerillas. Later on while I was on my own but in the company of a recruit I found about 46 people, most of them workers of RTC (Rhodesia Timber Company ) at a gambling school. I force-marched them to Botswana to join the armed struggle. Before stumbling on those people at the gambling school we had came across two white bosses of the company whom we dealt with, we just cleared them. Then there was the détente period when there was a lull in the fighting and also there was a time when the Zipra and Zanla forces were combined under the banner of Zipa.
MS: Were you part of Zipa?
Cde Hungwe: I was one of the comrades who did not go to Mozambique for that integration exercise and when it was our time to join others, Zipa was already disintegrating and so I was never part of Zipa. Some of the comrades that were left in Zambia included people like Cain Malaba, Cocks, Mwana, Chauke, Ernest Gumbo, Arthur Materere, Francis Chipunza and Tendamoto, a Zimbabwean of Mozambican origin who was related to the Frelimo leader Mondlane. While we were still in Zambia there was a disturbing incident when a Zambian Lieutenant-Colonel tried to incite us to rebel against the party leadership. He told us that it was time for us to choose leaders among ourselves and push forward the armed struggle instead of waiting to be led by civilians.
MS: What was your response?
Cde Hungwe: We told him in no uncertain terms that we were already politicians and armed politicians for that matter. I was one of the vocal ones and I told that officer that we did not enlist to earn money like him. I told him that we were fighting for our liberty and that we were in Zambia because we had been organised by the same politicians he wanted us to rebel against and while we appreciated that his country was our host there was no way they could get involved in our internal affairs to a stage where they influence things on who should lead us. He left a disappointed fellow and we were not surprised that the five star food we were getting was reduced drastically. We started receiving sub-standard food. We were then ordered to leave Mwembeshi and taken to a certain spot near the Lusaka Airport. While we were near the airport Elliot Masengo (late Harold Chirenda) came to us and gave us weapons such as Mortar 60 and 80, ZGU, Desheka and AK-47s. He told us to start practising as we would soon be going to the front. We were preparing to get our bases along the Zambezi River.
MS: It was a case of restarting the whole process.
Cde Hungwe: Not all when we withdrew from the bases during the détente we left a skeletal staff as we wanted to avoid infiltration by the enemy. My group this time went to Siampondo, an area that is on the confluence of Gwayi River and the Zambezi. My group this time had new comrades among them Godfrey Bull who had trained at Morogoro. However, in terms of operations we were moving in groups of 11 and my unit was commanded by Cde Killion Sibanda who was deputised by Cde Elliot Mahlole.
Next week Cde Hungwe continues with the interview and will narrate how he was arrested by Zipra comrades when he returned to Zambia to seek supplies. Cde Hungwe also talks how he almost lost his life at the hands of senior National Security Organisation among them head of the counter-intelligence unit the late Gordon Butshe. Cde Hungwe was also part of the Pamodzi detachment that operated in Lupane which was operating outside the main command line of Zipra. The detachment was allegedly no longer taking orders from the Zipra headquarters in Zambia.
