The Sunday News
Charles Dube
JOSEPH Takundwa left the Rhodesian army through devious means. He hatched a plan and gave himself a self-inflicted wound. He pulled the trigger of his gun and the bullet completely ripped off his toe. He had to be detained in hospital for two months. He would have to walk with a limp for the rest of his life. Also because of the injury, he was no longer fit to keep on working as a soldier. He was forced to retire on medical grounds.
However, Takundwa felt consoled that there was an even more important role that he could still play in order to save Rhodesia, his beloved country from what he refers to as “bloody communists.” He says in fact he would find this work more rewarding than the more straight forward military work that he had been doing. That was when he first met Nyati. Remember they became wicked associates. They committed abhorrent crimes together.
According to Joseph Takundwa, Nyati was a highly placed information officer in the notorious Selous Scout battalion. Story had it that Nyati was in fact a former freedom fighter who had betrayed his comrades after being offered large sums of money by Rhodesian authorities. Now he was responsible for collecting information from operational areas in the Midlands province.
He was also in charge of the recruitment and payment of informers. He operated from a very humble looking office in some obscure corner in Enkeldorn.
Takundwa finds himself knocking at Nyati’s office looking for an alternative job from the military one. Nyati could not just be fooled as he suspiciously inspects Takundwa from top to bottom. When Takundwa says he is coming from Inkomo Barracks Nyati asks for proof to show that. Takundwa is determined to assume duty as soon as possible such that Nyati cautions him.
Nyati says: “This is one of the most dangerous jobs in the whole world.” He asks Takundwa if he has ever heard of the famous song Mutengesi chenjera translated to mean “Sell out watch out”.
Nyati goes on to strike the perfect note for Takundwa. He tells him that if he is careful and clever, this job will make him very rich within no time at all. If the information he will bring results in the capture of one to five freedom fighters, he would get $10 000 for that. If the number of freedom fighters killed or captured exceeds five, then he could get $15 000 or more. If the information he brought was good enough to lead to the capture of a special group of highly elusive freedom fighters, he would get $25 000.
Joseph Takundwa proves his love for money as he says: “This was the kind of money that I had always dreamt of . . .” He is eager to start but is stopped on his tracks by Nyati who tells him that there are a lot of things he should learn there and asks him if he has ever seen a radio transmitter famously known as “Chi over-over” emphasising that the important thing Takundwa should know is that it can get him killed. He repeatedly stated that no one should know that Takundwa was in possession of that radio.
Nyati gave Takundwa instructions and encouraged him to keep it a secret that he was once a soldier. Takundwa started work and it did not take him long to find out there were three groups of freedom fighters operating in the Nharira area. For more information which could assist him in his job he enlisted the services of his son Lovemore, he hoped could have picked up some important bits and pieces of information he could make use of.
After two weeks word had just been passed around that people should come to the kraal head’s homestead for a pungwe. That was the moment he had been waiting for. Takundwa passed the information to Nyati. Just before midnight, the Rhodesian soldiers attacked. One freedom fighter died. Ten civilians were shot and killed in crossfire. These are war tendencies whereby some people betray their own people and work with the enemy.
Nyati betrayed his comrades after being offered large sums of money by Rhodesian authorities. Joseph Takundwa was a soldier in the Rhodesian army fighting his own kith and kin. Even after retiring from the army on medical grounds still continued working for the Rhodesia army under cover. Nyati patted him on the shoulder like a teacher encouraging a pupil to do better in the next assignment.
Joseph Takundwa was given money to open a shop at Nharira Township so that freedom fighters would demand goods from his shop. He was told to give them anything they wanted. If the freedom fighters asked for clothes or shoes he was to contact Nyati and his superiors immediately. They would supply him with suitable clothes and shoes. This is the trick used by the enemy to kill freedom fighters.
Within a few months Takundwa had established himself as one of the most up and coming businessmen at Nharira Township.
As anticipated the freedom fighters sent a mujibha to ask for assistance in the form of groceries. Takundwa willingly supplied the consignment. Within a few months he had established himself as the one of the most outstanding supporters of the liberation struggle in Nharira area. Not only did he comply with the demands made by the freedom fighters, but was also prepared to voluntarily offer both material and financial assistance.
The freedom fighters had developed a high level of confidence in Takundwa that they even asked him to buy them jeans and shoes if he could afford to do so. Nyati was delighted about that development. That was the chance he was waiting for. He had all the clothes that the freedom fighters were asking for ready. He strongly cautioned Takundwa not to tamper with those clothes. He was told to give them all those clothes, not wear or even touch any of those clothes himself.
We concur with Takundwa’s feelings about those clothes. He says, although Nyati had not been explicit, he was vaguely suspicious about those clothes. There was something sinister about them. He had heard a story about a group of freedom fighters that had been wiped out after being given poisoned clothes. Takundwa believed that those clothes would make him the most trusted supporter of the liberation struggle in the area. This could earn him a position in the ranks of the freedom fighters.
However, things took a dramatic turn for him. Hoping for good news from the freedom fighters, Takundwa got a shock of his life from his nephew Nicholas a local mujibha. Nicholas tells him to run away for the freedom fighters were coming after him. The clothes Takundwa had given them were poisoned. Two of the freedom fighters were already dead and they were coming to take him. That is why we find Joseph Takundwa leaving in a huff. He left his son Lovemore behind to face the wrath of the freedom fighters who killed him for his father’s crimes.
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