The Sunday News
Today we continue our interview with former Zipra instructor at Nampundwe Transit Camp in Zambia, Cde Cetshwayo Sithole pseudonym Cde Tonderai Ngoma. In the interview with our Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda (MS), Cde Sithole narrates how they were able to transform recruits from the civilian life in preparation for the military world. Below are excerpts of the interview:
MS: You said all liberation movements were still in Zambia, that is Zanu and Zapu and also during that time Froliz, so how were you operating?
Cde Sithole: Representatives of political parties used to come and the Zambian army would say “okay guys those that want to go to Mozambique, that side, those that want to remain in Zambia remain this side”. So it was pretty obvious that those who wanted to go to Mozambique were Zanu, and those that wanted to remain in Zambia were Zapu. But this information was not being given to the leadership of Zapu, that they were withholding some people who came from Botswana and were Zapu cadres.
MS: So Zapu did not know that it had recruits at Nampundwe?
Cde Sithole: Dabengwa did not even know, having come down to Francistown, they did not know, this information was hidden, because probably they might have, because Muzorewa had told them that everybody who went outside the country was recruited, was my recruit. We suffered that fate until a naughty guy from our team, you know who were in tatters, showed us a “China shop,” we called it a “China shop” because there were bales of clothing, but there were mainly for women. So we used to wear women’s clothes and other things, because we were really in tatters.
MS: What about food?
Cde Sithole: In that regard we were being properly looked after by the Zambians. The Zambian army was bringing food through the OAU Liberation Committee. The food was alright but the Zambian army was frustrated as well as to why we did not want to go to Mozambique for training. We stood our ground and said we wanted to meet our leaders first because we are Zapu. You see the time we went to Zambia, it was during the time when the Frontline States felt the Zambezi River was a big obstacle, so it was better for the fighters to operate from Mozambique where the border was not that restrictive.
MS: Then what measures did you put in place to meet the Zapu leadership?
Cde Sithole: Among the group was a naughty fellow called Grey Dube. He and others hatched a plan to go to Lusaka and look for Zapu offices, they went straight into Lusaka. They sneaked out and went because Nampundwe was between 25 and 30 kilometres from Lusaka. However, they boarded some pirate taxi, which they used to get there. Immediately after their journey, Zapu officials came to the camp.
MS: Who was among those officials?
Cde Sithole: It should have been Dumiso Dabengwa again. The officials drove back with our guys and from there we started to receive clothing and everything. Then later we were combined with our fellow comrades who were at Mboroma. Those guys from Mboroma were also held down when a female Zanla combatant, Pedzisai used a panga to slice a Zambian army captain. She was shot dead by the Zambian army and that army officer died as well.
That incident happened at Mboroma, which at that time housed Zipra, Zanla and Froliz. At that time Mboroma was just a holding camp because there was détente, also the aim was to bring all the forces together. So after combining our group at Nampundwe and those from Mboroma, the number rose to over 800. That is when the famous Group of 800 was born. So we are the ones who opened the Mwembeshi Camp, before we were relocated to Tanzania.
We were at Mwembeshi probably for just three months. During that time while we were training, we were also constructing the facility. The terrain at Mwembeshi is very mountainous, a terrain that suits a guerilla, the terrain is very difficult to manoeuvre in. Heavy rains fall there and the rivers are always flowing with the vegetation ever green, which is very good for providing cover.
MS: Who were the people in charge of the camp?
Cde Sithole: The camp commander was Sam Madondo, the chief of staff being Elish Gagisa (Stanley Nleya), Ndumba, Richard Mataure, Lemmy, Busobenyoka and Billy Mzamo. The training was very vigorous, Gagisa has just returned from Lebanon where he was attached to the PLO together with the current Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander, General Philip Valerio Sibanda who was called Annanias Gwenzi.
MS: I am told Gagisa was very tough, some say his methods were just like torture.
Cde Sithole: Oh my God, I have never come across such a thing, I had never actually. You know, things like the obstacle crossing, the jumping from the ladder, we have comrades who broke their legs, yeah because it was more practical really than anything else. Even the crawling under the wire mesh and others things, live bullets, you know, really practical. The prudence, the anticipation, that the command and the leadership had really paid dividends in tight situations. It helped a lot. But the intensity of the training was just out of this world.
However, we were later moved to Mgagao in Tanzania to join our colleagues from Zanla as it was during the Zipa time. The move to combine the forces did not last long because of the differences that were there during that time and so we completed our training at the Zipra camp, Morogoro.
MS: Let’s come to Nampundwe, when were you deployed there?
Cde Sithole: It could have been early 1977 when I was deployed to Nampundwe. I became the head of department looking at those selected to undergo military training. There was a quite a number of us there, we could have been 16 or so among the colleagues, Cdes Teddy, Finish, Prince, Mandevu, Bhokwe, Simon and Lebanon.
MS: So what type of military facility was Nampundwe?
Cde Sithole: It was basically a transit camp, I was an instructor at Nampundwe, heading a department, which looked at those selected to undergo military training.
MS: So specifically what were you supposed to do to the recruits?
Cde Sithole: Our mandate was to introduce the recruits into military training, into military behaviour, discipline, physical fitness, tactics and other things related to the demands needed in a soldier.
MS: From those that I have spoken to Nampundwe was not an easy place, it was hell on earth, some have said. Why was it like that? Were you venting out your frustrations on the poor and innocent recruits?
Cde Sithole: Not all, it was not easy to handle the newly arrivals as it was a turning point for somebody from a civilian life into a new world that somebody is getting into. Nampundwe was not easy, you would find our brothers coming from South Africa (injiva) clad in suits and Boston hats, coming to join the war, so there was a need to make that person ready to be controlled and change his situation to conform to the demands of a war zone. There was also a need to have control over the people in the event of an attack like a bombing. We had to make people change so that they were able to take instructions.
MS: What about the numbers at Nampundwe?
Cde Sithole: The holding capacity was so huge as you could find up to 10 000 people at one go, so we had to separate them, the school going age, that is those under the age of 16, they were transferred straight to facilities like JZ to continue with their education. Then there were the elderly people who had gone past their prime, some being disabled, some were also taken to JZ to carry out ancillary duties like cooking. Some of those were sent to Freedom Camp (FC) where we had a small agricultural institute run by the treasurer-general, Cde Amon Jirira. Among those were not only the disabled, but even the injured active combatants were taken to FC to be taught life skills such as rearing chickens, pigs, dairy cows and so on.
MS: Let’s go back a little bit, so people were coming to join thinking they could do as they please, grab a gun and return to Rhodesia to fight or go wherever?
Cde Sithole: You can’t fault somebody for failing to take instructions that they are not aware of and especially it was difficult to tell people that you are taking instructions in order for this and that. It’s like sending somebody to a secondary school or even ECD, like an ECD but in a war zone. We had to protect everyone at all costs, no one was supposed to die. Hence Nampundwe was not a facility where people were supposed to die and if somebody was to get injured or die, then you were in for it because you would be accused of negligence.
One was to be subjected to total punishment for that negligence. Also discipline was key as when people were being taken to other countries for training, suppose they were to be found to be undisciplined, then the blame would come via the headquarters to us, when it comes back, the level of embarrassment, it’s huge just imagine the level of embarrassment.
MS: In nutshell what was the purpose of Nampundwe?
Cde Sithole: It was to prepare the cadres for the life in the military, from the start they had to know why was that weapon in their hands, what is the purpose of that weapon, a lot of people might have thought taking that gun, going around robbing people to satisfy themselves, such thoughts were to be nipped in the bud. Some could have been handling the weapon presenting them with a chance to settle old scores. That was not the case.
n To be continued next week
