The Sunday News
IN the 1960s very few people were crossing the border into neighbouring countries to join the armed struggle.
However, one of the few to do that is Cde Kenny Sibanda whose pseudonym was Cde Dallas Nyamukapa.
Cde Sibanda or Nyamukapa, as some of his former colleagues prefer to call him even now, made a solo journey to Botswana en-route to Zambia to join the armed struggle. He was to receive military training at Morogoro in Tanzania in 1969. In a series of interviews with our Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda (MS) Cde Sibanda talks about how he ended up being detained by his colleagues soon after arriving from Hurungwe in Mashonaland West where he was operating. He was later thrown into Mboroma Camp in Zambia which the Zipra Military Intelligence kept “their prisoners of war” among them those accused of being Rhodesian spies and guerillas accused of being renegades. Cde Sibanda speaks with pain when he narrates how he survived Operation Vodka in 1978 when the Rhodesian army raided the poorly defended Mboroma. Below are excerpts of the interview.
MS: Most of your colleagues in the armed struggle refer to you by your pseudonym Dallas Nyamukapa, so who is this Dallas Nyamukapa?
Cde Sibanda: Like you have said I was called Dallas Nyamukapa during the armed struggle, but my real name is Kenny Sibanda. I was born on 3 March 1948 at Ntulula Line in Tsholotsho District. I started my primary education at Kapane and I was there until Standard Three. It was not nice going to school because of the distance, just imagine a mere Sub-A walking 15km to school every morning and covering the same distance after school five days in a week. It was not easy, then when the time came for me to do Standard Four my father who was working for the then Rhodesia Railways took me to Bulawayo. However, he had to ask some of our relatives to offer me accommodation as I could not stay with him as their servants’ quarters at the railways were meant for bachelors. During those days the white colonialists were doing everything in their power to discourage blacks from living in urban areas with their families. That is why you see those hostels in Makokoba which were meant for men, the whites were only interested in having blacks for labour and nothing else. I then moved to live with relatives in Number Six (Pelandaba) where I enrolled at Induba Primary School. I did my Standard Four and Five there after I went to work as a storekeeper at my uncle’s shop at Mbembeswana in Kezi.
MS: When did you become politically active leading to you leaving the country to join the armed struggle?
Cde Sibanda: There was a lot of racism that was perpetuated by the Rhodesian government which had reduced blacks into second class citizens in their country so I felt the urge to leave Rhodesia as Zimbabwe was called then and join the armed struggle. I wanted to fight the systematic racism that was being practised by the colonial government. So it could have been December 1967 when my uncle sent me to Bulawayo to go and buy goods for the shop. Since all along I had been planning to go and join the armed struggle, I saw that as an opportunity to leave that month. My uncle would from time to time send me to Bulawayo on that errand but in that December I decided to leave.
MS: So you left with the money meant to buy the goods for the shop?
Cde Sibanda: No! No! What I did was that I bought the goods and sent them to Kezi through Pelandaba Bus Services. I even sent the change. I then hooked up with two other youngsters, I was still young then by the way. Those two were Zebed Ngwenya and Christopher Sibanda, a Shona speaking friend of mine we had grown up together at Pelandaba Township. We planned on how we were to leave Bulawayo for Botswana on our way to Zambia. However, the two pulled out at the last minute and after that I found myself embarking on a solo journey to Botswana. I boarded a bus from Renkini which was travelling to Plumtree and from there to the rural areas in Mangwe District. After Plumtree Town I dropped off in Tjitji area. After getting directions from locals I managed to cross the border into Botswana. When I was crossing the border I got transport to Francistown. In Francistown I reported my presence to the police. After satisfying themselves that I was genuine I was moved to Blue House, a residence that accommodated cadres from different liberation movements not only from Zimbabwe as there were people from ANC of South Africa and Swapo of Namibia. At first from the Zapu side we were only two, myself and Lameck Mpala.
MS: Just the two of you?
Cde Sibanda: Those days there were few people who were joining the war. However, a few weeks down the line we were joined by the now late Jevan Maseko, Bernard Maphosa and Newman Nyathi. These three were Zapu youths who had been released from Gonakudzingwa where they had been detained and were a bit older than myself. Then three weeks later we were flown to Zambia in a Swazi aircraft and that was January of the following year. At Lusaka International Airport we were met by Zapu officials. We were taken to the Zimbabwe House (ZH) and then later driven to Luthuli Camp which housed Zapu and ANC guerillas. Among the trained personnel there from the Zapu side were comrades like Gordon Munyanyi (late Tapson Sibanda) and Pondai. From Luthuli House we were later moved to a base which was called Seven Corners along the Zambezi River. We were to find other trained Zipra and Umkhonto Wesizwe guerillas. Among them was now former Cabinet Minister who is currently Zanu-PF Secretary for Administration, Dr Obert Moses Mpofu. Some people might not know that Dr Mpofu is a senior guerilla who trained ahead of many people, some former and others still serving in the country’s security organs. If I am not mistaken Albert Nxele was also there.
MS: How long were you at that facility?
Cde Sibanda: We did not stay long there as one day we were just told to pack our things and leave as soon as possible. There were suspicions of a pending attack on the camp. Some of us were taken to Mwembeshi. Then later we were taken to Tanzania for real military training and that was in 1969. We were trained at Morogoro where the camp commander was Sam Mfakazi. Among our instructors were Pondai, Alfred Nikita Mangena, Ambrose Mutinhiri and Munyanyi.
MS: Do you remember some of the recruits who were in your group?
Cde Sibanda: I trained together with now Retired Brigadier-General Abel Mazinyane, Jevan Maseko who was called Enoch Tshangane, Stanley Gagisa, Ben Maphosa, Eddie Sigoge Mlotshwa, Newman Tshuma, the first commander of Four Brigade in Masvingo after independence, Tjile Nleya whom we called Ben Mathe or Dubhu, Jeffrey Ndlovu (Kenneth Murwiri) who lost his sight when a landmine exploded in his face in 1979.
– To be continued
