The Sunday News
ALL roads lead to various Heroes Acres across as the nation remembers the gallant sons and daughters of the soil who died during the period of the liberation struggle.
One of the comrades who survived death by a whisker during the country’s armed struggle is Retired Major Simoni Muyambo, a former Zanla combatant who survived a poisoning incident when a villager laced food with poison that was given to a platoon of freedom fighters in the Mapanzure area of Zvishavane District.
From that callous incident, Rtd Maj Muyambo whose pseudonym name was Cde Mambo Mlambo was the only survivor as 23 of his comrades passed on. Rtd Maj Muyambo related the incident to our Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda and Features Editor Vincent Gono. Below are excerpts of the interview. Read on . . .
SN: Cde Muyambo, to begin our interview may you please give us your brief background.
Rtd Maj Muyambo: I was born Simoni Muyambo on 24 May 1954 in an area called Chikore in Chipinge, Manicaland Province.
For my education I went to the local schools and also did my secondary education in Gutu District in what is now called Masvingo, which then was For Victoria. However, I didn’t finish my school. In 1974 I was swept by the revolutionary spirit and I went and boarded a bus to Zambia but I got arrested along the way as I did not have a National Identity card.
SN: How were you arrested?
Rtd Maj Muyambo: What happened was that when we got in an area near Kariba we found a roadblock and I was asked where I was going, I explained to the police that I was going to my visit my uncle in Zambia.
I fact I had an uncle in Zambia, Cde William Ndangana, who was one of the senior commanders of the armed struggle under Zanla. However, from the road block they told me I should not go to Zambia as that country was being used as training ground for terrorists, so I was sent back and advised to go to school.
I was 20 years old then. However, when I got to Chinhoyi I didn’t want to go back home, I then got into a bus that took me to Mangula (Mhangura). I arrived at a place called Chinyerere where I got a job as a general hand, we were made to dig holes. I was given four hectares of land to dig and from that I was able to earn some money.
In the meantime I was keeping my ears on the ground learning about the operations of the comrades, I wanted to follow every detail of what the comrades were up to. However, I went back to Chipinge in 1975, but on the 27th of August 1975 I crossed the border into Mozambique as a number of people including school children from Chikore and Mt Selinda were abandoning their education to join the armed struggle. People were leaving in droves to join the armed struggle.
SN: When you arrived in Mozambique which was you first port of call?
Rtd Maj Muyambo: Others and I arrived at a place called Espungabera where our details were taken down and later on a unit from Frelimo came and picked us.
We were taken to Chibawawa where there were many refugees. It was at Chibawawa where former President Mugabe and his late wife Cde Sally came and addressed us. They explained the importance of war and encouraged us that after receiving training we should go back and fight the enemy.
SN: Then for your training where did you go?
Rtd Maj Muyambo: We were taken to Tete Province and I was trained at Tembwe at Base One. Our training went on for three months and we had covered everything needed in the military.
Besides the military training we were also taught politics, which was very crucial when explaining the importance of the armed struggle to the masses. Among the comrades that I trained with was Cde Zororo Duri, who died in a car accident after Independence.
He had come from the University of Rhodesia, he was brilliant. The training was difficult, coupled with the shortage of logistics such as food, but we held on. After training I was deployed to the front in Gaza Province, at first I operated in Mberengwa and later on I was moved to Zvishavane.
When we left Mozambique we were a group of 100, but it was split along the way as comrades went in different operational areas.
Our group penetrated through to Belingwe now Mberengwa. We went through the Bhinya Road, a road between Chikwalakwala and Limpopo. One of our members stepped on a anti-personnel mine and got injured and he eventually died.
SN: When you got into contact with the masses, what was the message?
Rtd Maj Muyambo: At first we were not sure of the masses, so we would sneak into a village and approach a family and politicise. On the question of what was the message, we told them that we were their children and encouraged the people that they should keep on supporting us, be it prayers or performing their rituals to their ancestors and it helped us a lot. Like I said we first went to Mberengwa East then proceeded to Zvishavane. However, there was a disturbing incident when we were in Mberengwa.
SN: What was that?
Rtd Maj Muyambo: Our quarter master, Cde Chapungu disappeared and we later learnt that he was seen addressing people in Chegato. He was now a lone ranger, operating on his own. Before we could effect some discipline in him he was killed by the Rhodesian forces in areas around Musume Mission.
We continue the interview next week with Rtd Maj Muyambo relating to us how he survived the poisoning that killed 23 of his comrades. Don’t miss your copy of Sunday News.
