The ManicaPost
Freedom Mutanda
Meeting Jairos Muumbe for the first time, one is struck by the humble side to him but let not his lanky structure deceive you. He has seen it all in matters of war and reconnaissance better known as intelligence to civilians.
ZANLA combatants, the armed wing of ZANU, had been taught the essence of the people; thus, the mujibhas and chimbwidos played their hearts out for the liberation of this country. They put their lives on the line as they walked shoulder to shoulder like bosom friends with the comrades in order to get majority rule.
Jairos Muumbe, a slim built man of 63, looks ordinary when you talk to him. He is a treasure trove, a mine of liberation war stories. It is important to archive the numerous war stories since they are the acts that made us a people. These moving encyclopedias must be allowed to tell their story before mother nature calls them.
He worked for Mitchels, the bakers and his first encounter with comrades was in 1975 at Masekesa as he had gone there to deliver bread. He subsequently left his job in December the same year after he met guerillas at Muumbe Village in Chief Musikavanhu area in Chipinge.
‘’I had to forgo work in town for the independence of this country. How the white man ill-treated me at work and the fact that some of our people in the Munyokowere area of Chief Mutema have been uprooted and resettled elsewhere away from their ancestral lands made me bitter and eager to return Zimbabwe into the hands of the indigenous people.” Jairos said.
I saw a spark in his eyes that revealed revolutionary fervor. He seemed to be re-living his days as a mujibha out there in the bush.
He had a contact in 1977 which makes him shiver up to this very day.
“Mernard Chitokonye was the base leader who looked after weapons, food and clothes; he was shot dead in 1977. After enduring torture, a captured chimbwido revealed the secret base. I was there. The commander, Oga, was the first to be shot. In attempting to take Oga’s AK 47, Chitokonye was shot dead.” Jairos Muumbe looked down in desolation as he recounted the incident.
There were mujibhas and chimwidos who stayed at the base. They had duties specifically assigned. Some patrolled the area; they should check the presence or non-presence of Rhodesian soldiers. If the enemy was around, the intelligence guys must ascertain the number, what kind of weapons did they have and the direction the enemy is taking.
Cde Muumbe revealed that the business community helped the cause of liberation a lot. His area of operation included Rimbi, Mwangazi, Madhuku, Manzvire, Muumbe, Chibuwe and Middle Sabi. Some of the businessmen who funded the war effort in the area Muumbe worked in include Matabuka, Bayeni, Chinyanga, Tekeshe, Matambo and Sofa Makuyana.
“It was a job and a half to be an accomplice of the comrades commonly known as vakomana. The commanders sent us with letters soliciting for support in cash and kind from the business community. In most instances, the support was instantaneous. There was a catch to being a courier; once you are caught, the letter must never be seen. I put the letter in my collar and sew it; that way, the letters will not be found by any enemy.” Cde Muumbe’s rose as his nostalgia rubbed on to me.
During the war, there were sell outs, those who informed the enemy about the work and whereabouts of the guerillas. Cde Muumbe fell victim to the machinations of sell-outs. He was at Section 2 in Middle Sabi.
“I was compromised. I woke up in the morning to find the house I was in surrounded by soldiers. They placed me under the Special Branch at Middle Sabi. Some black soldiers used electricity to torture detainees but I was fortunate not to be tortured. I was sent to Chipinga CID. I had to show the CID officers guerilla bases but I refused to budge in spite of the severe beatings they inflicted on me.” Cde Muumbe said as he recounted the harrowing experience.
A white man who once detained him at Mwangazi identified Muumbe as a gandanga. For that, he had to be killed at 2 in the afternoon that day. A black man who worked at the CID offices tipped him about his inevitable demise. Therefore, the son of the soil helped him escape. Cde Muumbe simply walked past the police officers on duty at the gate. He hid on the fringes of Chipinge town near Bangazaan dam. Rhodesians looked for him in vain. He went to Mount Selinda and then went back to Muumbe Village where the war had intensified.
“After that ordeal I resolved to move around with a pistol and a hand grenade to protect myself if the crunch moment came. Every morning, the comrades drilled all mujibhas in gun handling.” Cde Muumbe said.
There were Blue Line buses that plied the Chikore-Muumbe route. They were escorted by the army. It was the Rhodesians’ contention that the guerillas must not ‘rob’ the buses to fuel their activities. Muumbe recounts one incident where his daring antics brought dividends for the ‘boys’.
“The commander sent me to disarm the soldier inside the bus. A Thomas Goko was the conductor. He helped me disarm the lone soldier at Rupise near Kondo. We handcuffed the soldier and took the Sakuinje-Chinaa-Nyagadza road back to base. The Rhodesian soldier stayed at the base for fifteen days before we sent him to Mozambique as a Prisoner Of War at Espungabeira.” Cde Muumbe shook his head as he remembered those days where a second could be the difference between life and death.
Still on the subject of betrayal, Cde Muumbe vividly remembers 25 December 1978 when the Muumbe base was attacked by the Rhodesian forces aided by the Air force.
“Comrade, in war, you can be killed by friendly fire. That night, a fierce battle ensued between the guerillas commanded by Big Number. Unfortunately, the regime forces snatched a toddler. She was only reunited with her family after the war.”
Chimbwidos died as they ran to the hut close to the origins of the firing. A Dakota filled with paratroopers arrived at the Mwangazi base ably supported by helicopters that circled the base to ensure that no-one escapes. At that time, Cde Muumbe had gone to the hills to check on his snares. That’s how he survived the devastating attack orchestrated by enemies of the revolution.
Middle Sabi was home to white settlers who made the life of workers bitter through their slave labour mentality. Peter Gunn, a giant farmer, headed the security system of the area. In 1978, the comrades ambushed him and killed him after holding a pungwe in his compound. Compound were sited away from the baas’ farm house.
Cde Muumbe found himself arrested by Forrester, the Farm 23 owner who took him aboard an aeroplane . He threatened to throw Muumbe from the air if he did not give the directions of several bases. Forrester only released him at dusk for him to be killed by soldiers. Somehow, he evaded death once again. A farm worker hid him in the cotton fields until danger passed.
“When the boys came into the Musikavanhu area, the spirit mediums went with them into a ngome-spirit hut-for the ancestral spirits to help the comrades access the area. For some time, every time there was a contact, a comrade would lose his/her life. Thus, the Chief and the spirit mediums led in the propitiation rites alongside the comrades. From that day on, nothing of that sort happened. Now, you see the clear link between tradition and the prosecution of the Second Chimurenga?” Muumbe asked rhetorically.
There were times the war took its toll on his stress levels. What made him soldier on was the fact that among the combatants were Kore kores, Ndebeles, Zezurus and that meant it was truly a national liberation war. Winai, the Kondo commander, was a Kore Kore who fought his heart out for the independence although he was far away from home. Muumbe is grateful that thirty five years on, Zimbabwe is facing attacks from some quarters but the people remain united. He hopes that industrialization will pull the country out of the economic quagmire it finds itself now.
Jairos Muumbe stays at Munyokowere Village in Chipangayi. He was one of the first people to take up stands after the exiled Headman, Mutape Munyokowere, returned. He has a plot at Madzadza Irrigation Scheme under Kraal Head Bwerudza.
