The ManicaPost
By Nyore Madzianike recently in Mozambique
HARROWING tales of events that unfolded during the protracted war to dislodge the Ian Douglas Smith repressive regime are usually incomplete without mentioning the Chimoio, Nyadzonya and Nyangawo brutal killings.
It was the stories of these massacres that were the talk of the day as hundreds of people from Manicaland started the long journey to Mozambique last weekend.
War veterans, youths and civil servants were part of the delegation that left the country to visit the Nyadzonya, Nyangawo and Chimoio mass graves as part of this year’s Heroes Day commemorations.
After listening to survivors relating how they escaped the well-coordinated attacks in which both guerillas and unarmed civilians who were in the refugee camps at the time were savagely mowed to the ground by gunfire, it becomes difficult if not impossible to believe that there could be people who came out alive from that gunfire and bombs holocaust.
After enduring the long journey to Nyadzonya shrines on August 11, 2017, the general mood of the people suddenly changed from one of relaxation to tense.
It was around 3pm.
The old adage which says soldiers do not cry was defied, as the delegation was being led into the fence, which secures the Nyadzonya shrine.
Sad memories of how Smith’s soldiers massacred innocent people engulfed the atmosphere and spontaneously, tears started running down the cheeks of those who witnessed the attack, as the events of the day were being revisited.
Manicaland Minister of State for Provincial Affairs Cde Mandi Chimene, who was leading the delegation, was emotionally overwhelmed.
She wept as she was laying wreaths at the Nyadzonya mass graves.
One of the Nyadzonya attacks survivors, Cde Future Wemba, was not spared. Known also as Cde Tendai Nyika during the liberation struggle, Cde Wemba emotionally narrated how she survived the bombings. She joined the liberation struggle when she was 13 years old.
“I came here on July 8, 1976 and my sister Magaret was already here since she came in 1975. I last saw her on the day when we were attacked. On the day in question we were awakened by the noise of moving vehicles and since she was in the choir she said she had to join other girls in readiness to celebrate the formation of ZANU on August 8.
“It was then that Morrison Nyathi started chanting a slogan saying ‘Vana veZimbabwe panapa ndipo pataparadzana’ before signalling the Smith soldiers to launch an attack on us. A lot of people died when they opened fire. Some girls who were in a hut were burnt and I am sure my sister died in that hut as well.
“We failed to run to Chimoio because of a flooded Pungwe River. I witnessed some male comrades being swept away by the river. It was at this point that we returned to the place where our camp used to be,” she said.
“I saw heads being crushed by heavy vehicles. I saw pools of blood and dead bodies. It was terrible. I even witnessed the mass burials as dead bodies were being piled into the graves.”
Cde Future Wemba
Still chronicling how she survived Cde Future Wemba said:
“I then went with others to Nyadzonya River. I could swim but I was pushed to the bottom of the river by piling bodies of dead comrades. I was lucky to be pulled out of the river by another person who spotted me and dragged me to the river bank. I was tired and it could have been the end of me. That is how I survived,” she said.
Cde Florence Miti, who used the name Pronica Chinyandura-Mabhunu during the liberation war, also narrated how she survived the attack.
She had no kind words for Morrison Nyathi whom she blamed for the loss of thousands lives who were bombed in various camps.
Nyathi was a Zanla fighter turned informer of the Rhodesian Selous Scouts.
“During the war, we had principles. Nyathi failed to follow those principles and at one point he was cautioned before being heavily punished. He was also stripped of his rank and sent back to the front. He was hurt and decided to revenge. He returned from the front to exact revenge on the commanders who had disciplined him. That is why he decided to sell out.”
Ms Elizabeth Masenhu, who was known as Cde Sarudzai Hondo during the war, said two baboons saved the lives of many fighters during the Chimoio attacks on November 23, 1977.
She lost her arm during the attack.
“We were caught unawares; it was a surprise attack that came moments after parade. This was our headquarters. We saw an aircraft that passed and we just assumed that it belonged to (Frelimo leader and later Mozambican president) Samora Machel since it used to fly past this place. Suddenly we came under attack. It was severe since we were caught unawares,” she said.
“During the attack, two baboons came. As you know superstitious beliefs tell us that their reaction tells a lot. These baboons came from nowhere and they helped us a lot.
“We were just observing their movements and signs, as we manoeuvred from the scene of the attack. I was injured and I had to be rushed to Chindunduma where young women were being kept,” she said.
