The ManicaPost
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
A VISITOR at Tongogara Refugee Camp would be forgiven for thinking that every household has its own language.
SwahiliI, KiBembe, KiFulero, Kinya Rwanda, Lingala, Kikasai, Kirundi, Kinyamulenge, Mashi, Ndau, Bambara, Oromo, Neur, French and English are the languages spoken within the confines of the camp.
Currently, Tongogara Refugee Camp is home to 15 049 asylum seekers.
About 75 percent of them are from the Democratic Republic of Congo, while 11.1 percent is from Mozambique.
Around five percent is from Burundi, while around 4.6 percent is from Rwanda.
The remainder are from Mali, Ivory Coast, Central African Republic, Somalia, Ethiopia and South Sudan, among other countries.
With nationalities from 16 different countries being hosted at Tongogara Refugee Camp in Chipinge South, the place is truly a microcosm of the African Union.
However, many might not be conversant with the history of this camp.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Manica Post, Tongogara Refugee Camp administrator, Mr Johani Mhlanga said the camp has been in existence since the end of the 1970s.
“This camp was initially a demobilisation camp at the end of the war of liberation. lt was named after the revered ZANLA commander, General Josiah Magama Tongogara.
“Soon after the demobilisation exercise, Zimbabwe started receiving a lot of Mozambicans who were fleeing the Renamo insurgency, the Mozambican conflict that was pitting the government led by Flerimo against the Renamo rebels.
“Thousands of Mozambicans flocked to the camp. During that period, there were four refugee camps in Zimbabwe namely Tongogara Refugee Camp, Chambuta Refugee Camp in Chikombedzi, Nyangombe Refugee Camp in Nyanga and Nyamatiki Refugee Camp in Rushinga. These were established primarily to accommodate Mozambicans.
“Therefore from around 1983 to around 1994, Zimbabwe had those four refugee camps. In 1994, Zimbabwe, together with other Southern African countries started the voluntary repatriation of Mozambicans after the warring parties in that country had signed the Rome Agreement which paved way for peace in Mozambique.
“In 1995, the Tongogara Refugee Camp and the other camps were closed. Tongogara was transformed into a vocational training centre to help the vulnerable communities around the camp.”
However, Tongogara Refugee Camp was re-opened in 1998.
“ln 1998, Zimbabwe started receiving asylum seekers from some parts of Africa. There was the Rwanda genocide in 1994 and in 1996 the invasion of Congo, resulting in a fully fledged war in the DRC.
“The Government then saw it prudent to re-open Tongogara Refugee Camp in 1998 to accommodate asylum seekers, given the influx of people who were fleeing from the various Africans states and seeking international protection.
“The camp was officially declared a refugee camp in terms of General Notice 252 of 1999,” said Mr Mhlanga.
Since 1999, the camp has been providing a safe home to thousands of asylum seekers.
To date, the refugee camp has successfully been transformed into a modern service centre where residents have access to almost all the services they need in their everyday lives.
Grocery shops, restaurants, garment making factories, soap-making, livestock and fishery projects are all making life easier and productive within Tongogara Refugee Camp.
However, the camp is also facing its fair share of challenges, including human wildlife conflicts.
“We have had problems with the wildlife around this area. As you might be aware, we are very near to Save River and the Save Conservancy. This makes us prone to wildlife attacks. In the past we have had incidences in which people were maimed while others lost their lives owing to wildlife invasion. Wildlife has also destroyed our farm produce in the past,” said Mr Mhlanga
