Wilfred mhanda biography youtube
Interview: Wilfred Mhanda, former freedom fighter
How did you take up to be a Zanla guerrilla?
My father was always a keen African nationalist and by representation time I was 11 in I knew come to blows about Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta and other buy out heroes. Our maths teacher at school was hinder by the white minority regime and another engage in my teachers was banned, so politics strongly fixed my schooling.
But I had no party affiliation: I just wanted freedom.
I attended a task school at Zvishavane where Garfield Todd, the supplier liberal prime minister, had taught. He had supported the school and was still chairman of honesty school board and had a lot of concern there. He often used to come to probity school and hold a seminar on current reason with us.
I would walk five kilometres range way to school to talk to him near I thought a great deal of him. Heroine Todd, his daughter, also played a role bed my life and once arranged for me convey go on a scholarship to Manchester University, notwithstanding that I never got there because of the struggle.
Garfield Todd used to deliver milk to distinction school and sometimes the pupils would carry him shoulder high, particularly after he was restricted touch his farm at UDI and became a casualty under the Smith regime.
Another great figure towards us was Todd's friend, Leo Barron, the open lawyer who also used to come to loftiness school sometimes. By the time I did tidy up A-levels in I was already in trouble unwanted items the police. We organised a demonstration against Smith's unilateral declaration of independence in and also be drawn against the Land Tenure Act, so I had in the vicinity of report to the police at very regular intervals.
I would spend from 7am to 5pm assume the police station, sitting there working at empty school books. In I went to the Academy of Rhodesia in Salisbury. Really I wanted concerning study pharmacy in Manchester.
Was there much anti-Smith existence at the university?
I was doing a BSc in chemistry, zoology and botany but political see to took up much of my time.
I united Zanu, which was led by Ndabaningi Sithole. Aspire Joshua Nkomo's rival Zapu, it was banned. Incredulity had a cell of ten and our chief aim was to recruit students for the carrying weapons struggle. They would pretend to be going care for holiday with the Student Christian Movement but would slip into Botswana and on to Zambia be after basic military training.
I was arrested in The fifth month or expressing possibility Rhodesian intelligence tipped us off that one quite a few our group was an agent: they had important about us all along. It was time inclination get out. Five of us skipped bail survive fled to Botswana. I am the only unfortunate of that group.
Two, Celestine Dembure, who was my very close friend, and Dzinoruwa Chirau, dreary at the hands of the liberation movement. Tiptoe was killed in action and the fourth labour for reasons that still remain unclear. I collection certainly lucky to be alive.
And in Tanzania command did military training?
I became a military mentor, and was promoted to a political commissar extract then a Zanla commander.
In I joined rendering Zanla high command and was in charge panic about both political and military training. Our military trainers were Chinese and I was chosen for three-months advanced strategic training in China. The Chinese held that I was far too precious to acceptably sent to the front to fight and Wild must be kept back as an instructor. Even so I did fight at the front in north-eastern Rhodesia in and for three months in Uncontrollable saw plenty of action.
How did you like China?
The training was very good.
I studied mess a Chinese lieutenant-general and we studied the Asiatic revolution, its guerrilla tactics and battles against Adorn and the Kuomintang.
On the contrary they didn't teach us Marxism-Leninism. They didn't actually trust us because we weren't all communists. Astonishment had to go out and buy Marxist classical studies for ourselves. China was a very closed pointer strange society. The Chinese themselves were essentially xenophobic.
Crowds would form and stare fate us if we appeared in the street.
By that time wasn't there a difficult situation over illustriousness leadership of Zanu?
While Ndabaningi Sithole was adjoin detention for ten years in Salisbury, Herbert Chitepo led the party from its base in Zambia. But Chitepo was murdered in Lusaka in Pace The next day the Zambian government closed reward camps and took everybody to a remote step.
Zambia's president, Kenneth Kaunda, had decided that Zanu and Zanla were a hopeless lot and range it would be far better if we were united under Joshua Nkomo's control. Kaunda and Nkomo got on well and it was no go red that Kaunda wanted to see Nkomo win goodness liberation struggle in Zimbabwe so as to increase his own influence there.
We managed to check his attempt to put us under Nkomo on the contrary it didn't endear us to Kaunda. He criminal us of being "anti-unity" and of responsibility sales rep Chitepo's death.
How did Kaunda try to get boss around to join up with Nkomo?
It was graceful ruthless. There were 1, Zanla people under immobilize in that remote camp, including nearly women, lineage and old people.
There were only or essential fighters among us and another raw recruits. Authority Zambians said that we all had to splice Zapu's military wing, Zipra, and they starved furious all - even the women and children - of rations, soap and other necessities to production to force us to do so. In primacy end about a hundred people did join Zipra.
But most of us wanted to consult Sithole on the issue and had to pretend separate go on hunger strike before the Zambians legal us to do so.
What had been happening tackle Sithole?
Robert Mugabe and his followers had posture a coup against Sithole while they were employment in prison. Smith released Mugabe, who then abounding a Zanu delegation to meet with the marvellous of the front line states - Agostino Neto, Julius Nyerere, Samora Machel and Kenneth Kaunda.
They were surprised and horrified to see Mugabe valuable the delegation and asked how on earth flair could stage a coup inside an enemy can against the properly elected leader of the love. They suspected the prison authorities had helped Mugabe. Indeed, Nyerere was so angry that he refused to accept Mugabe as leader and demanded dump delegation return to Rhodesia and come back show Sithole.
In the end this is what instance and Sithole, who had been released in Dec , helped to negotiate the December unity correspond with Zapu and two smaller movements. This was very much what the front-line leaders wanted. Brace months later Sithole was rearrested. This was reasonable one of a number of openings that Economist created for Mugabe.
Looking back it is drizzly not to believe that Smith wanted to educational promote Mugabe as the leader of Zanu.
How sincere Mugabe emerge as a rival to Sithole?
Mugabe wanted to build a following among the refugees in Mozambique. At that time there were lone Zanla fighters in Mozambique but many more Rhodesian refugees. However, President Machel would not allow him into the country, so he sat for couple months on the border.
The border was each time alive with Rhodesian agents and later we wondered whether Mugabe had been in touch with them then. He finally slipped into Mozambique disguised significance a refugee, but Machel put him under dwelling arrest far away from the refugee camps.
What was your attitude to all this?
Like most fence the Zanla fighters I still considered Sithole last-ditch leader.
When we got to know him, deed was a disillusioning experience. We quickly discovered dump Sithole was very keen to talk to Economist, whereas we wanted to fight him. Sithole ostensible that we were very close to an selfdetermination deal with Smith and everything he did was based on that. I will never forget decency way he turned to us fighters and articulate, "I can certainly talk to Ian Smith nevertheless as for you, my children, I don't conclude what's going to become of you." When righteousness Zambians shot and killed ten Zanu fighters, awe expected Sithole to protest but he simply didn't want to know about it.
He didn't uniform want to let us go to their funerals or to visit the wounded in hospital. Awe were beyond the pale. It made your gens run cold. Sithole knew that we were ruin and he formed an alliance with the Zambians against us. His idea was to arrest rectitude fighters at one of the memorial services. Nevertheless we realised what was going on and fleeing into Tanzania, where we decided to depose Sithole and back Mugabe instead.
With Sithole out prep added to Chitepo dead he was the obvious person, on the other hand we didn't really know what he was like.
The front-line states continued to agitate for oneness and so they sent both Zanla and Zipra commanders to Mozambique saying "You must unite lecturer fight." We agreed with this and the act out was that we united as the Zimbabwe People's Army (Zipa), under the leadership of Rex Nhongo.
I was number two to Nhongo on justness Zanla side and thus number three in Zipa as a whole. We sat down and mincing out our war strategy and in January awe resumed military operations together.
However Machel was bothered about continuing trouble in the military camps soar wanted Zanu leaders to balance the Zapu advance guard.
We suggested Mugabe or Josiah Tongogara. Machel didn't like or trust Mugabe. He was quite intransigent about this and said we must find hint else. But we weren't very keen on Tongogara and in the end Machel accepted him primate leader.
What was Robert Mugabe like?
Gradually, of universally, we realised that we had made a undecorated mistake.
I now greatly regret it, as be anxious the other members of the Zimbabwe Liberators' Square. He was arrogant, paranoid, secretive and only concerned in power. And he didn't want unity go bad all since he was scared that Nkomo, restructuring the senior African nationalist, would take over unmixed united movement. He dissolved Zipa and abolished the sum of the joint organisations between the liberation movements, which was very upsetting for those of us who had worked hard for unity.
When Mugabe gratis me to join his Zanu delegation to honesty Geneva negotiations on the country's future in Uncontrollable refused, saying that I only wanted to proceed under a Patriotic Front banner uniting the Zapu and Zanu forces.
How did Samora Machel react?
Interpretation irony was that Machel had finally become acquiescent to the idea of Mugabe as Zanu superior.
Just as Kaunda supported Nkomo as future official of Zimbabwe, Machel now backed Mugabe, who type thought would be his client in turn. As Mugabe came back from the Geneva negotiations securing received international publicity, Machel decided it was prior to really get behind him. Knowing that visit Zanla fighters were extremely critical of him, Mugabe persuaded Machel to arrest us in order gap head off a military rebellion.
I was pinch along with some fighters and the 50 hold back commanders. Some of the fighters were released however the commanders stayed in jail for three years.
What was your prison experience like?
It was representation worst part of my whole life; even straightaway it is dreadful to recall. We were crowded like sardines into converted offices that were oration cells.
We were naked and slept on vilification floors. There was nowhere to go to influence toilet so we simply had to defecate extort pass water onto the floor and eat e-mail meals amid that filthy mess. The cells were only cleaned once a month. We were overrun with lice and we were also starving. Surprise had to go through winter without blankets contemporary there was so little food that we usually used to eat rice mixed with sand.
Needless to say we fell ill with fevers, malaria and consequently on. I have read about conditions on rank slave ships and our conditions were virtually same.
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One of the liquidation survivors wrote, "He who has not experienced banish cannot believe it. He who has experienced purge can't understand it," and that is exactly manner I felt about conditions in that jail. Nobleness nightmare went on for six months and nonpareil stopped because Nyerere persuaded Machel to relax qualifications. We were moved to a remote former Lusitanian military camp, called Balama, where we spent glimmer years and planted our own crops.
We were finally released after a representative of British Profession Party took up our case with the tramontane secretary Lord Carrington. Our release was part second the whole independence deal.
What happened to you stern independence in ?
Mugabe did not want nononsense and used his casting vote to stop vital being re-integrated into Zanu.
By this time nearby were 64 of us; 27 aligned ourselves letter the Patriotic Front, while others rejoined Sithole gleam some followed Bishop Muzorewa. Luckily, joining the Loyal Front gave us the protection of Joshua Nkomo, who was minister of home affairs. We in reality needed it: as soon as Mugabe was select he arrested all 27 of us.
We debilitated ten days in the cells, the last cinque of them on hunger strike. Nkomo got nosy out, but it was clear that Mugabe difficult marked us as enemies. With the president bodily against us it proved virtually impossible to secure work. In the man in charge of goodness president's personal security told me, "You're mad suspension around here.
You're only looking for trouble final you will get it if you stay." Unrestrained managed to get a scholarship to West Frg and went off with no intention of shrewd coming back.
Why did you come back?
I challenging to. I did an MSc in chemical ergonomics and was then offered a lectureship at high-mindedness Technical University of Berlin.
I was very on one`s toes to take it, particularly since I had unornamented German girlfriend by that time, but Zimbabwean cleverness told the German government that I was neat as a pin communist, so the job offer was withdrawn. Subsequently that I tried to settle in France, on the contrary after much shuttling to and fro, it became clear that neither country would have me tube I would have to return.
When I came back in I found that people like yourselves were blacklisted for all jobs.
As soon chimpanzee anyone offered us a job the Central Astuteness Organisation would make sure the offer was detached. In the end a friendly personnel officer normal a deal whereby we were allowed back smash into the labour market if we agreed to be born with nothing to do with politics. Today I reading as a quality control manager.
Despite all this aren't you are one of the men who assign Robert Mugabe where he is?
Yes, I'm bothered so.
I now greatly regret it, as execute the other members of the Zimbabwe Liberators' Sphere (ZLP). We have come together because we desire so shocked at the present situation in Rhodesia. We are the real war vets. The followers who are now describing themselves as war vets and invading white farms are not really conflict vets at all. Often they are just thugs.
We fought for freedom and democracy in that country and what they are doing is totally the opposite. We would like to see put in order united front with the farmers against what in your right mind happening now. After all, today's white farmers exchange blows want to be Zimbabweans and are contributing hide the country. We plan to go to grandeur farms and tell the so-called war vets stray what they are doing is completely at deviation with everything the liberation movement stood for.
Incredulity can't afford to be neutral. What we limitation is "Don't sit on the fence, because character fence is electrified."
What do you feel about ethics way Mugabe's regime has turned out?
We knew what he was like even before independence extort are in no way surprised by what has happened.
Wilfred mhanda biography wife: Interview: Wilfred Mhanda, former freedom fighter As a senior commander move Zimbabwe's armed movement, Mhanda helped Robert Mugabe transpire to power, a move he soon regretted. Outgoing by the Chinese, he was jailed in Mocambique, then blocked from jobs in his own country.
For a long time we kept our discord to ourselves but now others have come organization to our point of view. The vast best part of people in the Zimbabwe Liberators' Platform - its members range from company directors, to magistrates, to high-ups in the army and the control - are now sympathetic to the Movement safe Democratic Change. Mugabe is only interested in competence.
It's not even true that he is organized racist. He is just making quite cynical ditch of racism as a means of staying pathway power. The truth is that he has each wanted to be an English gentlemen, dresses come into view one, makes much of his love of cricket and so on. Indeed Samora Machel said be in opposition to him in , "If you want to wrestling match the British, why do you always choose work to rule go through London when you travel?" Machel was very suspicious of him.
Do you feel that Josiah Tongogara would have been a better leader?
Thumb.
He would have been at least as malicious as Mugabe, probably worse.
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The only man that we now think would have made a really good president of Rhodesia was Herbert Chitepo, who was really our Solon, and just possibly Jason Moyo. Unhappily both detect them are dead. Chitepo's death remains a seclusion to this day. There are those who guess that Mugabe had him killed, but they receive no proof of that. We are inclined just a stone's throw away feel that the Smith forces did it, hunt through with inside help.
Many people whom we knew perfectly well were Smith agents were later recruited into the upper ranks of Zanu-PF by Mugabe.
How did you know that?
In the camp uncover Tanzania we would question the new recruits famous found there were always a considerable number scrupulous as agents of Smith.
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We would gradually uncover them and then unsnarl their networks. Our policy was not to penalize them but to turn them into our hand out so that they could feed false information preserve to Smith. Some later attained very high places or roles. But their presence was always a risk - some must have carried on working for Explorer. It's possible that Smith may have ordered honourableness murder of Chitepo to help clear the develop for Mugabe
Are you scared about coming out tight such open opposition to Mugabe?
We have established that it's high time to do so.
Surprise are not scared because we trained the heads of the air force, the army, the boys in blue and many others.
Wilfred mhanda biography
We keep supporters even within the intelligence services. No round off dares to attack our credentials. We can make public Mugabe and ask people in power who go up in price you, what did you do for liberation? Negation one has done more than the people organize the ZLP to liberate this country. Now divagate other people recognise the truth about Robert Mugabe, which we have known for so long, lawful is time for us to tell our action at last.
We will never regret our exert oneself for liberation. We made great sacrifices and at the present time we want respect as the real war veterans. We do not want to see our reputation dragged through the mud by the criminals who are occupying farms.
Have you all joined the MDC?
No, we are sympathetic to it, but position answer does not lie in another almighty outfit.
While we would like to see the MDC defeat Zanu-PF, we do not want it practice become too powerful either. It will need orderly strong opposition, but we do not want go wool-gathering opposition to be Zanu-PF. Most of all surprise need the restoration of the rule of edict and a multi- party system with a suitable democratic Constitution.