CHRONICLE ARTICLE ON DEATH OF GORDON MUNYANYI

This article from The Chronicle it gives an insight to ZAPU Cadres during the war.

Gordon Munyanyi — the untold history of a great freedom fighter

By Phelekezela Mphoko



Comrade Tapson Sibanda whose liberation name was Gordon Munyanyi and was recently declared a National Hero and laid to rest at the National Heroes' Acre in Harare, was trained at the prestigious Algerian military academy of Cherichell.
He was among those selected to do an officers’ course from a group of more than 100 Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) cadres who had been sent to the North African nation for military training.
He trained together with some of our great military commanders such as Rogers Mangena, Naison Khezwana, Lieutenant Chirinda, Chappy Masuku, James Paratena and others. In their final exams in military strategy, Mangena was top of the class, followed by Munyanyi, Khezwana and Chirinda in that order. The best sharp-shooters in the group were Khezwana, Mnyanyi and Sikhosana (Malombo) — registering all 35 rounds in the bull's eye.
Cde Munyanyi was called to the ZIPRA Command together with Mangena from Morogoro Military Training Centre, where they were both military instructors, following the reorganisation of the military wing of ZAPU from the former Military Planning Committee to the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) in 1972.
Cde Munyanyi was one of the six founder members of ZIPRA. ZAPU had two subordinated bodies, namely the military wing, ZIPRA, commanded by Mangena, and the Party Security Department, headed by Comrade Dumiso Dabengwa. These were two different stand-alone structures with separate commands.

First ZIPRA Command

Rogers Mangena: Chief of Staff, CS0; Lookout Masuku: Political Commissar, CS1; Gordon Munyanyi: Chief of Military; Intelligence, CS2; Charles Ngwenya (aka JD): Chief of Operations, CS3; Phelekezela Mphoko: Chief of Logistics and Supplies, CS4 (and the only surviving member of the command. I thank God for the gift of life!); Cephas Cele: Chief of Personnel and Training.
All the former comrades-in-arms mentioned above, except for Cde Ngwenya (JD), were accorded National Hero status. Cde Ngwenya was the commander of the joint ZAPU/ANC Wankie detachment of 1967. He died in Nigeria when he was part of a Patriotic Front delegation co-led by President Mugabe and is buried in Lusaka, Zambia. Letters requesting for National Hero status for both Rogers Mangena and Ngwenya were written through the then chairman of the National Hero Status Panel, the late Cde Simon Muzenda, during the early days of our Independence with the blessings of the late Dr Joshua Nkomo.

The unity front

On the unity front between ZAPU (ZIPRA), ZANU (ZANLA) in 1972, when the two parties formed the first Joint Military Command (JMC) under the leadership of Cdes Jason Moyo and Herbert Chitepo, Cde Munyanyi was appointed Chief of Military Intelligence, Mangena became Chief of Staff, Josiah Tongogara was appointed Chief of Operations, and Mphoko became Chief of Logistics and Supplies, deputised by Cde William Ndangana.
In Mozambique, under yet another Joint Military Command, the Zimbabwe People's Army (ZIPA) — formed between ZIPRA and ZANLA — Cde Munyanyi was appointed Chief of Military Intelligence, Cde Solomon Mujuru was the Commander, Ngwenya was Deputy Commander, Mangena was Chief Political Commissar, and Mphoko was Chief of Logistics and Supplies.
Cde Munyanyi was one of the four ZIPRA commanders who turned down an offer to take over political power from the political leadership as a third force. He also believed that ZIPRA was a military wing subordinated to ZAPU and, as such, could not co-lead the armed struggle with ZAPU, the mother body.
Combat experience

In 1972, when Cde Munyanyi was called to the ZIPRA High Command, ZAPU was in serious internal crisis.
This was at a time when some of our cadres left the party to join James Chikerema and formed FROLIZI. A number deserted the armed struggle completely. During that period, because of Chikerema's influence, ZAPU was not allowed to bring into Zambia recruits from Zimbabwe through Botswana, or trained personnel from Tanzania, for deployment inside Rhodesia and, as a result, the combat strength of ZIPRA from Jason Moyo down to a combat soldier including members of the ZIPRA High Command was reduced to 39 people.
Combat operations inside Rhodesia were conducted by members of the command including Operations Assegai, Spearhead and Operation Xhoxhoza which led to the closure of the Rhodesia/Zambia border, which was only opened upon Zimbabwe's attaining independence in 1980.
There were a number of operations conducted after Operation Xhoxhoza between the Fifth Gorge and Devil's Gorge. As a result of these combat operations, the Rhodesians introduced armour-plated troop-carriers which were not affected by a single anti-tank mine. After an explosion, you would hear the truck roaring along, continuing with the journey.
In the meantime, the Rhodesian security forces were laying combat anti-tank mines on routes inscribed "Homba Section 5", which were easily removed. The removed Homba Section 5 mines were used against the enemy forces and were now reinforced by placing two mines in one hole. When Cde Munyanyi inspected one of these, his comment was: "This is terror!" He was commonly known as “Terror Man”.
The daring Operation Xhoxhoza was through the Fifth Gorge. Three members of this combat unit which conducted this operation were members of the ZIPRA Command, namely Cdes Munyanyi, Ngwenya and Mphoko, with Cdes Abel Mazinyane, Makheto Ndebele and Roger Ncube (aka Matshimini). After Operation Xhoxhoza, ZAPU was allowed to bring into Zambia recruits from Botswana and combat units from the then Soviet Union and elsewhere through Tanzania.
In Spungabera, Cde Munyanyi with Cdes Tshipa Ncube (aka Nyamupingidza), Captain Nyathi (aka Mlindiseli), Javan Maseko, Joseph Dube (aka Donkey) and Mphoko, ambushed an enemy section that was camped just near the Mozambique/Rhodesia border along an infiltration route.
Cde Munyanyi was in charge of a ZIPRA command strategic unit that carried out Operation Old Woman with Mazinyane, Kwela, Makanyanga, and others in the North East, jointly with some members of FRELIMO. During this operation, Cde Munyanyi distinguished himself as a commander, leader and fearless freedom fighter.
Comrade Gordon Munyanyi, you will be remembered for your professionalism, dedication to true revolutionary principles and great personal sacrifice. The party, ZANU-PF, accorded you National Hero status not because you were a ZAPU representative in Libya, but because of your revolutionary principles and your contribution to the liberation of Zimbabwe. ZIPRA was built on your shoulders. No-one can take that away from you.
Remember the toyi-toyi song: "ZIPRA! ZIPRA Yishumba, Simith Yinyama, Hayi-Hayi Unengozi/Unengozi Yempisi, Hayi-hayi Unengozi!"
May your soul rest in peace.
About the Author: Cde Mphoko is Zimbabwe's Ambassador to the Russian Federation. He writes from Moscow

IAN SMITH WRECKED BRITAIN'S CHANCE TO PREVENT MUGABE COMING TO POWER

Ian Smith wrecked Britain's plot to prevent Robert Mugabe gaining power
Martin Fletcher It was an audacious plan, and had it worked, Zimbabwe might still be a prosperous country, not a failed state. Thirty years ago James Callaghan's Government worked secretly with African leaders to end the war in Rhodesia and to help Joshua Nkomo, not Robert Mugabe, to become leader of a newly independent Zimbabwe.

The corpulent Mr Nkomo was corrupt, but not nearly as dangerous as Mr Mugabe, David Owen, Mr Callaghan's Foreign Secretary, told The Times shortly before the release of Cabinet papers under the 30-year rule.

"Better a crook than a zealot," Mr Owen, now Lord Owen, said.

The plan collapsed primarily because Ian Smith, Rhodesia's beleaguered Prime Minister, refused to step down. Eighteen months later Mr Mugabe became Zimbabwe's first prime minister. Within two more years his North Korean-trained 5th Brigade was slaughtering Mr Nkomo's supporters, and three decades later he has reduced Zimbabwe to penury and starvation.

Related LinksWhite farmers face prosecution for staying
Diplomats watch to see if Mugabe dare holiday
Zimbabwe police refuse to release activists

Lord Owen held several meetings with Mr Nkomo in 1978, when Mr Nkomo was leader of the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (Zapu) and co-leader of the Patriotic Front, an alliance of Zapu and Mr Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu) that was fighting an increasingly bloody and successful guerrilla war against Mr Smith's regime.

Mr Nkomo gained Lord Owen's approval for a peace plan backed by Nigeria, Zambia and, Mr Nkomo claimed, Angola. It envisaged Mr Smith stepping down and Mr Nkomo becoming head of a transitional government that would hold elections within a year under the supervision of a British resident commissioner and a UN peacekeeping mission.

It was designed to give Mr Nkomo an electoral advantage over Mr Mugabe by making him acting prime minister, even though he belonged to the minority Ndebele tribe.

Mr Nkomo also hoped to include Mr Mugabe in the transitional government and to split Zanu by excluding hardliners who opposed the plan.

Mr Callaghan's Government had no illusions about Mr Nkomo. "He was in it to feather his own nest," Lord Owen said. However, it considered Mr Mugabe a fanatical Maoist with little time for democracy. Lord Owen, who commissioned a report from MI6 on Mr Mugabe's character and beliefs, said: "His obduracy was so great and his zealotry so fierce that I felt you could not ignore the Maoist elements within him."

On August 13, 1978, Mr Nkomo put the plan to Mr Smith at a secret meeting in Lusaka, Zambia's capital. Mr Nkomo would have argued that Mr Smith's forces were losing the war, that white generals were growing rebellious, and that Zapu would protect white Rhodesian interests better than Mr Mugabe.

Mr Smith stalled, then leaked details of the meeting. Mr Mugabe, Julius Nyerere, the President of Tanzanzia, and others denounced the plan. Then, on September 3, Mr Nkomo's guerrillas shot down an Air Rhodesia Viscount, killing 35 passengers. In a BBC interview Mr Nkomo not only claimed responsibility, but appeared to chuckle. Instantly "he became a pariah in terms of white opinion in Rhodesia, just as much as Mugabe was", Lord Owen said.

The next year the war ended and Zimbabwe gained independence, but the Lancaster House agreement contained no advantages for Mr Nkomo. In 1980 Zanu trounced Zapu in elections marked by violence and intimidation, and Mr Mugabe took charge.

At first he courted whites, and Lord Owen thought he had misjudged the man. Then he launched his "genocide" against Mr Nkomo's supporters and Zimbabwe's long slide began. "People often ask why we went overboard for Robert Mugabe," Lord Owen said. "The answer is that we didn't."
__._,_.___

Seven Squadron T Shirts

T Shirts worn by Seven Squadron members circa 1979-80 .
Credit ORAFS

RHODESIAN ARMY KIT