My Life In The Struggle For The Liberation Of Zimbabwe

This is an elucidation of accumulation of personal experience within the context of socio-cultural internalization in particular and the socio-political environment in general that is intended to provide some insights into a plethora of ingredients that converged and crystallized into a catalytic impetus that socially transformed my generation from village boys to highly politicised freedom fighters during the 1960s to the 1970s in Rhodesia. I hvae done this by tracing the footprints of my experience which show multiple stages and strands of cultural, social, political and physical determinants that landed themselves on my growth path starting from socialization in my parents'' home all the way through the local community traditions and schooling to active service for the freedom of my country at local and national levels. Here the crucial elements that moulded my social being in a very profound way have been ventilated to show when and how I became able to distinguish antagonistic differences between justice and injustice at my very early age. Proceeding from here I have brought out how I teamed up with others whose political outlook and aspirations were identical with mine as we all voluntarily joined anti-colonial struggle starting from (invisible) low intensity activism in schools and towns up to risky adventures that finished up in armed struggle within a broad national perspective. the narration further demonstrates the domesticity of the movements that championed liberation struggle as drivers were citizens who grew up in the rural villages and urban African Townships where they progressively became aware that they were born (unlike their parents) in a country under colonial administration. In doing all this I had to spell out how my interaction with informative social vectors brought awareness on how my country, Zimbabwe, was colonized and governed by Europeans without the consent of the indigenous natives who showed their resentment to foreign rule by rebelling (First Chimurenga) within six years of colonization but failed, only to succeed in the second rebellion (Second Chimurenga) after ninety years of racial domination. Furthermore I believe I have laid bare how I became a civilian freedom fighter, together with peers of my generation, in the second rebellion where intorable weight of oppression caused us to abandon nonviolent methods of struggle in favour of using arms of war to face a cobweb of security forces led by superb military machine of the colonial state wherein lay formidable challenges confronting rebelling citizens. the armed struggle phase meant that fighters and their collaborators had to face those challenges in the theatre of operation. Initially they exhibited more weaknesses than strengths and lost opportunities that were in the form of abundance of political support of masses of people in the country. the overall process of the struggle exhibited strengths and costly weaknesses right from the civilian phase up to the armed struggle phase with or without my participation. It was not until freedom fighters gained experience in planning and undertaking field operations that they became able to apply appropriate tactics that caused the struggle to gain sustainability in the theatre of operation. More importantly the narration makes the point that the Rhodesian colonial system was presided over by European settler leaders who hardly recognized African citizens as entitled to participation in governance of the country with equal rights in social, political, economical and juridical spheres of societal setting of two main races. Exclusion of African from consensus on the act of Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) by Ian Douglas Smith was a fundamental blunder that precipitated nationwide fury that lead to a civil war in which a deprived citizen fought against a privileged citizen who was indoctrinated with falsehood that his adversary, freedom fighter, was sponsored by foreign powers of a communist type while the latter rightly believed that he was fighting to free his country from racially imposed injustices of deprivation. More importantly, the narration lays emphasis on the creation of massive political structures throughout the country well below the radar of legality for the purpose of sustaining guerrilla warfare in the face of the super professional Rhodesian security forces. In this connection, the final phase of armed struggle demonstrated to all at home and abroad that freedom fighters became significantly effective because they were politically rooted in the oppressed population whence came their strength against superior military hard ware and a ''water-tight'' counter-insurgency strategy of the Rhodesian security forces. Essenially, it was that political strength, not Communist powers or betrayal by the West, which caused all stakeholders to become willing to come to a negotiating table at Lancaster House in Brittain in 1979 to settle the armed conflict decisively.

Here is an opportunity for readers to understand the silent and unrecorded side of the struggle for independence in Zimbabwe. This is a true narration of events experienced by the writer as far as he recalls, from the early years just as he began to follow other boys as they herd cattle in the bushes of Zimbabwe to the time Zimbabwe got independence. The book is meant to appreciate the work done by every Zimbabweans, fathers, mothers, boys (mujibhas) and girls (chimbwidos) throughout the armed struggle.

This is an elucidation of accumulation of personal experience within the context of socio-cultural internalization in particular and the socio-political environment in general that is intended to provide some insights into a plethora of ingredients that converged and crystallized into a catalytic impetus that socially transformed my generation from village boys to highly politicised freedom fighters during the 1960s to the 1970s in Rhodesia. I hvae done this by tracing the footprints of my experience which show multiple stages and strands of cultural, social, political and physical determinants that landed themselves on my growth path starting from socialization in my parents’ home all the way through the local community traditions and schooling to active service for the freedom of my country at local and national levels. Here the crucial elements that moulded my social being in a very profound way have been ventilated to show when and how I became able to distinguish antagonistic differences between justice and injustice at my very early age. Proceeding from here I have brought out how I teamed up with others whose political outlook and aspirations were identical with mine as we all voluntarily joined anti-colonial struggle starting from (invisible) low intensity activism in schools and towns up to risky adventures that finished up in armed struggle within a broad national perspective. The narration further demonstrates the domesticity of the movements that championed liberation struggle as drivers were citizens who grew up in the rural villages and urban African Townships where they progressively became aware that they were born (unlike their parents) in a country under colonial administration. In doing all this I had to spell out how my interaction with informative social vectors brought awareness on how my country, Zimbabwe, was colonized and governed by Europeans without the consent of the indigenous natives who showed their resentment to foreign rule by rebelling (First Chimurenga) within six years of colonization but failed, only to succeed in the second rebellion (Second Chimurenga) after ninety years of racial domination. Furthermore I believe I have laid bare how I became a civilian freedom fighter, together with peers of my generation, in the second rebellion where intorable weight of oppression caused us to abandon nonviolent methods of struggle in favour of using arms of war to face a cobweb of security forces led by superb military machine of the colonial state wherein lay formidable challenges confronting rebelling citizens. The armed struggle phase meant that fighters and their collaborators had to face those challenges in the theatre of operation. Initially they exhibited more weaknesses than strengths and lost opportunities that were in the form of abundance of political support of masses of people in the country. The overall process of the struggle exhibited strengths and costly weaknesses right from the civilian phase up to the armed struggle phase with or without my participation. It was not until freedom fighters gained experience in planning and undertaking field operations that they became able to apply appropriate tactics that caused the struggle to gain sustainability in the theatre of operation. More importantly the narration makes the point that the Rhodesian colonial system was presided over by European settler leaders who hardly recognized African citizens as entitled to participation in governance of the country with equal rights in social, political, economical and juridical spheres of societal setting of two main races. Exclusion of African from consensus on the act of Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) by Ian Douglas Smith was a fundamental blunder that precipitated nationwide fury that lead to a civil war in which a deprived citizen fought against a privileged citizen who was indoctrinated with falsehood that his adversary, freedom fighter, was sponsored by foreign powers of a communist type while the latter rightly believed that he was fighting to free his country from racially imposed injustices of deprivation. More importantly, the narration lays emphasis on the creation of massive political structures throughout the country well below the radar of legality for the purpose of sustaining guerrilla warfare in the face of the super professional Rhodesian security forces. In this connection, the final phase of armed struggle demonstrated to all at home and abroad that freedom fighters became significantly effective because they were politically rooted in the oppressed population whence came their strength against superior military hard ware and a ‘water-tight’ counter-insurgency strategy of the Rhodesian security forces. Essenially, it was that political strength, not Communist powers or betrayal by the West, which caused all stakeholders to become willing to come to a negotiating table at Lancaster House in Brittain in 1979 to settle the armed conflict decisively.

There is more to Zimbabwe than Robert Mugabe, as this book demonstrates by analysing alternative histories of the nation's politics from independence to the present

"This is an authoritative work, spanning the last 60 years of Zimbabwe's history, told from the unique perspective of a first-hand witnesss. Reflecting his career initially as a human rights lawyer in Bulawayo and later, from 2000, as a member of Parliament for the MDC opposition party, Coltart's personal narrative in compelling and his scope broad. ... Coltart throws new light on the shaping and undoing of a country, from the obstinate racism of Ian Smith that provoked Rhodesia's UDI from Britain in 1965, the civil war of the 1970s which brought independence and hopeful democracy to a scarred nation, the Gukurahundi genocide of the 1980s and the terror of the Fifth Brigade, to Mugabe's war on white farmers and the urban poor, and seemingly unshakeable grip on power."--Back cover.

This retrospective offers a first hand account on internal conflicts in ZANU during the 1970s, which resulted in the defeat of its left wing. Chung's narratives include her experiences in two guerrilla camps. She recalls her encounters with the charismatic Josiah Tongogara, a legendary military commander during Zimbabwe's liberation war (known as the ©second chimurenga♯), who died at the threshold to Independence. The personal recollection of a transition to national sovereignty concludes with an incisive analysis of developments after Independence. It ends with Chung's vision for the Zimbabwe of the future. Fay Chung served within the Ministry of Education in post-colonial Zimbabwe for a total of fourteen years, at the end as the Minister of Education and Culture. Her autobiographical account has the childhood experiences in colonial Rhodesia as a point of departure. Like many other Zimbabwean intellectuals she joined the liberation struggle. From the mid-1970s she worked within the ZANU-organised educational sphere.

A Brutal State of Affairs analyses the transition from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe and challenges Rhodesian mythology. The story of the BSAP, where white and black officers were forced into a situation not of their own making, is critically examined. The liberation war in Rhodesia might never have happened but for the ascendency of the Rhodesian Front, prevailing racist attitudes, and the rise of white nationalists who thought their cause just. Blinded by nationalist fervour and the reassuring words of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and army commanders, the Smith government disregarded the advice of its intelligence services to reach a settlement before it was too late. By 1979, the Rhodesians were staring into the abyss, and the war was drawing to a close. Salisbury was virtually encircled, and guerrilla numbers continued to grow. A Brutal State of Affairs examines the Rhodesian legacy, the remarkable parallels of history, and suggests that Smiths Rhodesian template for rule has, in many instances, been assiduously applied by Mugabe and his successors.

This book is an exploration of the political history of insurgency in SOuthern Rhodesia. During the early years of its struggle, ZAPU employed non-violent means to try and achieve its goal for majority rule and a non-racial society. Because of the belligerancy of the White settler regime, ZAPU added the armed resistance to its strategy and went on to build a formidable army. Problems escalated and alliances were built and dissolved until, tired of being hunted down and butchered, the ZAPU leadership decided to merge its party with the ruling party in December 1987.