Soldiers in Zimbabwe's Liberation War Soldiers in Zimbabwe's Liberation War Edited by NGWABI BHEBE Professor of History University of Zimbabwe TERENCE RANGER Rhodes Professor of Race Relations University of Oxford JAMES CURREY London HEINEMANN Portsmouth, N.H. UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE PUBLICATIONS Harare '7 James Currey Ltd Heinemann University of Zimbabwe Publications 54b Thornhill Square A division of Reed Elsevier Inc. - P.O. Box MP 203 Islington 361 Hanover Street Mount Pleasant London N1 IBE Portsmouth, NH 03801-3912 Harare All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review ISBN 0-85255-659-4 (James Currey cloth) ISBN 0-85255-609-8 James Currey paper) ISBN 0-435-08974-9 (Heinemann cloth) ISBN 0-435-08972-2 (Heinemann paper) ISBN 0-908307-36-5 (University of Zimbabwe Publications) © N. Bhebe and T. Ranger 1995 123459998979695 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Soldiers in Zimbabwe's Liberation War. I. Bhebe, Ngwabi II Ranger, T.O. IH. Series 968.9104 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data International Conference on the Zimbabwe Liberation War (1991: University of Zimbabwe) Soldiers in Zimbabwe's liberation war / edited by Ngwabi Bhebe and Terence Ranger. p. cm. -Chiefly papers presented at the International Conference on the Zimbabwe Liberation War held at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare, July 8- 12, 1991. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-435-08974-9 (Heinemann). - ISBN 0-435-08972-2 (Heinemann : pbk.). -- ISBN 0-908307-36-5 (Univ. of Zimbabwe Publications). - ISBN 0-85255-659-4 (J. Currey). -- ISBN 0-85255- 609-8 (. Currey : pbk) 1. Zimbabwe--History--Chimurenga War, 1966-1980--Congresses. 2. Zimbabwe--Politics and government, 1965-1979--Congresses. 3. National liberation movements--Zimbabwe--Congresses. 4. Guerrillas--Zimbabwe--Congresses. I. Bhebe, Ngwabi. II. Ranger, T.O. (Terence 0.) III. Title. IV. Series. DT2988.158 1991 968.91'04--dc20 95-4003 CIP Typeset by University of Zimbabwe Publications and printed in Britain by Villiers Publications, London N3 Contents Notes on Contributors vi List of Abbreviations and Acronyms viii Acknowledgements xi General Introduction 1 Volume Introduction 6 1 ZIPRA in the Zimbabwe War of National Liberation 24 DUMISO DABENGWA 2 Recruitment to ZANLA: Building up a War Machine 36 JOSIAH TUNGAMIRAI 3 Daring to Storm the Heavens: The Military Strategy of ZAPU, 1976-79 48 JEREMY BRICKHILL 4 The Zimbabwe People's Army: Strategic Innovation or More of the Same? 73 DAVID MOORE 5 The Rhodesian Security and Intelligence Community, 1960-1980 87 HENRICK ELLERT 6 The Metamorphosis of the 'Unorthodox': The Integration and Early Development of the Zimbabwean National Army 104 ABIODUN ALAO 7 The Heroes' Struggle: Life after the Liberation War for Four Ex-Combatants in Zimbabwe 118 TERESA A. BARNES 8 The Politics of Creating National Heroes: The Search for Political Legitimacy and National Identity 139 NORMA J. KRIGER 9 Making Peace with the Past: War Victims and the Work of the Mafela Trust 163 JEREMY BRICKHILL Notes 174 Bibliography 199 Index 203 NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS Abiodun Alao, a Nigerian, is one of the few West African scholars to work on Zimbabwean history. In 1991 he obtained his doctorate from the Department of War Studies at King's College, London, with a thesis entitled 'The Defence and Security Implications of the Liberation War in Zimbabwe, 1980-1987'. Teresa Barnes obtained her doctorate in 1994 from the University of Zimbabwe with a thesis entitled "We Women Worked so Hard': Gender, Labour and Social Reproduction in Colonial Zimbabwe, 1930-1956'. In 1992 she published, together with Everjoyce Win, To Live a Better Life: An Oral History of Women in the City of Harare, 1930-1970 (Harare, Baobab). Ngwabi Bhebe is Professor of History and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe. He is the author of many books and articles on the history of Zimbabwe, the most recent being ZAPU and ZANU Guerrilla Warfare and the Lutheran Evangelical Church in Zimbabwe which is now at press. Jeremy Brickhill served with the ZIPRA Intelligence during the liberation war. He became a member of the National Army in 1980 and was entrusted with the preparation of ZIPRA's history in a projected collective account of all the elements constituting Zimbabwe's new army. He is working for a doctoral thesis at the University of Oxford on ZIPRA's role in the liberation struggle. Dumiso Dabengwa's political history dates back to 1958 when he joined the African National Congress. He was sent by ZAPU for military training in the Soviet Union in 1964 to 1965. On his return he was appointed Head of Military Intelligence between 1965 and 1970 and in 1972 he combined that post with that of Secretary of the Revolutionary Council. Between May 1980 and August 1981 he served as Head of ZIPRA in the Joint High Command to implement the integration of the various forces in the Zimbabwe National Army. He was elected Member of Parliament for Nkulumane (Bulawayo) and appointed Deputy Minister of Home Affairs in 1990. He is currently Minister of Home Affairs and member of the ZANU (PF) politburo. Henrick Ellert served in the Rhodesian Intelligence during the guerrilla war. He is the author of Tile Rlodesian Front War: Countcr-insurgenicy and Guerrilla War, 1962-1980 (Gweru, Mambo, 1989). Now working as a business consultant, he is also researching on white ethnic minorities. Norma Kriger is a Professor of Politics at Johns Hopkins University. She is the author of Zimbabwc's Guerrilla War: Peasant Voices (Cambridge, CUP, 1992). She is currently working on e\-combatants. David Moore is at Flinders University in Australia. He obtained his doctorate from York University, Toronto, in 1990 with a thesis on 'The Contradictory Construction of Hegemony in Zimbabwe'. He has published an article, 'The ideological formation of the Zimbabwean ruling class,' in the Journal of Southern African Studies, 1991, 17, 3. Terence Ranger is Professor of Race Relations at the University of Oxford. He has written many books and articles about the history of Zimbabwe. Studies on the liberation war include Peasant Consciousness and Guerrilla War in Zimbabwe (London, James Currey, 1985). Josiah Tungamirai received military training at Mgagao in Tanzania. Between 1977 and 1980 when Zimbabwe became independent, he was the Zimbabwe National Liberation Army Commissar. He became Major-General in the new Zimbabwe National Army between 1980 and 1982 but thereafter took over the command of the Air Force of Zimbabwe as Air Marshal in 1986. In 1992 he retired from the Air Force with the rank of Air Chief Marshal. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS African National Congress British Military Advisory and Training Team British South Africa Police Bureau of State Security Comrade Criminal Investigation Department Central Intelligence Organization Counter Insurgency Combined Operations Commissioner of Police Centre Party Directorate Air Intelligence Deputy Director-General Director External Director- General Director Internal Directorate of Military Intelligence Democratic Party District Special Branch Officer Federal Intelligence and Security Bureau National Front for the Liberation of Angola Front for the Liberation of Mozambique Front for the Liberation of Zimbabwe ANC BMATT BSAP BSS Cde CID CIO COIN COMOPS COMPOL CP DAI DDG DEX DG DIN DMI DP DSBO FISBY FNLA FRELIMO FROLIZI GC GPSO HNP INTAF ICC JHC JlC JOC NICP NINR NIPLA NDP NIS NRP NSO NUF OAU OCGC OCSB PSBO PSYOPS RA RAP RENAMO RF RIC RLI RNP RP RRA SADF SASCON SAS SB SFA SRANC SRC Ground Coverage Government Protective Security Officer Herstichte Nasionale Partie Ministry of Internal Affairs Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee Joint High Command Joint Military Command Joint Operation Commands Malawi Congress Party Mozambique National Resistance The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola National Democratic Party National Intelligence Service Northern Rhodesia Police National Security Organization National Unifying Force Organization of African Unity Officer Commanding Ground Cover Officer Commanding Special Branch Provincial Special Branch Officers Director of Psychological Operations Republican Alliance Rhodesian Action Party Mozambique National Resistance Rhodesia Front Rhodesian Intelligence Corps Rhodesian Light Infantry Rhodesian National Party Rhodesian Party Rhodesian Republican Army South African Defence Force Southern African Solidarity Congress Special Air Service Special Branch Security Force Auxiliaries Southern Rhodesian African National Congress Students Representative Council SWAPO UAC UANC UDI UNIP USSR ZANLA ZANU ZANU /PF ZAPU ZDI ZIMA ZIPA ZIPRA ZIS ZLC ZNA ZP South West African Peoples Organization Union Administrative Council United African National Council Unilateral Declaration of Independence United National Independence Party Union of Soviet Socialist Republic Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army Zimbabwe African National Union Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front Zimbabwe African People's Union Zimbabwe Defence Industries Zimbabwe Medical Aid Zimbabwe People's Army Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army Zambian Intelligence Service Zimbabwe Liberation Council Zimbabwe National Army Zambian Police ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The editors wish to thank the Ford Foundation and the Swedish Agency for Research Co-operation with Developing Countries (SAREC) both of which supported the International Conference on the Zimbabwe Liberation War held in Harare on July 8-12, 1991, at which most of the papers appearing in these two volumes were presented. We are also grateful for the generous subsidy the two organizations have provided for the publication of the two books. We are further grateful to Professor Carl F. Hallencreutz and his colleagues, the organizers of the Seminar on Religion and War in Zimbabwe and Swedish Relationships held at Uppsala on 23-28 April, 1992, for their permission to publish Ngwabi Bhebe's paper on the Healing of the Scars and Jeremy Brickhill's chapter on the Mafela Trust.