News / National
'When I die, Zimbabwe will be free'
11 Feb 2016 at 10:01hrs | Views
The late ZANLA supremo General Josiah Magama Tongogara saw a free Zimbabwe before he even went to join the liberation struggle.
In 1963, General Tongogara, affectionately known as General Tongo, told his late father that Zimbabwe will be liberated despite odds staked against the black people.
ZBC Chief Correspondent Reuben Barwe recently visited the Tongogara homestead in Shurugwi's Gamwa area, and spoke to General Tongo's young brother, Joshua.
The young brother of the late national hero Joshua Tongogara said he was a witness to the discussion between his late father and late brother at their farm in Gamwa small scale farms in Shurugwi.
"I witnessed him telling our parents that he was going to train as a freedom fighter. Our father said no saying he will die of hunger, but General Tongo said their food in the struggle will come from you the people. He told our parents in the kitchen that when he dies Zimbabwe would have been liberated," said Joshua.
The late General Tongogara started schooling at Rockford Primary School in Shurugwi South before doing his upper primary school at Jongolingo in the same area.
He left for Zambia in early 1960s after telling his father the late Magma that he was going to fight and liberate this country a move his father doubted would materialise.
He stuck to his views and died on the eve of liberation due to a traffic accident in Mozambique.
The parents of the late General died later in the 1980s and were given state assisted funerals.
The young brother Joshua says despite promises by many to assist the family as a token of appreciation of the good work done by his late brother, nothing has happened and they have resigned to their poverty.
"It's you who feel ashamed of our circumstances including the dwellings of the late General. To us this has been our home since we moved here from Punungwe in the early 1960s," said Joshua.
The late ZANLA supremo schooled at the same school with the late former Midlands Governor Herbert Malaba, Florescent Chitauro and many other luminaries and Rockford school headmaster Memory Sukura says they feel forgotten despite producing a military genius in the name of General Tongo.
In 1963, General Tongogara, affectionately known as General Tongo, told his late father that Zimbabwe will be liberated despite odds staked against the black people.
ZBC Chief Correspondent Reuben Barwe recently visited the Tongogara homestead in Shurugwi's Gamwa area, and spoke to General Tongo's young brother, Joshua.
The young brother of the late national hero Joshua Tongogara said he was a witness to the discussion between his late father and late brother at their farm in Gamwa small scale farms in Shurugwi.
"I witnessed him telling our parents that he was going to train as a freedom fighter. Our father said no saying he will die of hunger, but General Tongo said their food in the struggle will come from you the people. He told our parents in the kitchen that when he dies Zimbabwe would have been liberated," said Joshua.
The late General Tongogara started schooling at Rockford Primary School in Shurugwi South before doing his upper primary school at Jongolingo in the same area.
He stuck to his views and died on the eve of liberation due to a traffic accident in Mozambique.
The parents of the late General died later in the 1980s and were given state assisted funerals.
The young brother Joshua says despite promises by many to assist the family as a token of appreciation of the good work done by his late brother, nothing has happened and they have resigned to their poverty.
"It's you who feel ashamed of our circumstances including the dwellings of the late General. To us this has been our home since we moved here from Punungwe in the early 1960s," said Joshua.
The late ZANLA supremo schooled at the same school with the late former Midlands Governor Herbert Malaba, Florescent Chitauro and many other luminaries and Rockford school headmaster Memory Sukura says they feel forgotten despite producing a military genius in the name of General Tongo.
Source - zbc
