Wilfred Mhanda; a hero's unfinished story

Great men can never be made by other men, they must live their lives and do that which they must do unhindered by circumstances.

"Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus and we petty men walk under his huge legs and peep about to find ourselves dishonourable graves. Men at some time are masters of their fates. The fault, dear Dzino, is not in our stars, but in ourselves that we are underlings. Mhanda and Mugabe; what should be in that "Mugabe"? Why should that name be sounded more than yours?"

The recent passing away of Dzinashe Machingura ( aka Dzino aka Wilfred Mhanda) inspired me to appreciate that we must never live our lives limited by the ideas of other men or their expectations of us because, in our graves, we shall be alone. Other men will never honour us for whom or what they became through us. Instead, what we leave for humanity is more important than the credit of mere mortals. Let these truths force themselves into the minds of honourable men living amongst us.

I never met Dzino, and I keep kicking myself for postponing the event! I however have read his experience of history. History must be told from many angles if we are to truly accept the rich picture it offers. We therefore dare not ignore those like Dzino who shaped our struggle history lest we miss its deepest lessons. More devastating would be that, if we ignore his tale, we may totally misunderstand that which has shaped our present circumstances.

Unfortunately now I will have to use his book; "Memories of a Freedom Fighter", to share with you some of his perceptions and ideas.

What struck me in his rendition of the struggle was the myriad of names of men and women who gave all they had for our liberation and yet today, we hardly know who they are. Those that gave much to the realisation of our freedom, are today spurned and destitute.

Thousands upon thousands of good men and women gave up what they had in order to pursue the dream of a free Zimbabwe. Oh how wretched we are that to this day that freedom, so cherished by many in those times, remains elusive and usurped.

Clearly our history has been manipulated and reframed to serve the interest of a few thus robbing us of truly appreciating our past and our true heroes.

I am however, hardly surprised by this because the motives of men in politics, although presented as honourable, are seldom pure. In my opinion, if there is anyone we owe much to, it is to men such as Dzino whose lifetime was the struggle itself.

Dzino and his team never accepted that Zimbabwe would be free without the continuation of the armed struggle. Our so called nationalists that today claim they freed us were mere followers, opportunists who failed to lead then because of personal vested interests. No wonder why we now have this catastrophic leadership failure; the seeds of deceit were planted many many years ago and now we must reap its bitter fruit.

From reading his experiences, I got a sense of his unflinching dedication to the cause and outstanding leadership qualities that forced him to lead by example whether it was in the camps or out there face to face with the enemy on the battle field. He certainly had a very clear and intelligent mind on what had to be done and I am impressed on how he gathered others around finding solutions. He was not big headed and arrogant, but was circumspect and very clear on the objectives of the struggle. If only we had leaders like that now!

Dzino and his team never accepted that Zimbabwe would be free without the continuation of the armed struggle.

Amongst us we shall always have traitors, impostors who look at personal short term benefit at the expense of the common interests of many. Those were found too during the struggle and some are still amongst us pretending to be dedicated to the total economic emancipation of the masses and the fight against imperialism; let us not be fooled again.

On the role of the Zimbabwe People's Army (ZIPA) in strengthening the struggle, I have no doubt in my mind that without them; our history could have been significantly different. Their strategic contribution and their incontrovertible and crucial intervention to continue the armed struggle after détente remains the least appreciated phase that shaped our freedom.

 Clearly the West in pursuing détente nearly derailed the objectives of the armed struggle; the West will therefore always and consistently pursue its own agenda. Isn't this the same situation we face now? History is instructive indeed.



From the crooked timber of humanity and the intrigues and motives of men, nothing straight will ever be made and so we end up with a heroic and decisive role of ZIPA in our history untold and its heroes like Dzino repressed, spurned and dishonoured.  God forgive us.

The Zimbabwe we have today is not the Zimbabwe we want, nor is it the Zimbabwe that honourable men like Dzino saw and sacrificed their lives for. We owe them much to continue the journey to the total liberation of Zimbabweans.

Dzino sought to be a participant and architect of a national democratic revolution that would see the establishment of a new social order in Zimbabwe; a social order totally transformed and significantly different from colonialism. Our dream today remains for us to witness and enjoy such a society, one that is based on social, political and economic freedom, underpinned by universal human rights. I think it is up to us the new generation to pursue this dream.

According to him; besides a dedicated and selfless leadership, a national democratic revolution can only be possible by the existence of an inclusive organisation to spearhead the struggle. This organisation must craft a compelling vision of hope and articulate a unifying national agenda arrived from scientific social analysis.  It must establish a revolutionary program of action with clear objectives and the thorough mobilisation of people around popular aspirations of equity, justice and prosperity.

Those who gave much like Dzino gained little, but that must not stop us to do what we can to contribute to the total liberation of Zimbabwe in this lifetime.

The struggle continues!

Vince Musewe is an economist and authors based in Harare. You may contact him on vtmusewe@gmail.com