Zipa's collapse never explained fully by both Zapu and Zanu

In 1975 Zimbabwe's two liberation movements, Zapu and Zanu came together and formed a military alliance allowing their guerrillas to fight the Rhodesians under the name Zimbabwe People's Army(Zipa).

It was the liberation committee of the Organisation of African Unity(OAU) that put pressure on the two guerrilla movements to fight as a unified army.Both sides agreed reluctantly to unite their armies.But Zipa collapsed in 1977and no Zapu or Zanu leader has ever explained fully to the people of Zimbabwe the events that led to the demise of the alliance.

The alliance was born at the time when Zanu was sailing through troubled waters following political upheavals within its ranks.This was the time when rival Shona groups-mainly the Zezuru and the Manyika  were fighting for the control of both the political and military wings of the organization.

The two former liberation movements have given different versions of how Zipa was formed and the reasons for its collapse. Zapu leaders blamed tribalism by Zanu,political and ideological differences as the reasons for the demise of Zipa.

One senior Zanu leader known to this writer was quoted in the 70s as saying that the Zanu-Zapu guerrilla alliance was just a shortgun marriage to get OAU people off their backs.

The same applied with the Patriotic Front alliance of the two liberation movements,a brain child of the Frontline States.

I have read a number of articles written by Zanu supporters and sympathizers masquerading as independent authors.All the articles I read gave the reader the impression that Zipa was the brain child of Zanu officers who included the late Solomon Mujuru aka Rex Nhongo.

One such article was published in a blog by a Harare based human rights activist and one time board member of a poorly run private radio station that broadcast to Zimbabwe from South Africa.I will not mention his name but it should be a serious cause for concern when the history of the liberation war is deliberately distorted for reasons known to the authors themselves.

In all the articles I read about Zipa there was no attempt by the writers to include the Zapu side of the story.Some former Zanla cadres have also denied Zapu claims saying political and ideological differences rather than tribalism contributed to the collapse of Zipa.Zapu leaders also described as ‘pure lies' claims by some Zanla officers that Zipa was their party's brain child.

"Its true that tribalism was a problem in Zipa but it was practiced by both Ndebeles and Shonas in the alliance.Its not fair to single out Shonas as tribalists because there are Ndebeles too who hate Shonas," said former Zanla cadre, Fanuel Haruperi Chipenda.

But Chipenda tells me that in Johannesburg where he now lives,his friends are Ndebeles and some of them former Zipra.He agrees there were several attempts in exile to unite Zanla and Zipra but they all came to nothing.

Chipenda thinks the politicians on both sides were the problem not Zipra or Zanla fighters on the ground.

According to vice-president Phelekezela Mphoko,Zipa was formed to rescue Zanu from collapse.Mphoko wrote in the state media early this year:"The most important thing here is that the formation of Zipa was mainly to rescue Zanu from collapse.Any other interpretation is not correct."

Mphoko said as chief of logistics of Zipa he secured supplies and arms in Tanzania and delivered them to Zanu fighters in Mozambique.He said Zanla became alive again and when his mission was complete and Zanla had been saved from collapse, Zipra withdrew its cadres from Mozambique.

Mphoko was himself accused by his Zipra comrades including Dumiso Dabengwa of selling out to Zanu.He has denied the allegations saying they were being peddled by those opposed to his appointment as vice-president.

"I don't agree with Mphoko on the reasons for the collapse of Zipa.The alliance collapsed simply because of tribalism by Zanla. Its not a secret that Shonas and Ndebeles have failed to work together both in exile and at home.Our children deserve to know the truth why we have failed them as a nation," said Alfred Moyo, a former Zipra cadre who says he was present when Zipa collapsed.

Moyo said Zapu had good relations with all the liberation movements in exile including Swapo of Namibia,MPLA of Angola and Frelimo of Mozambique.

"Our alliance with Umkhonto we Sizwe lasted until the end of apartheid and we have maintained those relations till this day but we could not last two years with Zanu because everything with them was about tribe," Moyo told me.In his own words - "Zanu leaders are the worst tribalists I have come across in Africa."

Some former Zipra officers who were in exile told me that when James Chikerema abandoned Zapu to form Frolizi he described the MK-Zipra alliance as an expansion of Nguni Power. But it was Chikerema who,as Zapu's first vice-president signed the alliance agreement with the ANC on behalf of his leader Joshua Nkomo who was in prison.He never complained about Nguni dominance when the alliance was formed.

"There were many tribes in the Zipra-MK alliance but ethnicity was never an issue because we all respected our different cultures and languages as black people,"added Moyo, now based in Johannesburg.

He said even the OAU leaders who worked with Zimbabwean liberation movements could see clearly the tribal differences between the Shona and the Ndebele and between Zanu and Zapu.

At one time the tribal differences between Zanu and Zapu almost forced the OAU liberation committee to dump the two liberation movements and recognize Bishop Abel Muzorewa and Ndabaningi Sithole's parties as Zimbabwe's representatives.

Thats why they forced them to form Zipa which eventually collapsed in 1977. In Tanzania tribalism reared its ugly head again when Zanla cadres at the Morogoro camp attacked Zipra without any provocation forcing Zapu to withdraw its guerrillas.

During the war, Zanla clashed many times with joint MK-Zipra patrols whenever they met in operational areas particularly in Matabeleland South and Midlands provinces. The clashes were more in Matabeleland South districts of Gwanda and Beitbridge.Zanla had tried unsuccessfully to open another war front in the Zapu stronghold and found themselves facing three enemies-the Rhodesians,Zipra and the villagers who supported Zapu.

Zanla,says a former Rhodesian intelligence operative,had a poor war strategy. He says for any guerrillas to operate freely in any region, they need the support of the local civilian population first. Zanla was trying to open a front in a hostile region.

That turned out to be a disaster. Its guerrillas were completely disabled because they could not speak the languages of the local population in Matabeleland.

The locals supported Zipra.On the other hand, Zipra whose political leadership was balanced in terms of ethnicity, operated freely in Mashonaland East because some of its Shona speaking leaders came from that region. According to Philip Hattlebury,a former member of the Rhodesian police force, whenever Zanla guerrillas appeared in Beitbridge villages,the locals would report their presence either to the police or inform Zipra.

Sometimes it was the Rhodesians themselves who would inform Zipra through their village informants and then the two guerrilla units would fight each other.

"When both Zipra and Zanla had been weakened by fighting,we would then go after them with guns blazing and we the Rhodesians would have the last laugh." said Hattlebury. The fighting in Beitbridge forced Zanla to abandon the area because they had communication problems and hated by the locals.

Zipra's advantage in Mashonaland East province was that some of Zapu's political leaders came from that region. Shona recruits who included Ambrose Mutinhiri were able to join Zipra and remained with Zapu until independence even though,say former Zipra cadres, he briefly left for Frolizi and came back.

Mutinhiri went on to become Zipra chief of staff although some in Zapu say had it not been for his ethnicity, he would have taken over as Zipra army commander after the death of Alfred Nikita Mangena in 1977.Mangena was replaced by Lookout Mafela Masuku.

Masuku headed Zipra until independence in 1980 after which he and other top Zipra brass were detained by Mugabe government following the discovery of arms of war on Zapu owned properties.

Information I have gathered through interviews with former cadres showed that there were many in Zipra who resisted the appointment of Shonas into top military positions because they (the Shonas) were not trusted by fighters from Matabeleland and in Ndebele speaking regions of the Midlands.

Zapu sources tell me that the military was already worried about the dominance of Shonas in the political structures of Zapu especially in the central committee. According to another ex-Zipra cadre,the military wanted to prevent the mistakes made by Joshua Nkomo who allowed the party to be hijacked by people who could not be trusted some of whom later betrayed him by defecting to join Zanu.

"It was almost impossible to be a commander in Zipra if you were not from Matabeleland," said Clement Magorimbo, a Shona speaking former Zipra cadre now in his late 60s. But he is not bitter that he was never promoted to a higher rank.

Mutinhiri's decision to leave Zapu briefly to join the Front for the Liberation of Zimbabwe(Frolizi) played into the hands of those who opposed his promotion to the top leadership of Zipra.

Zanu-PF is still being seen by the inhabitants of Matabeleland as an organisation for the Shona people whose sole agenda is to liquidate other ethnic groups and turn Zimbabwe into a one tribe state.

Gukurahundi was the final nail to the coffin and destroyed all efforts to unite Zimbabwe's different ethnic groups.

Thabo Kunene is a freelance Journalist and writes in his personal capacity.