AS we celebrate our hard-won political independence, let us sit back and reflect on some of the sinister strategies the Rhodesian racists and their Western backers used to try and stop us from fighting and eventually winning the liberation war.
In an effort to kill our leaders and in the process throw our Zimbabwe revolution into disarray, the Rhodesian racists resorted to bombing either individual leaders or our liberation war institutions.
For example, “a number of bomb blasts occurred in Zambia in 1974-75.
“These included two blasts at the Liberation Centre in Lusaka.
“One of the bombs killed two ANC of South Africa freedom fighters.
“The other was placed in Herbert Chitepo’s (ZANU PF Chairman at the time) office and destroyed a block of three ZANU PF offices, but no one was injured as the bomb was incorrectly timed and exploded before office hours.
“Three other blasts occurred, one inside the Zambian State House itself resulting in President Kaunda’s personal secretary being blinded, one went off in the Chinese Embassy, killing one Chinese official and a third one outside the main Lusaka Post Office resulting in the death of a government official one Chiman Vyas and his wife.”
The mother of all these early bombings was of course the bombing of Cde Herbert Chitepo’s vehicle which resulted in Cde Chitepo himself being killed and turmoil visiting ZANU PF as a liberation movement for a while.
On the other Zimbabwe liberation movement ZAPU’s side, Jason Ziyapapa Moyo was killed by a letter bomb sent to him by the Rhodesian racists.
Later the house of the then ZAPU leader in Lusaka, the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo was bombed and destroyed.
As the liberation war came towards its end the bombings were resumed.
For instance, at the Lancaster House talks in London in 1979, the Rhodesians tried to bomb His Excellency Robert Mugabe in his hotel room.
And in 1980, while His Excellency President Mugabe was campaigning in Masvingo, the Rhodies once more attempted to bomb his motorcade in an effort to eliminate him.
All the above bombings and attempted bombings were meant to derail the Zimbabwe revolution.

Another sinister strategy that the Rhodesian racist regime used to try and win the liberation war was the employment of foreign mercenaries into the Rhodesian army.
And this strategy was used from the early days of the liberation war all the way to its very end.
For example, “May 16 1976, a network of Rhodesian recruitment agents operating in Britain offered British ex-servicemen thousands of British pounds to join the Rhodesian army.
“Figures from 5 000 British pounds to 12 000 British pounds a year were offered.”
The Rhodesian recruiting agents succeeded in getting mercenaries who joined the Rhodesian army in droves.
By the end of the liberation war itself, the Rhodesian army by its own admission was described as the French Foreign legion (a mercenary outfit during the Second World War).
This was because besides having Rhodesian born soldiers, the all white Rhodesian Light Infantry regiment became filled up with “Englishmen, Irishmen, Scots, Welshmen, Americans, Norwegians, South Africans, Portuguese, Brazilians, Australians, New Zealanders, West Germans and Canadians, plus a host of other nationalities.”
As a matter of fact, most of the Canberra bombers which were employed to bomb freedom fighter camps such as Mapai, Mavhonde, Chimoio, Mukushi etc, were piloted by South African mercenaries.
South African mercenaries were also to be found in Recce groups and ordinary infantry units.
As we have already shown South African mercenaries were not the only ones that were involved with the Rhodesian army.
For example the man that commanded the Armoured car regiment at the iconic battle of Mavhonde in Mozambique when the war came to an end in 1979 was an American major.
The Rhodesian racists also used African puppets.
And in comes the late Bishop Muzorewa.
He led a puppet political outfit called United African National Council better known as ‘Madzakutsaku’.
In an effort not to face defeat himself at the hands of freedom fighters, Ian Smith the Rhodesian Prime Minister brought together puppet African leaders on March 3 1978.
The puppet leaders were Muzorewa, Ndabaningi Sithole, and one Jeremiah Chirau, a chief.
Ian Smith told the world that he was handing over power to a black government. Smiling from ear to ear the three accepted the gift and a puppet government styled the ‘Executive Council’ made up of those three black sellout leaders was set up. The country’s name was changed to Zimbabwe-Rhodesia.
To make Bishop Muzorewa look good a fraudulent election run by Rhodesian intelligence was run which at the end of it declared Muzorewa the winner.
And then another puppet one Josiah Gumede was roped in and made ceremonial president while Bishop Muzorewa himself became executive Prime Minister.
“By mid 1979, 95 percent of Rhodesia was under martial law.
“In effect the senior Rhodesian generals led by General Peter Walls and Ken Flower of the Rhodesian intelligence agency, a Cornishman, were running the country behind the façade of the Prime Minister Muzorewa.”
For example, a story goes that Bishop Muzorewa only knew of the attack on ZANLA camps of Mapai and Mavhonde in 1979 by radio.
In the end, the Muzorewa puppet regime like all sinister strategies crafted by the Rhodies before it collapsed into tatters under heavy attack from Zimbabwe freedom fighters and in the end Zimbabwe became independent in 1980.
Congratulations Madzimbabwe for winning your freedom on April 18 1980 against all the odds!
Makorokoto!
Amhlope!