THIS year marks the 38th anniversary of the barbaric attack on Chimoio in Mozambique by Rhodesian forces on November 23 1977 that left over 3 000 Zimbabweans dead.
Chimoio was a refugee camp that housed thousands of Zimbabweans during the liberation war.
At exactly 7:45 am on November 23 1977, 96 Special Air Services (SAS), 48 Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI) paratroopers and 40 helicopters with RLI troops descended on Chimoio.
To strike as many ground targets as possible, six moth-balled Vampire jets were used for the operation.
A Douglas DC airliner was flown over the Chimoio camps, some 10 minutes before the airstrike as part of a deception plan in which the insurgents were dispersed in a false air raid alert so that when the aircraft participating in the actual airstrike approached, they did not cause alarm.
When the first Air Force jets arrived, the assembled ZANLA forces and refugees did not take cover as they assumed it was the DC-8 that was returning.
In their first pass, four Canberra bombers dropped 1 200 Alpha bombs (Rhodesian-designed anti-personnel cluster bombs) over an area measuring 1,1 kilometres long and half a kilometre wide.
Following the initial air strikes by the Canberras, Hunters and Vampire FB9s, 10 Alouette III helicopter gunships engaged opportunity targets in allocated areas and inflicted the most damage.
The paratroopers and heliborne troops were deployed on three sides of the camp forming stop groups and sweep lines.
They increased the casualties as they killed all those fleeing the genocide.
Nevertheless, some cadres managed to flee the horror of the killing ground.
Two important targets, ZANLA commanders Josiah Tongogara and Solomon Mujuru aka Rex Nhongo escaped.
However, the majority of the people who perished in the attack were unarmed, defenseless women and children.
Saddening though is the fact that today Chimoio looks long abandoned.
The perimeter fence that once protected the shrines has since fallen.
Cattle and goats have turned the place into their grazing field.
Some of the mass graves have been vandalised.
There is also no source of water which is a big challenge for visitors.
The museum still under construction for the past decade is supposed to house some remnants of the attack such as guns and ammunition.
No doubt shrines in and outside the country are deteriorating and what is worrying is that no one seems to care despite numerous visits by various organisations.
Besides the Chimoio massacre, there was an earlier attack on August 9 1976 in Nyadzonia that also left thousands of people dead.
A column of 10 Unimogs, four Ferret scout cars, 84 officers and men of the Selous Scouts under the command of Captain Rob Warraker, were deployed to Mozambique to massacre hundreds of refugees at Nyadzonia Camp just north of the then Umtali (Mutare).
Ian Smith’s men lied that they had discovered a ZANLA logistics camp near Nyadzonia River, a tributary of the Pungwe River, housing an estimated 5 000 refugees.
General Peter Walls then unleashed his troops against unarmed refugees.
Bombs were dropped, while bullets were pumped into helpless refugees.
The soldiers did not want any survivors.
Some of the refugees drowned trying to swim across Nyadzonia River.
What is disturbing, however, is that the mass graves in Nyadzonia are in a deplorable state too.
The ZANU PF national director for gender and culture, Cde Samuel Dhliwayo said not enough was being done to maintain the shrines.
“These shrines are our national heritage as they bear witness of Rhodesian massacres,” he said.
“It is the responsibility of every citizen to ensure that our shrines are in good condition.”
Cde Dhliwayo said not only shrines needed immediate attention, but former detention camps too.
“If people visit Gonakudzingwa Restriction Camp, Sikombela and other former restriction camps, they will be shocked,” he said.
“There is no evidence of the existence of these camps where our nationalists where incarcerated.
“It is our history that we are killing and it is going to be a big challenge to convince future generations that this country attained independence after an armed struggle.”
Perhaps the only shrine which is being properly maintained is Tembwe which is located in Mozambique’s Tete Province.
Days later after the Chimoio massacre, Tembwe was attacked on November 27 1977 and about 3 000 Zimbabwean refugees including women and children as well as ZANLA recruits were murdered.
For four days, Rhodesian bombers systematically dropped bombs on the camp in a manner that ensured that the sons and daughters of the soil did not return to a free Zimbabwe.
It is said the first rescuers to reach the camp found a ‘black carpet’
The ‘carpet’ was not that of mangled bodies, but vultures feasting.
Such was the ugliness of war.
However, shrines such as Chimoio, Nyadzonia and Tembwe need to be preserved as they are a reminder of the liberation struggle, a story that every Zimbabwean must never forget.