The story of Cde Shadreck Chivhunga

I WAS a senior mujibha (patrol commander) who assisted vanamukoma in Hunda Village, Murehwa District.
I will never forget some two days in March 1979.
In the days that have remained etched deep in my psyche, we lost comrades, friends and relatives at Chemakuyo and Hunda Bases.
The war had spread to most parts of Murehwa.
As was part of our daily routine, I sent vanamujibha to go around checking whether surrounding areas were free of the enemy.
We had 30 comrades in the area.
Vanamujibha came back with bad news.
They had spotted eight Rhodesian soldiers at Dandara Primary School, which was about five kilometres from our village.
I passed on the message to the comrades who were relaxed at the base.
The comrades gave us 30 hand grenades to go and attack the intruders.
I remember the time vividly; it was around 10am when we arrived at Dandara.
From a distance, we saw the Rhodesian Forces and there was no way we could attack them.
The open space, with no cover, between us and them, made it difficult to confront them, we would be totally wiped out by the heavily armed Rhodesians.
We retreated to Hunda Base and reported the situation to the comrades.
At around 5pm, the comrades decided to go to Dandara to attack the Rhodesians gun-to-gun, but they did not find them.
What they did not know was that an informer had told the enemy about their presence.
When the comrades left Dandara on their way back to Hunda, they did not realise that the enemy stealthily followed them.
The comrades arrived at the base at around 7pm.
The Rhodesians surrounded the base, taking up strategic positions.
They spent the night making plans on how to wipe out the comrades.
We did not expect any danger.
As the senior mujibha, I organised fellow collaborators to find out what had happened to the Rhodesian soldiers we had seen earlier in the day.
I suspected they had learnt about the whereabouts of the freedom fighters in the area.
And they would definitely be up to no good.
All hell broke loose at dawn.
It was around 4am.
A comrade called De Bones, who was coming from the next village called Kurida, saw the positioned Rhodies, ready to attack the unsuspecting comrades at the base.
Without hesitation he opened fire at the enemy killing several Rhodies.
I don’t know how many were killed but I just heard gunshots and the wailing of dying Rhodesian soldiers.
The comrades in the base reacted to the gunshots by scurrying for cover.
Meanwhile, the Rhodesian soldiers panicked and fired randomly.
A French Motor gun used by the Rhodies wreaked havoc.
Headman Isaac Hunda’s granary was razed to the ground.
Sensing danger, we, together with the comrades and fellow villagers, dispersed and the comrades did not fight back as they did not want to endanger the unarmed civilians.
Almost all the villagers fled their homes to neighbouring villages after hearing the fierce gunshots.
As we fled, we lost comrades Rufu Kuvachena and Muchabvuma Mabhunu who were shot and died instantly.
Cde Rufu Kuvachena’s sub-machine gun was taken by Makombe, a fellow comrade.
A mujibha, Bayai Matsika, was also shot dead.
When the Rhodies could not find vanamukoma and the villagers, they literally set the whole village on fire.
They could not find anyone because we had escaped to Mhembere Village where we sought refuge at Chakwesha Chirambadoro’s place of residence.
We later heard that the enemy left for Shamva after the attack.
We returned to our destroyed homes after two days as we had made sure about the departure of the enemy.
The two comrades were exhumed after independence and were reburied at Murehwa District Heroes’ Acre.
What pains me the most is that these comrades and collaborators lost their lives a few months before the ceasefire in 1979.
Compiled by Fidelis Manyange