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They died so others may live

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By Dr Irene Mahamba

THEY fought and won.

Everyone who fights and wins wants to receive a prize, a reward as well as savour the fruits of sacrifice.

But this is where revolutionary heroes differ from all others; Olympiads, football and basket-ball greats. The freedom fighter, on enlisting in the liberation struggle, knew he/she  was signing up to die for others. 

The mercenary these martyrs encounter in battle is in it for himself, for the money and looks forward to enjoying the fruit of his/her ‘labour’ no matter how vile the mission that ‘earned’ those thousands; be it to kill or murder children or to poison unsuspecting villagers.

To fight any war of attrition, for money, to risk their lives, to die for money is quite normal for mercenaries.

Worlds apart! 

A totally different outlook from that of the freedom fighter who is prepared to give the greatest gift, all he has, the ultimate, his life, to die that others might live.

It is the heroism we celebrate every April 28; the heroism of the  Chinhoyi Seven; the heroism of Mbuya Nehanda whom the British armed robbers murdered on April 28 1898.

Mbuya Nehanda walked to the scaffold defiant, giving up her life for her land, telling the white-man it is he who needs forgiveness from the Most High for stealing her land not she the defender of her God-given heritage and the right of her people to it.

When Mbuya Nehanda did not renounce her role as custodian of her people but indicted the whiteman and his pretentiousness about holiness she set the standard, revealed what the true mettle of Zimbabwe is; that your birthright is not negotiable, that it is better to fight for who you are and what is yours than to live as a slave of the white foreigner from across the seas.

She foretold: “Though you might kill me, my bones shall arise and drive you out.” 

How right she was! 

Tens of thousands took her mantle and the fiercest war erupted only one generation later; the grandchildren of Chimurenga warriors she had commanded in the First Chimurenga fought this war, they were the Second Chimurenga warriors.

Indeed they did arise, and they were the fiercest and most resolute ‘bones’ on the 68th Anniversary of her death.

And on the same day, on April 28 1966, the Chinhoyi Seven were restless and raring to fulfil Nehanda’s mission, to drive out the white menace.

When the whiteman captured Mbuya Nehanda and Sekuru Kaguvi, they immediately sent telegraphs to England to say the war was over.

Indeed the war was over, but not the way they believed and thought it was over.The whiteman had won a battle, not a war. 

It was inevitable that the land between the Zambezi and the Limpopo would be restored to its owners.

When Nehanda, the high priestess of Mwari, the prophetess, the chief medium of Musikavanhu, gombwe renyika, agreed to lay down her life for this land, something changed. The days of the whiteman became numbered. It was a matter of time; the whiteman could not continue to hold on to this land. 

Had the British any shred of spirituality, they should never have touched Mbuya Nehanda, Sekuru Kaguvi or any other high priests and chief mediums. 

When you do that, Musikavanhu exacts a price; and the price was the land between the Zambezi and the Limpopo, the land of his people, which he had never intended for the whiteman. 

When you exact of Musikavanhu the highest price, you pay a premium; you pay with everything you have. When you overrun the holy shrines and Musikavanhu lets you, the reason is very simple, there are rules in fighting and when you break the rules, you lose everything, the white-man lost everything in that moment.

And so, on April 28 1966, mapfupa aNehanda declared it was time to rise.

It was the battle that marked the begining of an epic fight in which the white man was thoroughly thrashed.

The battle of Chinhoyi was fought on the same day they murdered Mbuya Nehanda — 66 years later — the day she declared her bones would rise, the day she paid the ultimate price for this land.

It was the day Zimbabwe’s youth took her mantle, took her spear and charged at the whiteman. 

This was so unprecedented since the end of the First Chimurenga; it was unmistakable. Chimurenga warriors were back.

It was the same mettle, totally fearless; the mettle of the ferocious Ndebele Warriors who wiped out the Wilson Patrol, the mettle of the Ndebele warriors who trounced Carrington’s forces in the Matopos.

It was the mettle of the young Ndebele chief who asked: “Where shall we live when all this is over,” the mettle of Mashayamombe who made a stand at his hill fortress despite the whiteman’s machine gun and dynamite.

It was the true mettle of Zimbabweans refusing to bow down to the white usurper because he had better guns — indeed the mettle of Mbuya Nehanda.

The seven were assaulted by helicopter gunships and police special forces. They were outnumbered by both ground and air forces, but they fought an epic battle for at least eight hours; costing the enemy casualties upwards of 40 and only falling when they ran out of ammunition.

If our young knew how brave and ingenious their predecessors were, they would never waste a second watching American war games on TV. 

Here was real war, real bravery, great heroes who, when totally outnumbered and outgunned sustained an epic battle we still are so proud of today. 

Who needs superman when we have real heroes – kwete masaramusi?

They stood their ground, making it clear they were Zimbabweans, custodians of this great beautiful country, owners of this country; they were not going to surrender no matter how mighty the enemy appeared. 

When surprised by the enemy at their hideout just outside Chinhoyi town, they did not raise their arms in alarm, fear or despondency, they did not attempt to run away, they stood their ground and fought to the last bullet only falling after they ran out of ammunition.

These seven heroes of Chinhoyi inspired us so much during the liberation struggle so that against all odds we too could resolutely sing:

‘Tinofa tichienda kuZimbabwe

Kudzamara tinosvika kuna Zambezi

Kudzamara tinosvika kuZimbabwe

Nehanda komborera vari muZimbabwe

Nehanda komborera vari mumakomo

Nehanda komborera vari mumapako…’

They died fighting, with the ferociousness of Zimbabwe.

The mettle of Zimbabwe is not dead, the spirit of Mbuya Nehanda still lives, that of the seven of Chinhoyi still lives among us!

Sometimes this spirit is just swamped in so much morass, we need to wake each other up, fan this flame into life so we all can defend and protect what is ours. 

There will never be another land for us, only this house of stone, our Zimbabwe!

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