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An emotional account of war

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CHARISMATIC, inspiring, determined, hardworking, loving and oh yes funny; were the attributes possessed by the late Cde Alexander Kanengoni.
What more would one want with a boss with such qualities.
Indeed the man made my work and life easier over the past five years
I am one who has never been very good at speaking, instead I express myself better in writing.
To be a good writer one has to read a lot, Cde Kanengoni would always remind us.
So when the ‘challenge’ to do book reviews came, I gladly took it.
At first I was clueless on how to go about it.
The reviews I had read before had focused mainly on language and writing techniques, but for The Patriot, they had to be done differently and in depth.
Cde Kanengoni, a seasoned writer, used to emphasise focus on content, as it was the message in the books that really mattered.
He understood this was new to me and he was patient enough to continue hammering the message until I got the hang of it.
Intelligence, he would say, is the ability to link up two separate issues.
And his words resonated every time I read a book; it had to be linked with events of our time.
Most of the books reviewed under this column are by Rhodesians, mostly recounting their experiences of the Second Chimurenga.
It is always refreshing to read books written by Zimbabweans who took part in the war.
For stories that have been told about the war have either been from the Rhodesians’ perspective with little attention paid on the story by the Zimbabweans who fought in it.
Having taken part in the war, there is no doubt that Cde Kanengoni was the perfect candidate to share an inside story on the psychological toll the war had on the comrades.
He did just that in his book Echoing Silences.
Having grown accustomed to a man who always made you find something to laugh or smile about even during the most serious times, his book showed me the other side of him.
Echoing Silences is an emotional account which takes the reader deep into the heart and psyche of the war.
Whenever the book was mentioned during our diary meetings Cde Kanengoni would always remind us of his white friend who told him she cried every time she read the book.
Who would not?
I cried too as I read the book.
It is one book that will definitely leave a mark.
The book he wrote and completed in two days.
It is not surprising, after all he had experienced what he was writing about.
I remember asking him how long it took him to write the book.
He was visiting in Murehwa and for those two days, he ensconced himself on the mountain writing this marvellous piece.
Why the mountain?
The war was fought in the bush and the mountain gave a good view of the bush and it was a perfect and inspiring setting, Cde Kanengoni said.
The book gives an insight of the mental torture and the effects the war had on those who witnessed and took part in the struggle.
Not much thought has been spared on the heavy burden the freedom fighters still have to carry as they battle with the memories of what transpired during the struggle.
After reading the book, I understand why he was always on about how the lack of counselling after the war had affected some fighters.
They really needed that counselling, given what they had seen and gone through.
Cde Kanengoni used writing as his outlet, his safety value.
Through his writings, not only in books, but newspaper articles, he always spoke about the liberation struggle.
It was this very war that birthed Zimbabwe that Cde Kanengoni spoke passionately about.
It is that war that he took part in that brought about the independence we will be celebrating on Monday.
Cde Kanengoni will not be joining us as we celebrate 36 years of independence, but his efforts and works towards attaining it will not be forgotten.

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