By Tabeth Hazvinei Musungate

MY father Alexander Jonathan Musungate was born on November 17 1955 in Chikwaka, Goromonzi.
He did his primary school at Kadyamadare primary.
He went to school up to Form Two, but during those days it was very hard to secure a job because of the discriminatory employment laws of the Rhodesian Government.
In 1975 he migrated to South Africa (Wenera) where he worked briefly in the mines.
It was during his ‘Wenera days’ that the revolutionary spirit to liberate his country caught up with him.
My father told me that he was encouraged by some senior ZANU officials who were based at a South African university to join the liberation struggle.
Together with three other colleagues, they left South Africa and crossed into Botswana, covering much of the journey on foot.
They were received and vetted by ZANU representatives in Francistown.
After a brief stay in Botswana, the group which now had about 60 recruits was airlifted to Zambia where they stayed for three months at a ZANLA transit camp. Finally they were flown to Tanzania where they underwent military training at Nachingwea in 1977.
After training, my father’s nom de guerre was ‘Richard Gondoharishaye’.
He trained together with the likes of Cde Tazvipedza Zvifesani (Lovemore Chisango) and Cde Marigazvuru (George Mudavanhu) both of whom served in the ZNA together with Cde Gondo after Independence in 1980.
They all successfully completed training in the famous ‘Sasa Maiza’ intake which in English means the group that was tasked with ‘finishing off’ the enemy.
In late 1978 Cde Gondo was deployed in the Tete province of the North Eastern Front.
There he fought many battles with his group and caused sleepless nights for the enemy. Cde Gondo rose through the ranks to become platoon medical officer. He was tasked with treating the injured cadres during their operations.
While operating in Tete Province in Chaminuka sector, my father said one day they were making daily patrols in one of the semi-liberated zones when the medical kits he bore on his back was becoming a problem.
Cde Gondo said he remained behind with his Two AK47s, a bandolier and First Aid kits to try and sort them out.
When his colleagues had proceeded, he heard gunfire and voices crying in anguish.
He crawled his way in pursuit of his colleagues only to find out they had been wiped out by members of the Rhodesian Light Infantry.
He said he retreated to a nearby village where he was received by the well politicised villagers who assisted him in linking up with another ZANLA unit in the area.
In August Cde Gondo was re-assigned to the rear where he took up base at Mavhonde back in Mozambique.
In October 1979, Mavhonde was attacked by the Rhodesian Air force.
The Mavhonde battle, according to my father was one of the most vicious battles fought in all spheres of the Second Chimurenga.
It was a five-day air raid during which the Rhodesians equipped by helicopters, Canberra bombers, spitfires and of course the Mirages flown by Israelis, bombarded the base mercilessly. Nevertheless my father says they put up a spirited resistance and finally managed to repulse the enemy who said good-bye to war forever. There was much bloodshed at Mavhonde, but the enemy was severely crippled because many of his war planes and troops were destroyed during the 5-day battle.
During that battle, my father was injured by shrapnels from one of the bombs and had the following injuries, damaged nose-bridge, fractured right knee and twisted hand wrist.
In early 1980 after ceasefire, my father together with many of his colleagues were moved to Dzapasi Assembly point.
On 30 September 1980, he was enlisted into the Zimbabwe School of Infantry of the new Zimbabwe National Army. Despite the difficult times he had experienced during the struggle, my father continued to serve his country with distinction in the armed forces.
Because of his patriotism and sense of duty, in May 1985 he was the only member of the ZNA who was selected to go and attend the prestigious 85th Commonwealth and foreign IEDD course at the Army School of Ammunition in the United Kingdom specialising in explosives.
He became known in military circles as ‘Cde Bombs’ and served as chief explosives expert, ensuring safety of VVIPs and VIPs whenever they boarded planes.
For his sterling job in serving his country, Cde Gondo received the following awards from the Defence Forces, Zimbabwe Liberation Medal, Zimbabwe Independence Medal, Ten-Year Service Medal and the Mozambique Campaign Medal.
He retired on June 30 1996, but unfortunately died of cardiac arrest on April 24 1997.
Even if we are yet to benefit from the land reform and indigenisation programme as a family, we readily support President Mugabe in his quest to empower the indigenous people of Zimbabwe.
My name is Tabeth Musungate and I am the daughter of Cde Gondo.