By Gracious Mugovera and Alvin Madzivanzira

“HANDIKWANISE kubva pano, gumbo rangu rakabatwa nemacomrades,” were words of the late national hero Cde George Rutanhire when we met him at Chibondo in Mt Darwin in 2011.
One would think Cde Rutanhire was referring to fellow comrades who were present at Chibondo, but no, he was referring to the bones and skeletons of children of the struggle who were exhumed at Chibondo.
Chibondo evokes memories.
Sad memories.
In mountains, valleys, rivers, caves, shallow and mass graves, in bushes within and outside the country, the sons and daughters of the soil who perished during the protracted liberation struggle, which lasted more than a decade, lie.
War is ugly, brutal, it knows no etiquette.
During the war in which an estimated over 20 000 people were killed, rituals and norms were suspended for expediency.
In African culture, when one passes on, there are specific rituals which must be performed to ensure that the spirit of the dead finds rest, becomes an ancestor and protector of the home.
Failure to observe these rituals is said to precipitate great personal or family misfortune.
Many fought and were killed during the war.
Circumstances of death varied. Some died in battle and were literally left where they fell, others succumbed to wounds in caves where they would have hidden, while many were quickly buried in shallow graves with no funeral rites.
But no misfortune befell those who buried them, there was no retribution from the spiritual world.
The freedom fighters had made each other a pact.
In the case that one fell during the struggle, more important than rituals was continuation of the struggle.
They would be at peace as the survivors would come back for them and accord the fallen a decent burial.
After the guns fell silent, they would be exhumed and interred in the soil of their ancestors.
The Fallen Heroes Trust of Zimbabwe’s (FHTZ) core objective is to identify, exhume, rebury or facilitate the reburial of deceased freedom fighters whose remains are in the bush, in mass graves or any other undesirable place either inside or outside Zimbabwean borders.
And Cde Rutanhire headed the organisation, which, though doing very important work, works silently.
Its work has largely remained on the fringes of the media.
It is not attention they sought, but a fulfillment of the promise made amid the falling bombs.
Wars are traumatic and one of the ways to deal with this trauma has been the fulfillment of promises survivors made to fallen comrades.
After the discovery of the atrocities hidden in Chibondo, Mount Darwin, FHTZ exhumed 849 bodies for reburial.
Cde Rutanhire’s work was not mere reclamation of bones, but flesh and blood that gave birth to a free nation.
There are constituencies that would rather we remain quiet, that would want us to forget, insisting our past does not matter but the future.
To forget the comrades, the chimbwidos and mujibhas in shallow and mass graves is to forget colonial injustices and the evil nature of the systems which propped up the Rhodesian regime.
Cde Rutanhire refused to forget.
The violence and atrocities that whites perpetrated in a bid to continue exploiting our country remain unwritten, but through the works of the FHTZ, we can start documenting and writing this important story.
Many are still haunted by Nyadzonia, Chimoio, Victory Camp, Freedom Camp and many other places where Zimbabweans lost their lives and the reburials have been a balm to many survivors whose spirits have remained troubled.
In excruciating pain, Cde Rutanhire superintended exhumation and reburial of 848 in Chibondo, 183 at Butcher in Rusape, more than 70 at Matumba and six in Mutare, close to Hartzell Mission.
Events that surround the Butcher highlight the gross atrocities Rhodies committed to the black majority.
Many were guillotined, while a substantial number were used as shooting practice targets.
Since 1981, FHTZ has identified more than 50 mass graves and over 2 000 individual graves.
It has identified and reburied over
1 000 comrades to date.
In his (Cde Rutanhire’s) own words: “We have many comrades who were brutally killed and were buried in a manner that showed no respect, but the desire to conceal crimes against humanity by Rhodesians and it is our duty to exhume and rebury them.
“It is important for the nation to prioritise the reburial of those who died at the hands of the enemy for us to achieve independence.
“Thousands died and only a few were accorded decent burial.
“Decent burials would ensure that the story of the bravery of the participants in the struggle will not be forgotten.”
A member of FHTZ, Cde Samuel Gumisiro Dhliwayo, who worked closely with Cde Rutanhire described him as a man who kept his word.
He described him as a devout member of the Trust.
“All his life he was a good, hardworking citizen,” said Cde Dhliwayo.
“He was a true comrade who taught and encouraged others to live clean, upright lives and to be good citizens.
“He was a good neighbour who never shirked his duty when he could be of assistance to any one in need.”
Cde Rutanhire, according to his peers, served with distinction as a freedom fighter and that the the discipline and patriotism he acquired during the liberation war never left him.
Cde Dhliwayo pointed out that the liberation struggle was fought and won through the guidance of African Traditional Religion (ATR).
“Spirit mediums played a very important role in the struggle,” he said.
“Fighters had the guidance of spirit mediums who included Mbuya Nehanda and Sekuru Kaguvi and according to the beliefs and traditions of Africans, the spirit of the dead cannot be left wandering.
“Takaitirana chitsidzo kuti tichazouya tokutorai nyika yasungunuka.
“This is the mandate that Cde Rutanhire was fulfilling.”
Independence, said Cde Dhliwayo, came with great expectations and rewards.
“Many say wafa warova, but Cde Rutanhire never forgot the promise made during the struggle – to give the fallen decent burial.”
ZANU PF spokesperson, Cde Simon Khaya Moyo described Cde Rutanhire as a reliable man who led the front and never boasted his role in the liberation struggle.
“He remained a man of enviable simplicity, humble, focused, hardworking, approachable, reliable and always led at the front,” he said.
Advocate Martin Dinha, the Minister of State for Mashonaland Central Provincial Affairs said:
“Cde Rutanhire’s contribution to the country is invaluable.
He is a gallant son who fought for the liberation of the country.”
Cde Rutanhire is gone, but the work he began must continue. We must make as much noise as we can about the exhumations and reburials of the country’s freedom fighters. They must not happen in silence or be an item presented to the populace as an afterthought.
Go well Cde Rutanhire!