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Musami massacre unravelled

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ON February 7 1977, Rhodesians massacred seven missionaries at St Paul’s Musami Mission.
These were two priests, a brother and four nuns. Three nuns — Sr Magdala Lewandowski (43), Sr Epiphany Schneider (73) and Sr Ceslaus Stiegler (60) were from Germany while Sr Joseph Wilkinson (55) was from England.
The priests were Father (Fr) Christopher Shepherd Smith (33), a Briton born in East Africa, Fr Martin Thomas (45) from London (both Jesuit priests) with Brother John Conway (57) from Trailee, Ireland.
The Smith regime claimed it was the work of ZANLA forces, ZANU’s armed wing.
Enemies of the liberation struggle also blamed the freedom fighters.
Why was this massacre blamed on the liberation forces and not the terrorist bands of Ian Smith who committed this dastardly act?
Why, when the evidence pointed it to be the work of Rhodesians.
The political, philosophical and spiritual foundations which underpinned ZANU and ZANLA were the quest for liberty and justice for their people, the liberation of Zimbabwe from British bondage.
They were pursuing a noble cause to free their people; to end the exploitation and oppression of their people by the British armed robbers.
The Rhodesian regime on the other hand was a terrorist machinery whose philosophical and political foundations justified terrorist and brutal acts against whatever and whoever stood in their way.
But there was a method to the liberation war. Contrary to what many thought, the eight points of attention which guided the liberation struggle did not come from Chairman Mao of the Chinese Revolution, they actually came from the spiritual leaders of the land.
Top on the list was ‘no adultery’ or Musikavanhu would not protect the fighters; no cruelty to both the masses or the captured enemy, no looting or plundering of the dead enemy and many other details.
It was to be a people’s war; the fighters and the people had to be one, the fighters had to be at peace with the masses.
Consequently, in the execution of the war, the freedom fighters observed the lore of the land, always consulting with the spiritual leadership in each area they operated, with the traditional leadership. Because of this approach which respected the culture of the people, which educated the masses about the cause of the struggle, the hearts and minds of our people were won to the liberation struggle.
And the struggle grew from strength to strength. The people became an impregnable fortress of the liberation struggle.
For this reason, the Rhodesians hatched an evil plan. The infamous Selous Scouts, masqueraded as freedom fighters to commit an evil act meant to denigrate everything the struggle stood for.
It was a move meant to make the people turn against the freedom fighters.
The Selous Scouts, masquarading as freedom fighters, abused women. They knew this was anathema to our people and would alienate the people from the comrades.
The other was indiscriminate killing. They were also notorious for drinking and substance abuse which was done to portray a picture of an unruly guerilla outfit.
Brutal killings, abuse of women and harsh, disorderly as well as unpredictable behaviour was designed to make people run at the sight of the freedom fighters.
But the liberation forces soon caught up with the imposters and educated the masses how to identify the real from the fake.
And so the liberation struggle made strides despite this evil menace. This made the Rhodesians desperate.
The massacre at Musami Mission was one such desperate attempt to arrest the liberation struggle by senseless cold blooded killing of innocents.
An excerpt taken from the Memoirs of Ted Rogers, a Jesuit, published by Cluster Publications, Dorpsruit, South Africa, strenuously avoids laying the blame where it belongs — squarely at the feet of the Rhodesians.
Discussing this post with Comrade Canaan Mugadzaweta, a veteran freedom fighter, he noted revealing indicators that this could never have been the work of ZANLA.
“The killers were dressed in various uninforms”, said the post — Cde Mugadzawet described that as ridiculous: “But we never dressed like that, we were not in uniforms.”
Another part said: “The main evidence left at the scene of the murders were footprints from army boots which were imprinted on a wall as the murderers ran away.”
Anybody who came into contact with the freedom fighters would know that they did not wear standard issue army boots.
The post also says that the armed men argued among themselves as to who was going to shoot the missionaries.
“ZANLA forces never had such arguments. We did not operate like that; we were an organised force which executed missions with precision and not confusion,” he said.
What is interesting is that Rogers leaves out details which are narrated by Father Dunstan Myerscough, a survivor of the massacre, to Sam Dhliwayo who was a Form One pupil at Musami Mission at the time of the massacre, that as the murderers prevaricated over the shooting one said: “We should shoot so as to tarnish the image of vana mukoma,” that is the freedom fighters, as they were affectionately known by the masses.
The Rogers memoirs are silent on the fact that the mission worked hand-in-hand with the freedom fighters, providing them with bales of blankets and clothing, food and medicines as Father Myerscough said to Dhliwayo: “It was also no secret that the priests and the nuns provided huge bales of clothing and foodstuffs to the comrades.”
Neither does it say anything about Brother Adamson who escaped the killing because he happened not to be in his room when the killers came.
Brother Adamson would travel with the comrades at night and would go with students to listen to Radio Maputo, ZANU’s broadcaster during the liberation struggle.
Without these pertinent details, the path is cleared to pin the massacre on ZANLA.
Later, it was established that the Selous Scouts had committed this crime to punish the missionaries for supporting ZANLA.
It was not only to punish the missionaries, it was also to mobilise international opinion against ZANLA and the liberation struggle especially by making the massacre a racist act as the African mission staff were left unharmed.
The Rogers memoirs do not acknowledge that freedom fighters were on a mission of justice and freedom while the Smith regime was a terrorist force seeking to maintain its robbery of the land and wealth of the people of Zimbabwe.
Ours was not a racist war. It was not a war of injustice. We were not murderers but freedom fighters.
We are grateful to many people from all over the world who supported the liberation struggle, people of all races, including the missionaries murdered at Musami.
We could never kill anyone because of their race, but we fought those who came to take away our land with force of arms.
Pinning the Musami massacre on ZANLA freedom fighters is to negate everything they ever stood for; freedom and justice, true liberation.
It is also to discredit the missionaries who were the friends of ZANLA.
This is a travesty.

2 COMMENTS

  1. A great deal of information contained in this article is at odds with my own experience of the event. Myerscough, by my understanding, could not converse in the vernacular. I saw him soon after the incident, and spoke to him on two further occasions after that. He was adamant that the killers were, in his words, “communist terrorists”. So vocal was he in this, that the the Catholic Church practically restrained him and hid him from public view. It is of some interest to note that at that time he made an approach to Lt. Col Nornan Wood with the intention of joining the Army Chaplain Corps – hardly the behavior of a man who by your account just barely survived being killed by the Rhodesian forces. The footprints on the wall – I remember well. They were not exclusively boot prints: there was a variety of patterns, and they were placed there as a challenge to our trackers to follow them. Zanla freedom fighters were not so innocent as they may appear at first glance.

  2. There is a lot about St Pauls MUSAMI that people need to know this mission had a history
    which was nver going to be known had it not been for the dear priest who died in 2019
    after leaving a documentry which might not be privy to many
    what is it about St PAULS that made the racists rabid about the mission?
    THE POWER AND THE GLORY OF A BLACK MAN WAS REVEALED FOR ALL TO SEE
    For i did show them that with nothing but the power of our lord MWARI WEDU
    AND THE DESIRE to fulfil when the chosen one is amoung you you are safe Iwas with them 1971-74
    I WAS at the mission from 1971 to 1974 I was young and full of energy i established ALO which I DISBANDED AT THE END OF1974
    WHAT DID I DO THEN READ OUT THE TESTIMONY OF THAT PRIEST THAT DIED IN 2019 AND WHAT PEOPLE OF OLD AGE IN THE VILLAGES SAY ABOUT ONE MANYYEARS CHUCHU THAT WAS BACK THEN 1974
    BY 1975& 76 I was now at NYAMUYARUKA NEAR THE NYAMAPANDABORDER POST
    I CONTINUED WITH MASS MOBILISATION TOWARDS SENSITIVITY IN DECOLONISATION OF PEOPLE`S MINDS IN THE FIGHT FOR THEIR FREEDOMS
    AFTER MY SELF GROOMING AT sT PAULS MUSAMI IN THE MUTOKO AREAS ALONG THE BORDER WITH
    MOZAMBIQUE THEY STILL TALK OF CHEREKEDZAI THE CID —- & WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM
    WHEN HE MET CHUCHU AT NYAMUYARUKA TOWNSHIP AT MEZA `S BOTLE STORE
    THE CHUCHU FROM CHINHOI chitomborwizi WHO APPEARED ALMOST EVERYWHERE DURING THE ARMED STRUGLE AND PERFOMED TO THIS DAY WHAT PEOPLE ARE AFRAID OF TALKING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO BECAME THE SAVIOR OF MANY AND OFFERED TO BE KILLED SO THAT MANY COULD LIVE THE CHUCHU THAT THE RHODESIANS FAILED TO KILL-THEIR GUNS COULD NOT SHOOT AND THEIR KNIVES COULD NOT CUT
    FOR THEY KILLED HIM BUT HE DEFIED NATURE AND AROSE FROM THE DEAD TO BE A TESTIMONY OF THE EVIL OF THE SMITH REGIME– FOR IN SHONA THEY SAY CHUCHU AKAFA AKAMUKA
    I PASSED THROUGH ST PAULS MUSAMI FOR I DID MY SECONDARY EDUCATION THERE
    THE KILLING DONE BY SELOUS SCOUTS CAN NEVER BE FORGOTEN AND FORGIVEN THE WORD RECONCILIATION HOW I HATE IT
    FOR IAM REAL GENUINE AND SURVIVIVED THE HORRORS OF SMITH`S REGIME
    now iam 65years old I HAVE NO REGRETS I APPRECIATE RELIVE THE OLD DAYS FOR I KNOW IT WAS NATURE CALLING FOR THIS HERE SACRED COUNTRY YOU CALL ZIMBABWE THEREAL NAME IS CHIVAVARIRA IS ITNOT THAT YOU SAY
    MBAVARIRA INODA VANOGONA MATARE MBAVARIRA INODA VANENHARO
    ZVINO INI
    CHIDAVO CHANGU RIKAVA RO ZITA RENYIKA INO PAMWEYA
    MOHWA VACHITI
    KWANDIRI
    MBAVARIGWA
    HANDI DAMBE ASI PAKUTI KURATIDZA HURIDZI
    VAZHINJI VENYU
    MUKUSAZIVA KWATINOENDA MBERI UKO
    MUCHAZIVA HENYU KUTI MURIVANANI
    FOR KNOW THYSELF
    THEN SURELY YOU WILL KNOW AND APPRECIATE THE CREATOR
    THE HEAVENLY FATHER OUR GOD MUSIKAVANHU

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