HomeOld_PostsPainful experiences at Nyadzonia: Part Two

Painful experiences at Nyadzonia: Part Two

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By Prince Simbarashe Zongoro

FOR six months, my father Denford ‘Tendai Nation’ Zongoro was among comrades who received military training at Mugagau in Tanzania.
The living conditions at Mugagau were better than Nyadzonia and father was trained together with Cdes Mugadzaweta and Misheck Muchemwa, among others.
Having finished training, father and fellow comrades returned to operate in Nehanda Sector which was under Tete Province.
And having assumed the Chimurenga name ‘Tendai Nation’ father talks of being in the Nyombwe Detachment which saw him being posted to operate in Centenary, a commercial farming area in north eastern Zimbabwe.
Centenary was a stronghold for the whites who possessed vast acres of land that they forcefully grabbed from black people.
Father says it was difficult and dangerous to operate in Centenary, however, they had no option, but to continue with the struggle.
They knew that the major reason for them to join the liberation struggle was to fight for the land.
The limited number of war collaborators, said father, made life difficult in Centenary.
Food, he says, was scarce since the black people were supervised in farms.
In order to make ends meet, the comrades according to father, stole cattle and cooked their own food due to the limited number of mujibhas and chimbwidos.
For one-and-half years, father operated in Centenary together with Cdes Steady Hama, Dobhadobha and Stan Kamvumbura, among others.
Besides Centenary, father also operated in the Dande area and at one time, he became a Detachment Commander.
One day in 1978 father says he went to collect ammunition in Dande which was considered a safe place after it was declared a liberated zone.
It was during that time that he heard of seven girls who were on their first mission to operate in the front.
Sell-outs on the other hand also heard the news and betrayed them, resulting in a battle with the enemy.
One Cde Chapewa Masande met my father and instructed him to be among the Cdes who were going back to Mozambique with the girls.
On their way back to Mozambique, they received information that some Rhodesian soldiers had been spotted earlier in the area, but had retreated.
With the knowledge that the enemy had retreated, they continued with their journey, but walked straight into an ambush.
Father was shot and the bullet went through below his breasts straight to the back.
Some comrades died on the spot while others died later out of the radius.
Other comrades returned fire to enable father’s escape to a safe place.
For treatment, my father was sent to Songwe Base, but the nature of the wound could not allow him return to the front.
He was sent to a base where the wounded were staying until ceasefire.
Although my father failed to go back to the front, his efforts were influential in the liberation of the country.
I will forever remain grateful to him and thousands of freedom fighters who dedicated their lives for the Zimbabwe we enjoy today.

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