The Rebel in Me-A ZANLA Guerrilla Commander in the Rhodesian Bush War, 1975-1980
By Agrippah Mutambara (2014)
ISBN 978-1-9201143-96-1
Publishers: 30 South Publishers (Pty) Ltd and Helion and Company Ltd

“DEATH was our constant companion; too constant to bring grief and mourning, but most certain to forge oneness of purpose and to be a cause for celebration.
Indeed the death of a comrade became a cause for celebration. It was not a celebration for the loss of the flesh but for the courage and purity of the spirit that in our eyes had turned every dead comrade into a martyr for our revolutionary struggle.”
AMONG the least understood figures in the country is the war veteran, from the guerrilla chief Robert Mugabe down to the forgotten comrade in the village.
What many do not understand is what it is that drives this breed; what made them committed to die for the motherland?
The war veterans baffle because at a moment’s notice they rise and defend Zimbabwe, in the smallest and biggest of issues, with fervor that is to ‘many’ shocking.
They are amazing to a lot and a pain to some for they remain standing when winds blow hard and storms uproot the ‘ordinary’.
They will die if they must, some 34 years after independence, for the country
Agrippah Mutambara, currently Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Mozambique and Swaziland, in his book, an autobiography chronicling his war experiences, reveals details that help one understand the psyche of the guerrilla, why they are what and who they are.
Why they will die or go back to the bush, if need be.
Arguably, this is one of the first war narrations by a guerrilla that is motivated by no other need or agenda other than that of telling his story from his perspective, a story he fears might one day be lost.
With publishers such as Weaver Press, headed by Irene Staunton, that have been part of the regime change agenda there have been publications that distort the Chimurenga story.
Mutambara’s book is an eye opener, it is not only a captivating and reverting reading but answers many questions, the why, who, where, what of guerrillas, how they were made.
One deduces from the book that every war veteran is ‘dead’, no wonder they are ready to die in defense of the country for when they left to join the struggle they had already forfeited their lives to achieving freedom, to serving and saving Zimbabwe.
“We all worked on the basic premise that we would not live to see a free and independent Zimbabwe,” says Mutambara whose Chimurenga name was Cde Dragon Patiripakashata.
“Equally too, we were of the unshakable conviction that those who came after us would accomplish the task we had begun and enjoy the fruits of our labour.
“This became the foundation of our doctrine of a protracted armed struggle.”
Joining the war was definitely, to use a cliché, not a stroll in the park. On his first attempt to join the struggle in Mozambique the writer was arrested by FRELIMO and sent back to Rhodesia.
He was a senior executive officer for Neshuro African Council, his disappearance was big news.
“The FRELIMO soldiers watched me from their side of the border as I walked deeper into Rhodesia, resigned to my fate.
“For three weeks I had disappeared without trace.
“What explanation would I give to the Rhodesian authorities for my disappearance and reappearance, if I were found out?”
But the writer did not go back to the then Salisbury, he would secure a job at a tea plantation near the border where he plotted his second attempt to join the struggle. The second attempt was successful but to his ‘horror’, the writer found himself ‘stuck’ at a refugee camp.
“The term ‘refugee’ had a repugnant resonance to my ears…(I had not come to) be a refugee in Mozambique, but a fighter for freedom and independence,” writes the author.
But there were laid down procedures and processes of the liberation struggle that were critical for its successful execution.
In the refugee camps everyone was vetted to weed out enemy agents that came with the intention of derailing the struggle, discipline was also instilled.
From the book one gleans the guerrilla was forged by pain, loss and an understanding of what it meant to be Zimbabwean.
“Comrade Mugabe aptly stated ‘the justice of our cause is the justice of our gun. “Our fight is just because our cause is just.
“And because our cause is just, our fight is just.
“Whether one joined the liberation armed struggle through the route of a refugee camp or went directly to a guerrilla training camp, it was imperative that everyone had to crawl before learning to walk.
“In other words go through the process of purifying the mind before arming the body, in that order.”
The writer tells how the guerrilla’s mind was rid of white lies repeated for close to a hundred years and the idea of being a second class citizen was snuffed.
Despite their different levels of education guerrillas, are a unified people possessing detailed knowledge of what it means to be Zimbabwean.
“Through political orientation, comrades were transformed into a politically conscious fighting force driven by and committed to a just cause.
“Their full grasp of the national grievances and ability to articulate them in simple and easy to understand language, helped cement the ‘fish and water’ relationship between them and the masses in Rhodesia.”
Guerrillas probably remain highly patriotic and fearsome in defense of the country not just because of political orientation received but the loss of fellow comrades also transformed them.
Narrating the burial of the comrades, women and children that died after the Chimoio Massacre in November 1977, the author explains why the attack did not break the spirit of the fighters.
“As I psychologically braced myself for the task of laying the dead to rest, my mind began to see not dead bodies but the most beautiful and high quality seeds about to be sown in the ground so they could regenerate and multiply…I saw only the courage of my fallen heroes and the purity of their convictions.
“What then is a comrade?
“Certainly not the stinking flesh that we bury.
“A comrade and comradeship is the resilient spirit that resides in a body.
“The enemy, no matter how strong, can destroy the body but not, and never the spirit.
“It is precisely for this reason that Mbuya Nehanda prophesied that her ‘bones’ would arise to continue the struggle.”
The writer attributes the success of the struggle to, among other things, President Mugabe’s ‘strict adherence to principles’ which he says is his greatest strength. And the guerrilla chief’s greatest weakness, he says, is ‘the teacher in him’.
“He sees the weakness in others not as a reason for retribution, but as the teacher’s challenge and responsibility to educate, re-direct and bring into conformity…He thus exhibits patience and tolerance to the under performer and goes the extra mile to rehabilitate them.”
One just has to read the book to fully understand and appreciate the guerilla.