By Owen Mashamba

IN 1978, my father Joseph Mashamba became a war collaborator.
Initially he had no intention of becoming a war collaborator.
He was a welder at Spring Master and it was when he visited his parents in Gutu, Nyazvidzi area, that he came face-to-face with the reality of war.
Having brought a radio to the village, he got popular and soon word spread that a city-boy was in the area, with a radio.
He was soon summoned by vanamukoma at Guchacha Base.
He says he did not hesitate though he did not understand why they wanted to see him.
At the base vanamukoma asked him about the situation in Salisbury (Harare) and the living conditions of the black people.
Without fear and hesitation, father narrated all the injustices he had seen and experienced in the city.
Steadily and slowly they gave him insights about the liberation struggle and how and why it was important for young men like him to fight for the liberation of the black majority.
Father was inspired and decided not to go back to the city but to fight for his future and generations to come.
He did not go back home and with his radio went to Chitsa Base under Chief Makarutse.
There they learnt more about being war collaborators.
It was not easy to be a war collaborator, he says, as it required dedication and sacrifice..
Theirs was an onerous task as the safety of vanamukoma and their success depended on them.
Chiefly they sourced information which was critical to success in battles.
As a collaborator, father ran errands and carried out various assignments.
He was trained how to identify enemies especially within the community, sell-outs were a major pain during the struggle who in some instances set-back successes achieved.
During the second day of his training father came into contact with the enemy.
It was around 3am when they heard gunshots.
They were working with commander Jim Mashiripungana, Cde Trust Chimurenga, Cde Sabhuku Kunyanya and Cde Tafiranyika.
Father says he was lucky in that vanamukoma covered them while they escaped.
He left behind his radio and his name was written on it and thus there was no going back home.
As war collaborators father was among those who were sent back to Chief Makarutse to find out the amount of damage that the enemy had caused.
They found out that the enemy was still in the area and promptly relayed the message back to the comrades.
He recalls the Mvimvi Battle which was a result of the work of sell-outs.
He says that comrades from Bikita and Buhera were visiting the spirit mediums of the areas informing them of their presence.
Cde Take Two Mabhunu represented the fighters from Bikita and from Buhera there was Cde Dhonono and Cde Shingie.
What they did not know was that the owner of the homestead, where the ceremony was to take place had sold them out.
A battle ensued in which, among many other comrades, one Cde Black Jesus was lost.
Father was captured when he decided to visit his parents.
He was taken to Sena Base, where he was flogged for information about the whereabouts and operations of vanamukoma, which to his credit he did not divulge.
Wounded, he was taken back to his parents where they paraded him in a bid to ‘break’ his resolve and scare the villagers in the hope that they would stop support for the freedom fighters.
After three days of torture father was released, he was barely alive.
When his wounds healed he resumed his operations as mujibha till independence and after independence he came back and went back to Spring Master.