A Heroes Day review of Dzino: Memories of a Freedom Fighter.

By Lenin Tinashe Chisaira1

Introduction
Zimbabwe commemorates its Heroes Day in August each year. The 2016
commemoration comes at a time when the political relations between the state,
citizens and most interestingly the war veterans are not cordial. In that regard, a
review of one of the latest and most informative memoirs about the liberation
struggle, Wilfred Mhandas Dzino: Memories of a Freedom Fighter[1] seems in order.
The author, Wilfred Mhandas[2] nom de guerre was Dzinashe Machingura hence
the nickname Dzino in the title of the memoirs. Dzino was one of the fiercest critics
of the post-war Zimbabwean state for which he spent his youthful days fighting for.
Dzinashe Machingura is undoubtedly one of the most distinguished yet disinherited
freedom fighters to come out of Zimbabwe. He contributed to the success of
Zimbabwes liberation war at a time when allies of the Zimbabwean struggle such as
(President Samora) Machel lamented the Zimbabwean nationalist leadership,
which he did not consider equally committed to a long and difficult fight to liberate
the country.(p. 94).
It was also a time when military commanders in the Zimbabwe National Liberation
Army (ZANLA) like General Josiah Magama Tongogara were in incarceration in
Zambia following President Kenneth Kaunda's clampdown on the ZANLA High
Command in the aftermath of the assassination of Herbert Chitepo, Zimbabwes first
lawyer and then chairperson of the revolutionary Dare reChimurenga (p62-66).

LLB (Hons) Zimbabwe; LLM Candidate, London ; Lenin Tinashe Chisaira is an activist, socialist, lawyer and
writer based in Harare, Zimbabwe. He tweets at @LeninChisairaand blogs at www.cdetinashe.blogspot.com

In those troubled times, Dzinashe Machingura reveals how he and other

commanders on the ground formed the ZIPA on 25 November 1975 to carry on the
armed struggle .The army was a merger between ZANLA and the Zimbabwe
Peoples revolutionary Army (ZIPRA). The Military Committee of ZIPA included
Solomon Rex Nhongo Mujuru , Dzinashe Machingura, Elias Hondo, James
Nyikadzinashe, Saul Sadza, Parker Chipoera, Webster Gwauya and Tendai
Pfepferere from the ZANLA side. The ZIPRA contribution consisted of Nikita
Mangena, John Dube, Enoch Tschangane, current Vice President

Phelekezela

Report Mphoko, Ambrose Mutinhiri, David Moyana and Dr Augustus

Mudzingwa (p. 96-97). ZIPA was the entity that was to open military fronts and to
resuscitate the liberation war in earnest (p. 100-107). However its role in history
seems to have been officially blacklisted.
Dzino memoirs honestly admit the crucial role of the Marxist/socialist ideology in
being the lifeblood of the Zimbabwean liberation struggle. This ideology was sin
instilled in the freedom fighter from the training stage. Dzino indicates that At the
end of the formal training programme, before proceeding to the transit camp in
Kongwa in the Dodoma region, most of our time was spent on productive activity
and on extra political lessons. A voluntary group of about eight, headed by Dick
Moyo, was formed to study the basic tenets of Marxism-Leninism. I was part of that
study group.(p. 24). In that regard, the current neo-liberal cum nationalist
capitalism models the nation finds itself in is the mere result of a struggle betrayed
and a very Zimbabwean model of state capture.
The revolution devours its children
French royalist journalist Jacques Mallet du Pans*3+ adage that the revolution
devours its children is well known and well documented and has already been
proved to be true in most revolutions that have occurred around the world through
the history of humanity. Of particular interest are the French Revolution with its

Reign of Terror[4] and the Russian Revolution with the Stalinist Purges[5]. For
Africa, Chinua Achebe[6] creatively narrates about that kind of dog eat dog politics
in post-revolutionary Africa in his novel, Anthills of the Savannah[7].
The book under review , Dzino, exposes the origins of persecution that took place in
the liberation struggle. These were the roots to most of the problems that face
Zimbabwean politics in the present times. These political problems include the
politics of using disciplinary hearings to settle political/personal scores as well as to
boot out dissent even from former comrades in arms.
With independence getting nearer again,

Dzino and other were suspected of

harbouring political ambitions using ZIPA and they were lured into an underground
prison in Maputo (p. 186-193). President Robert Mugabe , in July 2016 confirmed the
incident whilst issuing warning against the dissenting leadership of the Zimbabwe
National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA). He warned that During
the war, we would punish defectors severely . . . we kept them underground like
rats, in bunkers*8+, highlighting the truth in Dzinos memoirs.
A history distorted
The book, most importantly serves to provide an additional picture to those that
have been presented by the other few Second Chimurenga historians like David
Martin and Phyllis Johnson, whom Dzino himself accuses of being biased towards
President Mugabe in their book, The Struggle for Zimbabwe[9].
Dzino: Memories of a Freedom Fighter also exposes the often told lie that freedom
fighters fought for the struggle selflessly and without payment. The selflessness has
already been demystified by war vets self-centred demands of the late 1990s and at
the 2016 War Vets Meet Patron indaba. In the book, Dzino writes of freedom fighters
receiving a weekly stipend, in addition to cigarettes (p. 28)

The only blight in Dzinos book is the last third of the book, written as Reflections
on Post-Independence Zimbabwe and the conclusion. This section is so different
from the tone of the early ideologically coherent parts that is appears as if it was
inserted by someone else. The section goes into overdrive to reflect ordinary
Zimbabwean civil societys neo-liberalism. These include attacks on the Fast Track
Land Reform Programme (p. 228). However it is up to each readers perspective to
interpret the book.
Every person must read Dzino: Memories of a Freedom Fighter
In conclusion, every person interested in Zimbabwean politics and liberation must
read Dzino: Memories of a Freedom Fighter. It has been said that socialists are the
memory bank of the revolution, because they read and know how to pursue
revolutionary actions backed by revolutionary theory and vice versa. In the same
vein, activists and politicians on Zimbabwe should , as the nation makes reflections
on its

Heroes Day, make a habit of learning from the works that touch on

Zimbabwes past as this possibly shapes the future political and economic structure
of the country. In addition to books like Martin and Johnsons The Struggle in
Zimbabwe, Maurice Nyagumbos With the People, Didymus Mutasas Black Rhodesian
Behind Bars, Ian Smiths The Great Betrayal, Munyaradzi Gwisais Revolutionaries ,
Resistance and Crisis in Zimbabwe, Joshua Nkomos The Story of My Life and Edgar
Tekeres A Lifetime of Struggle, people must definitely read Dzino: Memories of a
Freedom Fighter.
Endnotes
[1] Published by Weaver Press, Harare, 2011
[2] (b. 1950 - d. 2014)
[3] (b. 1749 d. 1800)
[4] (6 September 1793 28 July 1794
[5] (1936 to 1938)

[6] (b. 1930 - d. 2013)

[7] Published by Heinemann, 1987.
*8+ Newsday, Mugabe in brutal crackdown threat, 28 July 2016, accessed 8 August
2016 at https://www.newsday.co.zw/2016/07/28/mugabe-brutal-crackdown-threat/
[9] Published by Faber and Faber, London, 1981