I have always wondered about what the liberation struggle for the independence of Zimbabwe – The Second Chimurenga – was like. I always attempt to put myself in that epoch and try to comprehend the immensely selfless sacrifices that were made in order to secure the independence of this country. It was essentially and in all terms a war of Fire and Blood.
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| Thomas Mapfumo, one of the leading Chimurenga music artists |
My understanding of the world as a young male adult in this
contemporary society is that almost all of the inequality in the world can be
traced to the colonial conquests of Europeans who were infinitely greedy and
unleashed destruction for the locals wherever they went. They were the agents
of every incorrigible moral thing your mind can ever imagine. They were masters
of plunder, and took evil delight in the divide and conquer rule, ensuring that
my race was forever shackled in chains, and even in Latin American lands where
the colonization was outright evil and sadistic. My people, for the longest
part of all modern history, were made to believe they should resign to a
miserable fate where there is absolutely nothing to relish from the experience
of existing. And so, to fight oppression, you had to employ ugly tactics to
win.
When the European settlers found permanent settlement in
Zimbabwe from South Africa and named this land Rhodesia after the imperialist Cecil Rhodes, they
never regarded the African as a human being. And it was deeply embedded in
their psyche that the African would never rule this land. They made a raft
of legislative pieces that enforced complete racial separateness (copying from their counterparts in South Africa). They took the best
land for themselves, and yet were only a minority. They sidelined the majority
of the population, the Africans, to native reserves, African purchase areas and
the ghettos. I try to imagine how living in that era was like. The black man
could not even rise in society, and this lack of social mobility was a source
of intense anguish and resentment against the settler regime. Put bluntly, the
settler regime was heartless, merciless, cruel, sadistic, outright evil, and
really really blind. My people were in chains. (And still are.)
It was inevitable for a nationalist movement expressing the
dissatisfaction of the African people to spring up. It started in peaceful
ways (mostly through unionism) but these ways made people to become disillusioned. The rise of the
parties ZAPU and ZANU saw the nationalist movement turning militant. The brave,
under the military wings of ZIPRA and ZANLA, were sent for military and intelligence
training to bases in Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, the Soviet Union and
China. The battle was on. For the Rhodesians, it was a matter of “defending”
their “motherland” (which in my thinking this was a very distorted perception of the world that they possessed). For the Africans, it was a matter of
emancipating ourselves in ALL areas of life. All of them. For the white man
dictated the fate of the African.
Enter the war songs. War songs were a very vital ingredient
of the liberation struggle. These songs were necessary for political
indoctrination and to boost the morale of the masses on the overall. These
songs were the soul of the movement. These songs were the soul of the uprising.
All messages were encapsulated in these songs. By just listening to them,
obviously one would get a picture of the nature of the war and what was at
stake. For in essence, war is a matter of life and death. War is ugly.
Listening to these songs helps me get an image of the liberation war. I begin to truly understand the sacrifices that were made by everyone who died for this country and who dedicated their lives to the liberation cause.
Many songs depicting the liberation struggle were sung, but
for this piece we will rely on a few ones. There is Flavian Nyathi and Blues
Revolution with their piece Ropa reZimbabwe. With this song, you can actually
get the emotions of the Chimurenga. A bloody phenomenon that revealed the
intransigence of the Rhodesians. The melodies give the song a truly Zimbabwean
feel that anyone, and I mean anyone (African or otherwise) could relate to. And
this song is still played on local television say during Heroes time or when a
liberation war hero dies.
Speaking of when a hero dies, there is a song that rings in
everyone’s head – Yei yei yei, yei, ye ye ye ye. This legendary, emotional
masterpiece called Tormented Soul was made by Matias Xavier. And it’s still being played today. The trauma
of the war so deep that he failed to find words on how to clearly describe the pain that comes with war. It shows the depths of human trauma as a result of the devastating
effects of the war.
There is one by Chitungwiza Mbira Unity that goes by the title Zimbabwe Yakauya Nehondo. It speaks for itself. Blood had to be spilled
for the black person in Zimbabwe to be free. For you to be having that
Engineering degree, blood had to be spilled because these opportunities were
the exclusive preserve of the white man. You had to be industrious ten times to
be having successful business enterprises, professions. But you would still be
termed “native” as of you belong to the wilderness and not part of humanity.
Then there is Thomas Mapfumo. He scaled heights with his
music. His discography is way too vast. But the song Zimbabwe Mozambique exudes
a spirit of unity, a spirit of a one Africa, a spirit of a fierce revolution.
In it he talks about the unity between the Zimbabwe and Mozambique fighters,
and says that had we been united Samora Machel wouldn’t have died. Which is
true. He talks about the unity between Robert Mugabe and Mozambique’s leaders
Joacquim Chissano and Samora Machel. It’s a masterpiece really. The
instrumentals are arranged in a heavenly manner, making a beautiful conflation
of reggae, blues and other traditional sounds. Kubatana kwemasoja eMozambiqe neZimbabwe, Kubatana kwevanhu veMozambique neZimbabwe. Especially when one considers the central role that Mozambique played in the struggle for independence.
Zimbabwe Liberation War songs are a reservoir of knowledge. In terms of human feeling about war. As expressed here by Mbuya Madhuve in Ndega Ndega. It's a tale of a fighter who has been left alone after fellow comrades are killed. Very deep content. Vamwe vangu vakafa shuwa, ndokusara ndega musango, ndega ndega.
Or Maruza Imi perfected by Cde Chinx Chingaira here. Probably one of the biggest Zimbabwe liberation war song. A strong warning to vapambi vepfumi (plunderers of wealth through violence) that their illegal colonial rule was coming to an end. That they had lost because of the guerrilla warfare waged by ZANLA and ZIPRA. There was also Nzira Dzemasoja which laid out party principles and served as motivation for freedom fighters to be disciplined. Such a powerful war cry song.
For anyone of my generation who would want to understand the Chimurenga fully, I would recommend listening to Chimurenga music. You get the whole picture.
It is sad and shameful that despite all the heroic efforts made
by those who fought for this country, we are mired in abject poverty and in a
shambolic state as a country. And that government continues to pursue wrong ideologies politically and economically (neoliberalism).
Chimurenga music still lives on.
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