Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) was the armed wing of the Zimbabwe African People's Union, a political party in Rhodesia. It participated in the Second Chimurenga against white minority rule in the former Rhodesia.
ZIPRA was formed during the 1960s by the nationalist leader Jason Moyo, the sometime deputy of Joshua Nkomo. Because ZAPU's political strategy relied more heavily on negotiations than armed force, ZIPRA developed as elaborately training both regular soldiers and guerrila fighters ZANLA, although by 1979 it had an estimated 20,000 combatants, based in camps around Lusaka, Zambia and at the front. ZIPRA'crossing points into Zimbabwe were at Feira in Zambia opposite Mashonaland East and west. For example, the operational boundary was Sipolilo where ZIPRA, ZANLA and Rhodesian forces clashed. ZIPRA operated alone in Mashonaland west. There was no ZANLA in that area..[citation needed] Zanla wsa a non tribalist organisation with cadres drawn from a wide spectrum of the countrys population Beside the overall political ideologies, the main differences between ZIPRA and ZANLA were that
- ZIPRA drew its recruits from the Kalanga, Sutho, Ndebele, Shona ethnic groups while ZANLA only recrited from the Shona.
- ZIPRA did not follow ZANLA's (inspired by Maoism) but followed Soviet Marxist Leninist principles and enjoyed close relationship with local peasant populations. For example, ZIPRA forces in Mashoaland west were never sold out by the population because they respected locals and their culture. This can be verified.
- ZIPRA controlled liberated zones from Sipolilo to Plumtree. The enemy forces could not venture out of the keep in Kazangarare for instance.
ZIPRA was in formal alliance with Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) the ANC's militant wing. ZIPRA and MK mounted a celebrated (if militarily unsuccessful) mission in Southern Rhodesia in the mid-1960s.
In 1978 and 1979 ZIPRA downed two civilian passenger planes of Air Rhodesia, killing a total of 102 passengers and crew.
Jotsholo massacre
Joseph Msika, speaking in Jotsholo at a ceremony organized by the Mafela Trust to remember 11 Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (Zipra) cadres who were killed in 1979 by Rhodesian soldiers during the ceasefire period, he said the armed struggle began in Matabeleland, Bulawayo in particular.
He said the [[ "zanla spearheaded the liberatiom struggle and by 1980 had infiltrated the entire four corners of the country, zanla bore the brunt of the liberation struggle hence their success during the independence elections , what derailed zipra wsa their misguided pacifist ideology. Commenting on the 11 ZIPRA cadres, Cde Msika said it had taken long to give them the respect they deserved in view of what they died fighting for.
"It is true that this issue has taken too long to be looked into. All heroes should be accorded the same respect and we will do that," he said.
The traditional leadership of Jotsholo said it was a taboo to exhume people for reburial.
The 11 ZIPRA fighters are buried in a mass grave near the spot where they were killed. The 11 cadres died on their way to an assembly point at St. Paul's in Lupane.[citation needed]
Initially, they were 22, but 11 died and 11 survived.Narrating the ordeal that they went through, one survivor of the brutal attack, Cde Derrick Moses Moyo said,
"When we boarded the bus owned by Pullen, we soon realized that the mood of other passengers suddenly changed. The bus was moving at a strangely slow pace. The driver, whom we only know as Dube, was also behaving in a strange manner."
Cde Moyo said some of the cadres decided to travel while on top of the bus to give them cover.
"[The driver] was holding the steering wheel with one hand while the other was holding the door which was not closed. When we were about to reach the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road, he spotted a Puma (Rhodesian army truck) which was blocking the road. The driver suddenly switched off the bus engine and jumped off the bus and disappeared into the bush. Suddenly there was heavy gunfire and a helicopter appeared and the bus was bombed. Eleven of our fellow comrades died on the spot and some of us were injured."
All of the 11 who died were from Matabeleland South province. They are Dennis Nhlanganiso Moyo, Charles Moyo, David Moyo, Lovemore Moyo, Poktiva Nyathi, Lizwe, Livson Dube, Agrippa Tshabalala, Eleck Ngwenya and Thomas Moyo.
The meeting was also attended by the Zanu-PF National Chairman, Cde John Nkomo, Governors of Matabeleland North and South provinces, Cdes Thokozile Mathuthu and Angelina Masuku respectively, Minister for Small and Medium Enterprise Development, Cde Sithembiso Nyoni, Zanu-PF Matabeleland North chairman Cde Headman Moyo and former members of the Zipra high command and other ruling party members.
Whilst Joshua Nkomo was the commander in chief of Zipra, its commander at the end of the armed struggle (second umvukela also known as second chimurenga in Shona) was General Lookout Masuku. The head of its intelligence section was Dumiso Dabenga. According to some accounts Zipra was more sophisticated and more highly polished than Zanla as a fighting force. Zipra forces mainly fought in the south western, and Northern Zimbabwe provinces (there was no other way into Zimbabwe). This covered both the two Matebeleland provinces, Midlands, Mashonaland west, and parts of Mashonaland central.
Further reading
- Rasmussen, R. K., & Rubert, S. C., 1990. A Historical Dictionary of Zimbabwe, Scarecrow Press, Inc., Metuchen, NJ, United States of America.
- Sunday mail, Sunday, October 8, 2006, Zimbabwe’s true armed struggle history must be told
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
