Mnangagwa Reveals What Made Him Join The Liberation Struggle

President Mnangagwa revealed what made him join the liberation struggle.

He said he joined the liberation struggle because his parents were forced to leave the then Southern Rhodesia. Mnangagwa’s father was kicked out of Mnangagwa Village after an incident with a white Land Development Officer. He said his father and his brothers had removed one wheel from the Land Development Officer’s vehicle in protest. The Land Development Officer had taken cattle from an old woman who had gone to dip her cattle at the dip tank. Said Mnangagwa:

At Mnangagwa village in Zvishavane now, we have a dip tank. We take our cattle there for dipping once a week and at this time in history there was an officer called LDO, Land Development Officer – a young white man who came to our dip tank and was destocking cattle. There was an old woman who had five cattle. This young man said this old woman must sell two of her cattle and keep three. My father (you know we are the Chief Mapanzure clan) and his brothers said no the woman cannot keep three cattle. She has to keep the five. If she has three she cannot survive but this young man said no he was the boss she must keep three and wrote this in the billing book. This young man has come to the dip tank with a Land Rover so my father and his colleagues took off one of its wheels and took it up the hill. When this young man had finished his work at the dip tank he discovered that his Land Rover was now on three wheels.He asked what has happened to the other wheel they said well, that old woman is going to live with three cattle you drive back to Shabanie on three wheels.On that basis my father was not liked and eventually we were kicked out and we went to Northern Rhodesia which is Zambia now. So that changed my attitude because I felt that punishment was not necessary when we were kicked out and grew up in Northern Rhodesia now Zambia. That is when I changed from wanting to be a pilot and joined UNIP, United National Independence Party of Kenneth Kaunda in 1959 or 1960.

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