"ZANLA Forces Were Ordered To Eliminate ZIPRA Forces 1st Before Smith Soldiers"

A veteran of the liberation war, Farai Tafirenyika has claimed that towards the end of the liberation struggle, ZANLA forces were ordered to eliminate ZIPRA forces before killing Smith soldiers. This, as he said, was to make sure that no antagonistic forces opposed to former president Robert Mugabe  Mugabe would be in place when he arrives. Tafirenyika said this during an interview with the Sunday Mail Deputy News Editor, Levi Mukarati. Below are excerpts from the interview.

Levi Mukarrati: You claim there was an order to Zanla fighters to eliminate their Zipra counterparts on the ‘front’. Cde Tafirenyika, let us not try to re-write history here but help us fill the missing details of events during the liberation struggle. Who had issued such an order and why?

Farai Tafirenyika: Every war also has its shortcomings, not from the enemies, but amongst the people who fight it. The period marking the end of 1974 to 1977 was characterised by a lot of upheavals. We find the Badza-Nhari rebellion, the elimination of some of the rebels; the inside job to assassinate Chitepo, the formation of ZIPA, scheming by Mugabe to remove Ndabaningi Sithole that culminated in the Mgagao Declaration, the arrest of ZANU leaders and jailing of the ZIPA command structure…

To answer you on the eliminations. ZIPRA’s war tactic was to attack and retreat while ZANLA attacked, claim an area and set base. We were seeing ourselves as more powerful and Zipra fighters as cowards who retreat.

Kwainzi tapinda mufront, tanga wadambura weZipra before the enemy. It was not widespread, but it happened, that is why Zipra leaders in ZIPA ended up withdrawing their comrades from the front. It was and still is a tribal issue. That part of history has not been adequately mentioned. People like Cde Manyika were behind these dark acts. That is why we still have this mentality of ex-Zipra and ex-Zanla and not liberation fighters.

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