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Christopher Farai Charamba Correspondent

The massacre at Chimoio was devastating and caused the deaths of thousands, not only military personnel but women and children as well. Chindunduma, for example, was a school camp for the children of the operatives at Chimoio.

Yesterday marked the anniversary of the Chimoio Massacre that took place on November 23, 1977. Thirty-eight years ago, Ian Douglas Smith’s Rhodesian Air Force raided the ZANLA military headquarters in Chimoio, Mozambique, in an operation code-named “Dingo”.

The massacre, among others, remains etched in the Zimbabwean national psyche and as a continuous reminder of the cruel and murderous journey that was the fight for Independence.

The mere mention of Chimoio evokes horror in Zimbabweans, among whom are survivors of some of the worst atrocities against the blacks of this country.

What is also critical is the realisation that even if the gruesome atrocities were to occur today, they might still not receive much prominence because black lives do not seem to matter to the world, the reason why there have not been any characterisation of Smith as a war criminal.

Rewind back to 38 years. Chimoio is an unassuming place, which apart from its veneration by Zimbabweans after the gruesome attacks, largely doesn’t exist on the world map.

Situated about 20 kilometres north-east of Chimoio, the capital city of the Mozambican province of Manica, the camp was a massive military complex which housed 20 000 people.

Chimoio was a conglomeration of 14 camps, among them Chaminuka, Chindunduma, Chitepo, Nehanda, Parirenyatwa, Pasi Tigere, Percy Ntini, Takawira, Tamba Wakachenjera and Zvido Zvevanhu.

On the fateful day, 6 000 men, women and children lost their lives and today they are buried in mass grave shrines at the site of the camps.

This was a major setback for the ZANLA forces but did not dampen their spirits as ZANLA would later plan a revenge attack in Mutare and continue the armed struggle culminating in the Lancaster House Agreement which brought about Zimbabwe’s independence. This was a surprise attack as the liberation movement leaders did not believe that the Rhodesian government would violate Mozambique’s sovereignty and ignore international boundaries.

ZANLA did not also anticipate that the Rhodesian forces would use their entire airforce which was the second largest in sub-Saharan Africa to that of South Africa.

On the day of the attack, 144 Rhodesian Army paratroopers and an additional 40 helicopter-borne troops attacked the camps at 07:45 to exploit the concentration of ZANLA forces during their morning parade.

This was followed by the Rhodesian Air Force’s Canberra and Hunter strike aircraft as well as six Vampire jets.

A Douglas DC-8 airliner was flown over the Chimoio camps 10 minutes before the airstrike as part of a deception plan in which the insurgents were dispersed in a false air raid alert, so that when the aircraft participating in the actual airstrike approached, they did not cause alarm.

When the first Rhodesian Air Force jets arrived, the assembled ZANLA forces, as planned, did not take cover as they assumed it was the DC-8 that was returning.

According to PJH Petter-Bowyer, a former Rhodesian combat pilot, in their first pass, four Canberra bombers, dropped 1 200 Rhodesian-designed anti-personnel cluster bombs over an area 1,1 kilometres long and half a kilometre wide.

While the air strikes took place, the paratroopers swept the ground killing fleeing ZANLA forces.

The massacre at Chimoio was devastating and caused the deaths of thousands, not only military personnel but women and children as well.

Chindunduma, for example, was a school camp for the children of the operatives at Chimoio.

Due to the nature and extent of the killings, people might describe it as genocide as the Rhodesian forces knowingly and intentionally killed not only liberation troops but civilians at the camps, too.

The Rhodesians also violated international borders in what can safely be deemed an act of war against Mozambique. The Chimoio massacre was a blatant attack not only on the ZANLA forces but also on African life.

It illustrated that the Rhodesian forces cared little for the lives of Africans and were willing to sacrifice as many people as possible, both Zimbabwean and Mozambican, as collateral damage.

The backlash on the Rhodesian government following the massacre in Chimoio was non-existent. Although sanctions had been imposed by the international community on Rhodesia in 1965, this was as a reaction to the Unilateral Declaration of Independence not in solidarity with the liberation movement.

Since the massacres in Chimoio, not much has changed in terms of the international community’s reaction to atrocities committed on the African continent. In numerous incidents the world has stood by and watched the vicious violation and murder of African people.

Despite international condemnation and sanctions on the surface, South Africa was ruled by an apartheid government until 1994 which still managed to find trade partners.

In April 1994, the UN pulled out of Rwanda in the midst of a genocide which saw 800 000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus slaughtered over a period of 100 days.

More recently in the Central African Republic, French soldiers and UN peacekeeping troops have been accused of raping children while on peacekeeping missions.

Even across the oceans in the so-called land of the free, black lives are easily expendable as evident from the numerous reports of white police officers shooting and killing black people on the street and in police custody.

What happened at Chimoio certainly shows the brutality of the Rhodesian regime and the its disregard for Zimbabwean life. It also shows why the liberation struggle was necessary as the life of the African was considered inconsequential to the colonial regime.

Thirty-eight years later, however, one wonders how the African life is viewed by the international community, particularly in the West. Evidence would suggest that the same disregard shown during the liberation struggle is currently experienced today.

Those who sacrificed their lives in Chimoio as well as in other liberation struggles on the continent did so, so that Africans could be independent from foreign influence and control. Although this is now a reality in terms of political independence, there is a neo-colonial onslaught on the continent.

The fact that 14 African countries pay colonial tax to France shows that the West has no real intention to let go of their hold on Africa.

Sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by Britain and her allies in the aftermath of the land reform programme which sought to correct historical and economic imbalances show the West’s neo-colonial agenda and continued disregard for African lives.

It is necessary on the anniversary of such a painful historic event to reflect not only on what transpired and honour those who lost their lives, but also to consider what it is they lost their lives in pursuit of.

Gaining independence was certainly a huge achievement for Zimbabwe and for all African countries, however, defending it is the next important challenge.

Along with safeguarding the independence of Zimbabwe is the need now to recognise the Pan-African agenda that led to the founding of the Organisation African Unity, now the African Union.

As the world globalises, the insecurity of one African country is a threat to all other African countries.

There is a need to refocus and achieve the aims of the African Union in uniting the continent in order to promote the interests of Africa.

It was this shared vision of African unity which led the late Mozambican president Samora Machel to allow ZANLA forces to set up their headquarters in Chimoio in their liberation war against the Rhodesians.

This same African unity and spirit is needed to promote the defence of the continent against neo-colonialists but also to honour those who lost their lives fighting for the independence of Zimbabwe in Chimoio.