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CDE RUTANHIRE . . . “Genuine freedom fighters will never withdraw their support from their party. zanu-pf is the party in which they suffered for this country; it is the party they grew up in”

The Interview : Tichaona Zindoga

It would seem the silly season where history is being rewritten to suit expedient political ends and tastes is upon Zimbabwe. On the one hand are war veterans gone rogue and on the other, newcomers in Zimbabwe People First party led by former Vice President Joice Mujuru who have sought to massage the history of the liberation war to project a towering historical figure in a woman who, as her war-time superiors are revealing, crossed into Zambia in controversial circumstances and owes so much to a policy of affirmative action.Cde George Rutanhire (GR), a senior member of the General Staff and former director in the commissariat of both Zanu and Zanla, sets the record straight in the extracts below of an interview with The Herald’s Political Editor Tichaona Zindoga (TZ), and especially warns against revisionism.

TZ: So much has been said lately, and it would seem some people are bent on re-scripting the narrative of the liberation struggle. What, in your view, is the reason for this?

GR: We must maintain Zimbabwean history as it is. We must never allow it to be distorted. It must be retold as it is. If anyone wants to distort that history now, it means they were not Zanu-PF inside even during their tenure in the party.

It is likely that these people were infiltrated into the revolutionary party by the enemy. The history of the revolutionary party is well known. There are respected historians who recorded it even during the Second Chimurenga.

If you look at the book written by David Martin and Phyllis Johnson – that’s an accurate account as it is! There are many others who retold the history of Zimbabwe accurately in their books. Not the latecomers who are attempting to twist history for their own interests now.

People are now trying to exaggerate their roles and cast themselves in new light. If the original stories portrayed negative aspects, they must be maintained like that. We must neither add nor subtract.

We suspected these people to be proxies of the Rhodesian system. They are the ones who were used to execute the plot that said: “If you cannot beat them, you must join them.” Now they are coming into the open undermining the revolutionary party and the gains of the revolutionary struggle.

They are portraying themselves as central figures and claiming that their departure will be the death of the party. It is impossible for Zanu-PF to crash just because of the exit of individuals because spirit mediums of this nation are behind the revolutionary party. We have God’s blessing.

Many sons and daughters of the soil lost their lives during the liberation struggle. Their blood is the price that was paid for the liberation of the nation. That history cannot be altered!

TZ: There are people like Joice Mujuru who were ousted from Zanu-PF and have formed Zimbabwe People First with Rugare Gumbo and others, who are now attempting to revise history. You once mentioned that she went to war by accident. But now she is saying President Mugabe did not fight since he does not have a Chimurenga name. How are people supposed to interpret that, seeing that it contradicts the written accounts?

GR: I think people must not attempt to distort history because some of the pioneering nationalists are still alive. They are the ones who set up the military arms, Zanla and Zipra. What really happened is well known and well documented. The infiltrators are the ones who are now trying to rewrite history but the truth is well known and the truth alone is what must be maintained to this day and going into the future.

People’s memories must be refreshed with the history of the liberation struggle from time to time. That is why Zanu-PF has resolved to open the doors of Chitepo Ideological College so that people may be taught the true history of this country.

This woman (Mujuru)’s claim that President Mugabe was not a comrade is wrong. I do not know whether she is mentally ill or under a spell of some kind. She is just exposing herself in that she was never loyal to the party. Cde Mugabe was already known to the whites by his birth name. They called him Robert Mugabe “the terrorist leader”. It was not necessary for him to change his name as he was already known. There are several others who never used Chimurenga names. Mujuru’s People First lieutenants, Rugare Gumbo and Didymus Mutasa, never changed their names. Josiah Tongogara, Samora Machel and Nelson Mandela never changed their names yet they were freedom fighters and nationalist leaders.

It was a decision by war strategists for other freedom fighters to obtain Chimurenga names. This was meant to shield their families from victimisation by the settler forces while they were at the battle front.

This was the logic behind the Chimurenga names. Nationalist leaders had no need to change names because they were prepared for any consequence which could emanate from their chosen path.

The white government knew that President Robert Mugabe comes from Zvimba; they knew where his whole family was. So there was no need for him to change his name.

I know a lot of people who used their real names in the war, some would maintain their first name and use a different surname. The argument that the President did not have a nom de guerre therefore did not fight the war does not hold water.

TZ: You said in our earlier conversation that there was political leadership and military leadership. How did they coordinate from the war period to the present day and how should they relate ideally?

GR: It is unheard of in a war situation that a political wing works in isolation from the military wing. The political wing was responsible for the planning with an armed wing on the side.

This would be partly in preparation for independence where they were to have an army of their own.

That goes for our case. The military wing was subordinate to the political wing. Even in the present day, there is no way that a military wing can be above a political wing.

So, we are saying the war veterans are part of the revolutionary party, Zanu-PF. It is impossible for them to leave Zanu-PF. Those who decide to leave do so as individuals. It is impossible to pull out war veterans as a whole from the party. War veterans are under Zanu-PF. They are a wing of the party which should await instructions from the party leadership.

TZ: Joice Mujuru also claimed that at the Mgagao Declaration people like Solomon Mujuru who were leading the military wing hand-picked President Mugabe. What do you make of this claim?

GR: The people writing that lack orientation and information on the actual events of the liberation struggle. It is not Solomon Mujuru as an individual who dictated that Robert Mugabe should lead the country.

Rex was a military high commander who had superiors like Tongogara above him. It was a joint decision by many people. Where have you ever heard that a country`s president is picked by one person?

TZ: You are a war veteran yourself. There are people who are claiming to be war veterans threatening to withhold their support from Zanu-PF. There are people like Douglas Mahiya who told one newspaper that war veterans are free to join political parties of their choice, saying that is why the war was fought. What do you make of this?

GR: Genuine freedom fighters will never withdraw their support from their party. Zanu-PF is the party in which they suffered for this country; it is the party they grew up in. Some have friends and loved ones who could not make it back to independent Zimbabwe.

Freedom fighters have always been committed to work for this country. True war veterans will never withdraw their support from President Mugabe and Zanu-PF. Anyone who declares opposition to Zanu-PF must not speak as if he or she is representing the collective body of war veterans. It is just a clique.

These are few people infiltrated into the revolutionary party. The party must always know that there are double agents in any war. You would reach an area and ask: “Have you seen the whites here?” and you are told “No, we haven’t seen them”. You ask in another area and you are told “We have not seen them for days”. This situation is abnormal in war. When you are fighting you need to know where your enemy is as he would be also hunting for you.

Now we have people saying they are withdrawing their support from Zanu-PF. That is the normal situation. You must be able to locate your enemy. We are grateful that these people are exposing themselves. They were hiding in Zanu-PF. They are the ones who said “Let’s join them if we cannot defeat them. Let’s join them and fight them from within. They are abusing the name “war veterans” but they are not the only ones.

War veterans are many, from the President to the last cadre, including those who died. There is never a time when the whole leadership of the war veterans convened to reach such a resolution. Not all those leading the association are behind the party.

There are others using the name to push their divisive agenda. That is normal. It helps the party to identify the enemies who are working against collective interests. These are the weeds who must be pulled out. People must not panic. The individuals making such statements are likely to be less than five. We are not the ones saying that.

If they are saying that they are supposed to have left the party long ago. They have never belonged to the revolutionary party. They belonged to the enemy. They are being given money to sow discord in the people’s party. They started selling out during the liberation struggle. They hoped to wrest power from the legitimate leadership. So Zimbabweans must note that it is not war veterans but a few double agents and malcontents who are walking out on the party.

TZ: The war veterans leadership appears to be disconnected from its general membership. Suggestions have been made that a new leadership has to be selected. What is your take on the issue?

GR: If there have been disturbances of that nature, it is necessary that the comrades meet to find a solution and map a way forward, even if it means going to a congress, because we cannot tolerate war veterans who revolt against a sitting government.

A new leadership has to be elected; a leadership which follows the Zanu-PF ethos. Some of the people who are making noise are far too junior when it comes to the execution of the Second Chimurenga.

They may have gone to war but they are too young in terms of the revolution. If you see the current leadership, none of those boys and girls was in the High Command.

If we look closely, none of them may have been in the General Staff. The General Staff was the third body in Zanla, Zipra, Zanu and Zapu. The leadership we are seeing is composed of young people who joined the liberation struggle towards its conclusion in the late 1970s.

These children are leading because they claim to be educated, but they do not understand what the war veterans’ association stands for.

It specifically stands for the welfare of war veterans and collaborators. People should know why the association was formed; they should not politicise the association. It exists solely to ensure the welfare of war veterans.