Retarded by the war : A story of a liberation war hero
The stories that are always read are about leaders who were politicians in the fight against white oppression in Africa. It is quite rare to find stories of people who were in the battle field telling their stories of what happened.
There is a story about Timothy Mutengo a war of liberation hero who fought against white imperialism against the Rhodesian forces. The battle against white Rhodesian forces happened during the Second Chimurenga in Zimbabwe. The black people in Zimbabwe were after majority rule.
The people in Zimbabwe were oppressed by the white settlers who occupied large pieces of land while the black majority were pushed to reserves.
The story of Timothy Mutengo is one of a boy who wanted more in life and wanted better things in life. His original plan was to study to become a doctor but he went and joined the liberation struggle.
Timothy Mutengo joined the war and was one of the guerilla fighters who were operating in the South West of the country to what is now known as Matebeleland. Timothy narrates how he joined the war, firstly started with his recruitment and after the war.
Timothy Mutengo fought many battles and nearly lost his life in one of the battles. In his story he narrates how he shot down a helicopter. He was a commander with a battalion as he was trained with other guerillas in Angola. He commanded a group of guerillas and they lived in bushes fighting against the Rhodesian forces.
His story is that of courage and resilience. It was not easy to fight white Rhodesians who had better weapons.
The war ended and there were other problems that followed in Zimbabwe. Timothy was one of the guerillas that joined the assembly points were all soldiers who were fighting Rhodesians were stationed at assembly points. These were the ZANLA and ZPRA forces.
The ZANLA forces were trained by China and were the military wing for ZANU. The ZPRA were trained by Russia and other communist states and were the military wing for ZAPU. The two political parties were ideologically different and were led by different dominant Zimbabwean tribes Shona and Ndebele.
When Timothy Mutengo failed to secure a job after independence he started pushing carts to make a living. His story is one of pain and courage.
He laments that is he going to recognized for the work that he did for the benefit of the country. He sacrifed his life for the country but he did not benefit as much as he thought he would because he was a freedom fighter.
The story of Timothy Mutengo is a mirror of many other war veterans who are crying for not being recognized for the work that they did. Many war veterans across the continent went unnoticed and died poor without proper recognition to their work.
The story ends with a summary of what has happened to Zimbabwe and Africa after independence. The African story is not what the people were expecting to see. The continent is still under colonial bondage because there is no economic independence. Imperialists still have power over Africans because their ideology operates massively in the continent.
There should be a new generation of economic freedom fighters that take after heroes like Timothy Mutengo who fought for political independence. The beauty of leadership is in the ability to pass on the baton not to hold on it.
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