The Rebel In Me: A ZANLA Guerrilla Commander in the Rhodesian Bush War, 1974-1980

by Agrippah Mutambara

Overview

This is the true story of a young guerrilla commander brought up in a Christian family in Rhodesia, a former colony of Britain. Exposed to the excesses of a colonial regime where race and racism determined one’s status in society, and influenced by the radical anti-racial views of his parents and later of fellow students and work mates, his character began to change. A chance encounter with a captured guerrilla fighter helped complete the metamorphic transformation of his rebel character, and was catalytic to his decision to cross into Mozambique to join the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA), the military wing of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) led by Robert Mugabe, which was waging a protracted revolutionary armed struggle to liberate Zimbabwe. Known by his nom de guerre, Dragon Patiripakashata, he led several armed guerrilla incursions into Rhodesia, before being promoted to the General Staff and appointed an instructor. For the final eighteen months of the war, until 1980, he served as ZANU’s Chief Representative to Socialist Ethiopia.

Mutambara invites the reader to view the Rhodesian bush war through the eyes of a guerrilla commander, experience the trials and tribulations of a freedom fighter, the satisfaction of working among the masses, and the joyous celebration of achieving freedom and independence. He outlines the psyche of those who engage in revolutionary armed struggle and why, even when exposed to extreme hardship and continual assault by a superior military adversary, they remain committed to their cause. This book also takes a different view of Mugabe, reviled by most Western governments and yet who remains immensely popular among his people.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781909982352
Publisher:	Helion and Company
Publication date:	06/19/2014
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations 8

Introduction 10

Chapter 1 The Rebel in Me 14

Chapter 2 Adios Rhodesia 28

Chapter 3 Refugees - Not by Choice 47

Chapter 4 Guerrilla Training 61

Chapter 5 The Soul of the Revolution 80

Chapter 6 States in the Frontline of Zimbabwe's Struggle 96

Chapter 7 Operational Deployments 102

Chapter 8 Chimoio Attack - Rhodesian Genocide 117

Introduction 117

Prelude to Attack 117

Attack - Day 1 122

Attack - Day 2 153

Attack - Day 3 160

Burials - Day 1 168

Burials - Day 2 193

Burials - Day 3 199

Epilogue - The Dream 205

Chapter 9 Ethiopia 215

Chapter 10 The Elusive Unity 228

Chapter 11 Conception and Birth of Zimbabwe 234

Chapter 12 Eulogy to Revolutionary Heroes 261

Appendices 270