Tongogara and Masuku: most believe they were murdered

The ZANLA commander died in a car crash in Mozambique on 26 December 1979 and his hurried burial without an official autopsy led to suspicions that he had been murdered. ZDN spokeswoman, Mrs Ethel Moyo, said that celebrations next April to mark three decades of independence would be meaningless unless the nation knew the truth about the deaths of both Josiah Tongogara and Lookout Masuku. If you raise the issue of these mens untimely deaths with people anywhere in Zimbabwe, it soon becomes clear that most believe they

were murdered, she said

Masuku, who led Joshua Nkomos ZIPRA army from Zambia during the Rhodesian war, died in 1986, after being jailed without trial by the Mugabe government. He was 46 years old.

A whole generation has grown up with little knowledge of these men, Moyo told The Zimbabwean. Instead we have endless glorification of people those who came through the war and who have gone on to become rich. But those who died to put these people in their current positions are almost forgotten, she said. The least we can do is to fly flags at half-mast on 26 December and, if Zanu (PF) wont sponsor that motion, I hope the MDC will put it in place, she said.

(Pictured: Josiah Tongogara)

Josiah Tongogara was born in 1938 and grew up on the farm owned by former prime minister, Ian Smith, whose army he would eventually meet in battle. Tongogara served both in Zambia and Mozambique, but his rise to prominence happened at the 1976 peace talks in Geneva when he put his arms around Smith and asked, How is your mother. Across

Africa and the world, Tongogara was seen as someone who could build lasting peace and reconciliation with his enemies. By 1979, he was the best known of all the military leaders, but after the Lancaster House settlement which paved the way for British supervised elections and independence, Tongogara died in a road crash in Mozambique and did not make it home and Solomon Mujuru took over as head of ZANLA. He is buried at Heroes Acre near Harare.

Masuku was jailed in 1982 along with Dumiso Dabengwa in the wake of claims that ZIPRA was planning a civil war. Mugabe sent the North-Korean-trained Fifth Brigade into Matabeleland to settle the matter and in the resulting genocide, thousands died and more than a million people were left homeless. Masuku and Dabengwa were both set free by the courts, only to be arrested again and held without charge under the Emergency Powers legislation. By 1 March 1986, Masuku was so ill that he was transferred under armed guard to the Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare where he died on 5 April. Rumours persist that he was tortured and poisoned in jail.

Dumiso Dabengwa was released shortly afterwards and went on to serve as police minister in the Mugabe government in the lead up to the 2000 election when his officers committed multiple acts of violence against the civilian population who had swung their support behind the Movement for Democratic Change. Masuku was denied a place at Heroes Acre and is buried near Bulawayo. Moyo said that, as a sign of respect to Tongogara, flags should be flown at half mast through Zimbabwe. It seems that Zanu (PF) is content with naming a road after him here and a school there, but beyond that they seem happy to forget the generals contribution, she said.

A source close to the reformed ZAPU party, of which ZIPRA was the military wing, said that there were plans next years to begin an annual commemoration for the death of Lookout Masuku. David Magugula of the Matabeleland Freedom Party said his organisation also planned to raise awareness of what he called, the almost certain murder of Lookout Masuku.