by Vesta Sithole
published 2006 by AuthorHouse, Bloomington, Indiana,
USA and Milton Keynes, UK
The style of the cover picture tells us what to expect of this book: a personal family memoir. As a memoir of the second wife of Ndabaningi Sithole it deals with important events in the history of Zimbabwe. We should not expect to find here the rigorous examination of evidence that we get in, for example, his brother, the late Professor Masipula Sithole’s Struggles within the Struggle, but that does not make it any less valuable.
Its style is that of many early autobiographical accounts by early participants in Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle and, when we are free to evaluate that history, every bit of evidence will be valuable.
It presents details that are not mentioned in the current official histories. It poses questions about how some current leaders got where they are now. In the nature of this kind of memoir, it cannot answer them all, but the questions need to be asked, and to be answered carefully.
The author was a ZANU member from the beginning and rose through the ranks till, after serving as Ndabaningi Sithole’s secretary from 1974, she became his wife. She admits he too easily trusted people, some of whom aimed to manipulate or spy on him. She records his contacts with dubious characters like Tiny Rowland and some right-wing American foundations. Maybe he was merely naïve in this, certainly she seems so, reporting without comment. At least she seems honest, and the information is there for others to assess.
Her account of her own development maybe says as much by its style as its content. It is how she saw it, let who interprets it do so as he will.
She clearly admired and respected Herbert Chitepo and was close to some who were close to him and apparently died for the same reasons. She offers more questions than answers about the role of Mugabe, Tongogara and some others in the events surrounding Chitepo’s death. That is the nature of this kind of book. She can only say what she knows, which is partial, and leave further questions for history to resolve.
Others have covered different parts of the same ground, but she has added to the material which will be needed for a final assessment. The more of those who still remember those times who put their recollections in writing, the better will future historians be able to disentangle the truth.
It is to be hoped that it will soon be possible for this book to be published inside Zimbabwe. But any further edition will benefit from more thorough proofreading.
Magari Mandebvu