UNSUNG HEROES: THE REV NDABANINGI SITHOLE AND WIFE (PART ONE!)

VESTA SITHOLE-PART 1: 'My role as a political activist'

Itayi Garande 28.APR.07

 

ex www.talkzimbabwe.com

TalkZimbabwe will start a campaign today to tell the stories of those freedom fighters who have been forgotten, ignored, or unappreciated by the Zanu PF government. Many fighters who were instrumental in bringing an end to white-minority rule in Zimbabwe are either ignored or their stories not told.

We will start our campaign with Vesta Sithole, the wife of the late liberation fighter and the founder of ZANU, Rev. Ndabaningi Sithole.

We are publishing daily excerpts from a book she released entitled, "My Life With An Unsung Hero". A review of the book is available in our 'Book Reviews' section and a link to the ordering website.

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I can safely say my role as a political activist began at Mpilo Hospital. By this time, I already had a strong belief that we as Africans should be our own leaders. I was still naïve in my understanding of how we could achieve this, but I knew that I wanted to be part of it. I started attending political meetings at various homes and party offices with friends like Evelyn Kawonza, who had helped me to settle in at the nursing school by adopting me as her younger sister/friend. My other activist friends at the hospital were Florence Nemapare and Tsungirai Shiri.

Whenever there was a meeting we would inform each other and attend. We had to attend these meetings secretly because the hospital authorities did not allow us to take part in political activities – we were supposed to be civil servants. I had already heard of the existence of political parties such as the African National Council and the National Democratic Party, both of which were led by Joshua Nkomo but were both later banned. I never belonged to either of these parties. The first political party I joined was the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU). I remember recruiters from the party coming to Mpilo Hospital to tell us about the party. It was at Mpilo that I met influential members of ZAPU, among them Jason Ziyapapa Moyo, George Silundika, Dumiso Dabengwa, Henry Hamadziripi and, of course, Joshua Nkomo himself. Nkomo later called Father Zimbabwe, was the leader of ZAPU. When I was told that ZAPU was going to form a government in exile, I knew there were many people who worked and supported the party who would run the office. I was determined to be one of them.

I had been at Mpilo Hospital for nearly a year when Dr. Samuel Parirenyatwa was killed in an alleged train accident. Dr. Parirenyatwa was the vice president of ZAPU, and very active. He was a respected medical doctor and admired by political activists like me. There were rumours that people were going to vote for him to take over from Mr. Nkomo as the leader of ZAPU.

Police brought Dr. Parirenyatwa's remains to Mpilo hospital in the metal box in which they customarily transported accident victims. The word of his death went round the hospital very quickly. My colleague, Tatini Ndondo, who I was working with that night and I, went down to the mortuary to see the late ZAPU leader. I personally saw Mr. Nkomo and his colleagues where the late Dr. Parirenyatwa was lying stretched out on a table. From what I remember, Mr. Nkomo looked very devastated, tired and angry. He seemed shocked that Dr. Parirenyatwa was dead. Ndondo and I left the mortuary as Mr. Nkomo was talking to a policeman who was standing near Dr. Parirenyatwa's body.

In 1962, I also had the opportunity to nurse a high-profile member of ZAPU – George Nyandoro. Mr Nyandoro was an executive member of ZAPU, but I did not know what position he held. I knew that Mr. Nyandoro and James Chikerema founded the African National Council (ANC), and invited Mr. Nkomo to lead them. Mr Nyandoro was brought to Mpilo Hospital from Khami prison, where he had been incarcerated for political reasons. He was suffering from a slipped disc. He was on complete bed rest with weights tied to his legs, as the doctors were trying to straighten the disc. I was one of several nurses responsible for his care. Because he was a political prisoner at Khami, Mr. Nyandoro had a guard by his bedside round the clock. During one of my shift he told me he hated the way he was being treated. He decided to go on a hunger strike, refusing to eat food in protest against the way that he was being treated. He also did not like the food, which he complained was not well-cooked. My colleagues and I would smuggle food from our dining room to feed him. I felt good doing that. Later they found out that he had tuberculosis of the spine. He was sent to the United Kingdom for treatment, and survived.

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Tomorrow: 'My journey to Tanzania'

Highlights:

• The banning of ZAPU
• Journey from Mbare to Chirundu. Crossing the crocodile and hippo infested Zambezi river at night, without a passport
• Journey to Tanzania by road through the Republic of Congo
• Meeting Herbert Chitepo

 

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