By WILD | 38 years after the country gained independence, at least 66 000 liberation struggle fighters from the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Party (ZIPRA) remain undocumented, unrecognised and disgruntled.

Lungani Chakalanje narrates her ordeal as she highlights her experiences during the liberation struggle.

“I was 14 when I went to the liberation struggle. Minutes of terror and relentless explosions became a major sight. We bathed with sand on the river banks, it was not easy. Our sweat vanished into thin air. Although we did not carry guns we were in the struggle and we experienced hell on earth. It is sad that we have however been excluded in all conversations, we have been forgotten.

Some of the women washed their children’s napkins with frankincense digging pits to soak the napkins. For all the troubles we went through, no one ever appreciated us,” she said.

“When I came back in 1980, I starred at hostility and indifference and turned around with fear at the sound of a bam!

A year later, I was in a cell, locked up on suspicion of possession of ammunition. I was beaten up under my feet, over my head a sack was placed filled with salt, soaking the scars and inflicting so much pain. They (sic) took me in while I was still breastfeeding,” said Chakalanje.

Mbonwa Ndlovu who specialised in sewing uniforms and military combats at the VC camp in Zambia says lack of recognition has damped her spirits.

“No one forced us to partake in the liberation struggle. We packed our bags and left for a cause. When we came back, other veterans were vetted and appreciated with valuable tokens but not all of us have benefitted from government proceeds to honour veterans,” she said.

Sithabile Dube says she laughed at death but gazed at the morning sun with so much awe.

At the age of 14, her journey began. She left for Zambia in 1972 with nothing but her hopeful soul to liberate the nation from the “brutal” Smith regime.

“On our way, we left with a snitch who held a bomb in between her legs on command of the Smith regime. We looked at death straight in the eye but here we are, still unrecognised,” she said.

The Smith regime and its Rhodesian army were brutal. 

Black nationalists under the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) fought the Smith regime through armed struggle using guerrilla warfare tactics