By Fidelis Manyange

IN our motherland, the month of August is synonymous with our liberation war heroes, both fallen and living. 

It is the month in which we commemorate the gallant sons and daughters who fought against the colonial regime to usher in the freedom we enjoy today.

But the war was not just about the AK-47 assault rifle or bazooka. It was also about mobilising the povo or masses through the power of music.

Says Professor Charles Pfukwa, a former freedom fighter: “Songs were part of the ideological struggle and some of the songs were so moving and were deeply embedded in the subconscious of both performer and audience.”

Some compositions, like ‘Moyo Wangu Watsidza’, still evoke tears even to this day when the former freedom fighters sing it at national events or  meetings of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association (ZNLWVA).

“Those songs also motivated the guerillas to engage the enemy even when it meant sacrificing their lives, while some expressed resistance, defiance or were used to taunt the enemy,”added Professor Pfukwa.

For instance, the popular song whose lyrics go thus, ‘Amai nababa musandicheme kana ndafa nehondo, ndini ndakazvida kufira Zimbabwe pamwe chete nevamwe,’ reminded those left behind and those engaged in the struggle that armed confrontation was the ultimate sacrifice.

“In some cases, the songs were intended to communicate feelings that would ultimately motivate guerillas to deal with traumatic experiences and to ease the burden of painful memories of the nightmares of the battlefield,” says Professor Pfukwa.

Away from the battlefield, the captivating power of music made pungwes or all-night vigils an event never to miss for villagers in the war zones. Besides educating the masses about the war, pungwes were punctuated with song and dance. In popular songs like the highly danceable ‘Baba Iwainera’, the guerillas expressed their pride in fighting to free the country. 

The songs articulated the pressing issues of the day more eloquently than any political speech or dissertation. They urged the masses to fearlessly support their sons, daughters, brothers and sisters who were at the forefront of the war of liberation. The freedom fighters composed songs at the front or during training while those at home, like Thomas Mapfumo, Zexie Manatsa, Green Jangano and the Harare Mambos as well as Tineyi Chikupo also played their part. 

In the bush talented cadres like Cde Chinx, Cde Vhu, Givie Nare and his Light Machine Gun (LMG) Choir churned out song after song to rally their kith and kin towards a common cause. The beauty of music during the war was that the comrades could use it to express their grievances, pain, wishes and hopes for a liberated Zimbabwe, overflowing with milk and honey.

The LMG Choir’s song, ‘Emoyeni Kubuhlungu’, which is still a hit today — some 44 years after independence — chronicles the plight of the oppressed.  

 Other songs like ‘Mhoroi Baba naMai’, by Green Jangano and William Kashiri with the Harare Mambos, urged the masses to support the freedom fighters. In ‘Tipeiwo Chimoto’, the Harare Mambos’ message was that a free Zimbabwe would have everything it requires to prosper. 

‘Ikoko Tondosangana kuZimbabwe’ was a timely reminder by the freedom fighters to the masses that a free Zimbabwe was just around the corner and this was not the time to develop cold feet. 

Cde Chinx’s ‘Maruza Imi Vapambipfumi’ not only chronicled how Zimbabwe was pillaged by the British colonial settlers but also instilled hope in the masses that although the enemy was putting up stiff resistance, freedom was just around the corner.

The colonial regime was obviously mindful of the mobilising power of music in the fight for freedom, hence it evoked the Censorship Board to ban any music deemed ‘subversive’ from the airwaves. No wonder, top artistes of the day such as Oliver Mtukudzi, Zexie Manatsa, Tineyi Chikupo and Jangano, resorted to singing in riddles to escape the wrath of the stringent censorship laws. 

In his hit song ‘Musango Munehangaiwa’, Manatsa says: “Musango umu munehangaiwa, hangaiwa dzakatetereka, hangaiwa idzi ndedzemudzimu, mukadziona musadzibata, tangai maenda kunaMbuya Nehanda…”

Loosely translated, the hangaiwa or pigeons Manatsa was referring to were the freedom fighters. But the Green Arrows frontman got away with it.

Mapfumo was not so lucky after he was arrested and charged with sedition after the colonial authorities found out that the hit song ‘Hokoyo’ meant ‘watch out’. But this did not deter the chimurenga music maestro, who proceeded to record a string of war-related songs, like ‘Gwindingwi Rineshumba’, ‘Tozvireva Kupiko Mambo?’, ‘Nyoka Musango’ and ‘Vana Kuhondo’, among others. It needs no repeating here that music was a source of comfort when comrades saw their colleagues succumb to their wounds in the heat of battle. For example, compositions like ‘Sendekera Mukoma Takanyu’ relived the atrocities committed by the Rhodesian forces at Nyadzonia, Tembwe and Chimoio camps in Mozambique.

During the execution of the war, the conduct of guerillas was guided by the extremely popular ‘Nzira Dzemasoja’, borrowed from the Maoist era, while songs like ‘Mukoma Nhongo Bereka Sabhu Tiende’, helped in raising morale among those who were leading the war effort from the front. 

The war with our former colonisers is far from over. Fortunately, we have young musicians in the cast of Born Free Crew and Chief Hwenje, among others, whose compositions continue to remind the nation to be on high alert for our Western enemies who are bent on reversing the gains of our hard-won freedom.