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CDE Rejoice Sibanda, the Zanu-PF Women’s League chairperson for Bulawayo Province joined the liberation struggle in 1977 aged only 15.

Cde Joe Biggie Matiza, who died in January 2021, joined the war as a 15-year-old as well in 1975. Former Vice-President Joice Mujuru skipped the border to be a freedom fighter at 17 in 1972.  Cde Karikoga Kaseke, who died late February this year, was 16 when he became a guerilla.   

Cde Sibanda, as we reported yesterday, was one of the survivors of the Mkushi Camp Massacre of 1978.  

“I joined the liberation under Zpra, the military wing of Zapu, in 1977. At that time, I didn’t have a serious conviction, but we were motivated by that kumele siyempini siyelwela inkululeko,” she told us.

“Some of us from Gwanda were motivated by learning that pupils from Manama High School had joined the struggle.”

She recalled the nasty Rhodesian assault on Mkushi, Zambia.

“This was a difficult moment and sometimes you wonder how you survived when others lost their lives. We were still in our initial stages of training and most of us were not even armed,” she said.

“The (Ian) Smith regime was heartless and didn’t have any conscience and it was so painful to see bodies of our comrades lying lifeless with their skin peeling off. That is how scary the situation was.”

By and large, the liberation struggle was fought by teenagers and young adults.  They sacrificed their youth for the freedom of their motherland. The onus was on them, as the more physically active in society, to take up arms to liberate their country. Yes, elders had to be there to provide strategic direction, to temper youthful exuberance with maturity.

Cde Sibanda’s role in the liberation struggle, and that of others of her age at that time, must be an inspiration for the youths of today to be selfless in serving their motherland. We ordinarily associate it with older people, not 15-year-olds yet we had teenagers going to the front, not knowing when their next meal would come from, not knowing if their next step would be on an anti-personnel landmine, not knowing where they would sleep tomorrow, if at all tomorrow was to come for them.  War is, thus, no child’s play.  

As we approach Independence Day on Thursday, we salute the selfless dedication to the national cause that we saw in the teenagers and young adults of the 1960s and 1970s.  

Youths of today must, therefore emulate their forebears in doing right for national development. They must work hard, whatever station they are at in life.  They can be pupils in high school or students at college or university; they can be young farmers, miners and so on. They must shun destructive behaviours such as drug and substance abuse.  They must put the national interest first.  They must appreciate that, if the 14-year liberation struggle was fought by teenagers, no other national assignment can be more challenging.