Emmerson Mnangagwa - Political Career

Political Career

In 1960, he was expelled from Hodgson Technical College for political activism which had resulted in the burning of some property. Following this incident, he joined hands with three others and started a construction company at Nampala which lasted for 3 months. He was asked by UNIP to help organize the party at Chililabombwe (Bancroft) until the end of 1961. Following this, he returned to Lusaka where he became Secretary for the UNIP Youth League while working for a private company.

In 1962 he was recruited into ZAPU by Willie Musarurwa. After joining ZAPU, he left for Tanzania and stayed in Mbeya for quite some time with the likes of James Chikerema, Clement Muchachi and Danha. They then opened a camp for ZAPU up to March 1963.

He then left for Dar es Salaam in April 1963 and, together with 12 other cadres, proceeded to Egypt for military training at the Heliopolis Training School.

In August 1963 he and 10 of the 13 cadres decided to join ZANU which had just been formed at home. This led to their detention by Egyptian authorities who recognized ZAPU.

During the detention period, he communicated with Mugabe who was in Tanzania at the time and told him that 11 students had broken away from ZAPU, stopped training and were now detained. Mugabe sent Trynos Makombe who was traveling from China to come to Egypt to secure their release. After getting released, they were given tickets to fly to Tanganyika.

On arrival in Tanganyika, six of the eleven came back to Rhodesia while the remaining 5 including Mnangagwa joined the first Frelimo Camp at Bagamoyo in late August 1963. He then proceeded to China leading a group of five ZANLA cadres where they spent the first two months at the School of Ideology in Beijing. They then underwent infantry training for 3 months in Nanking and then attended another school for military engineering for the next 2 months. The group consisted of Felix Santana, Robert Garachani, Lloyd Gundu, Phebion Shonhiwa, and John Chigaba. After completing military training in May 1964, they went back to Tanganyika, where they found that John Mataure and Noel Mukono who were responsible for defence at the time, had not organized any weapons for them to operate in the then Southern Rhodesia.

The group was rushing to attend the ZANU Congress in Mkoba, Gweru, sometime in May 1964 and so they traveled via Northern Rhodesia to Southern Rhodesia. They arrived a day before the Congress. The results of the election were as follows:

• Rev Ndabaningi Sithole– President
• Leopold Takawira -Vice President
• Herbert Chitepo– National Chairman
• Robert Mugabe– Secretary General

Following the ZANU Congress, three of his colleagues, i.e. Shoniwa, Jameson Mudavanhu and Edison Shirihuru were captured and arrested. He sent Lawrence Svosve to go back to Lusaka with some messages but never saw him again.

In spite of this setback, he remained in operation and joined up with Matthew Malowa who had trained in Egypt and had joined ZANU. They carried out daring operations in the country. Their major task was to recruit people from Harare, Masvingo (then Fort Victoria), Mberengwa and Macheke and walk them through to the Mutoko border so that they could go to Tanzania through Malawi.

It was during these operations that he and Malowa blew up a locomotive train in Fort Victoria. The leadership at Sikombela had sent the duo a message exhorting them to take some action so that the papers would report that it was the ZANU Military High Command which had done it. The cuttings would then be shown to the OAU Liberation Committee which was meeting in Dar es Salaam so that it would know that ZANU was actually active in the country. The blowing up of the locomotive enabled Chitepo and those outside to show that it was not only ZAPU which was active but ZANU as well.

The operations also involved traversing the country on foot from Mberengwa to Mutoko. It was at this stage that William Ndangana came from Lusaka for a meeting at Rev Ndabaningi Sithole's house in Highfield. It organized a group which included himself, William Ndangana, Victor Mlambo, James Dhlamini and Master Tresha to mount some roadblocks. The group, which is often referred to as the 'Crocodile Gang', killed a white farmer known as Peter Obeholzar at Nyanyadzi in Chimanimani. The incident resulted in the capture and subsequent hanging of James Dhlamini and Victor Mlambo. Ndangana was able to escape to Zambia while the young man was captured but was sentenced to life imprisonment because he was under age.

In January 1965, Mnangagwa was captured by Police Inspector Beans, Bradshaw and Smith while at Michael Mawema's house in Highfield after being sent on a mission. It later turned out that Micheal Mawema himself had sold him out. In fact, one of Mnangagwa's comrades, John Chigaba, was later arrested by police after attempting to stab Mawema with a knife, in revenge for Mnangagwa's arrest. He was then brought to Harare Central Police Station where he was tortured severely resulting in him losing his sense of hearing in one ear. Part of the torture techniques involved being hanged with his feet on the ceiling and the head down. The severity of the torture made him unconscious for days.

He was forced to confess that he had blown up the locomotive in Masvingo and was convicted under the Law and Order Maintenance Act. He was defended by J. J. Horn of Scanlen and Holderness who pleaded that he was under age and could not be executed. Following this, he was taken to hospital where doctors confirmed that he was under 21 and as a result, he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. He served the first year at Harare Prison and then went to Grey Prison following which he was sent to Khami Prison where he spent 6 years and 8 months.

After serving his 10 year sentence, he was further detained at Khami and then at Harare Prison together with other Nationalists like Robert Mugabe, Enos Nkala, Maurice Nyagumbo, Edgar Tekere and Didymus Mutasa. He was then deported to Zambia where his parents were.

Mnangagwa was received by the Party at the Livingstone Border post and handed over to the Zambian police. A ZANLA representative, Baya, came to receive him at the Victoria Falls Bridge and proceeded with him to Lusaka. Josiah Tongogara was Commander of ZANLA.

After completing his studies at the University of Zambia, he practiced law with Enoch Dumbutshena and doubled up as Secretary for ZANU for the Zambia Division in Lusaka. He was also in the student board for politics at the University of Zambia.

At the Chimoio Congress in 1977, he was elected Special Assistant to the President and member of the National Executive for ZANU. He then left practice and joined the President around October 1977 in Chimoio. The post of Special Assistant meant that he was head of both the civil and military divisions of the Party. His number 2 was Gava (now Retired General Zvinavashe) who was Head of Security in the Military High Command but was his deputy in the Central Committee in the Department of Security.

He participated in the Lancaster House Conference and in January 1980, led the first group of civilian leaders which included Didymus Mutasa and Edson Zvobgo from Maputo to Zimbabwe. Rex Nhongo (now Retired General Mujuru) also led the first group of commanders numbering 28 from Maputo to the ceasefire.