by John Sigauke
“Happiness is meeting an old friend after a long time and feeling that nothing has changed,” wrote Cris Dar.
It seems the prolific writer coined the statement with two war time friends in mind (pictured above).
Saturday the 27th of July 2020 provided an emotional moment for Buhera South legislator and war veteran, Cde Joseph Chinotimba as he reconnected with his war time friend and commander, Cde Sakandione. Tears of joy rolled down the ex-freedom fighters’ faces as they emotionally hugged each other and went into a moment of stillness.
The two met after a gap of 40 years having last met in 1980 at Dzapasi Assembly Point in Buhera, a few kilometres from Mushongwe Business Centre, where Cde Chinotimba is setting up a model of rural industrialisation.
It all started with a female war collaborator (Chimbwido) who recognised Cde Chinotimba at a rally and subsequently provided him with the contact details of his war time chum.
“It was at a rally sometime in 2018 when one woman asked me if I still remembered her. On professing ignorance, she told me her name and that she was one of the war collaborators in the area that I operated. Her name immediately rang a bell. We talked at length. It was after I expressed distress over failure to trace the whereabouts of the comrades I fought along with, that she told me she told me of my best friend and commander, Cde Saks never die,” said Cde Chinotimba whose nom de guerre was Cde Brown.
“That was the beginning of our reunion. We could talk over the phone but we had hitherto not met. I then decided to invite him as the guest on this event where we are celebrating my acquisition of the 30-seater bus. Today is one of those days I marked in my diary as unforgettable ones,” said the hilarious legislator.
The two took turns to narrate to the audience the war time memories. Cde Sakandionde, who is staying in Chimanimani, left the audience in stitches after he recounted how he and Cde Chinotimba fought for a Chimbwido who eventually became his wife. Apparently, the said Chimbwido-turned wife was present and she could not help it but be filled with laughter.
The 72- year old war veteran narrated an incident that shows that the Cdes could not be easily manipulated by people who wanted to settle their personal vendettas.
“Our group never killed any traitor. One day we received information about an alleged sell-out. Cde Brown, as our PC, gathered people and hinted to them the agenda of the meeting. He asked the collaborators to bring sharpened axes to the meeting.
“At the meeting, he told the gathering that a sell-out was going to be killed. He took a sharpened axe and handed it to the informer and asked him to do the killing if he was so sure that the person he reported was indeed a traitor. He was shocked and remained still with an axe in his juddering hands. From that day, nobody ever brought phony information about sell-outs,” said Cde Sakandionde.
