No abstract

Zimbabwe Peoples’ Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) was the armed wing of Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) which waged the war to liberate Zimbabwe. It operated from its bases in Zambia between 1964 and 1980. Umkhonto Wesizwe (MK) was ANC’s armed wing which sought to liberate South Africa from minority rule. Both forces (MK and ZIPRA) worked side by side until the attainment of independence by Zimbabwe when ANC guerrillas were sent back to Zambia by the new Zimbabwean government. This paper argues that the failure of ZIPRA and Umkhonto Wesizwe to deploy larger numbers of guerrillas to the war front in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) and South Africa was mainly caused by bio-physical challenges. ZAPU and ANC guerrillas faced the difficult task of crossing the Zambezi River and then walking through the sparsely vegetated areas, game reserves and parks until they reached villages deep in the country.  Rhodesian and South African Defense Forces found it relatively easy to disrupt guerrilla movements along these routes. Even after entering into Rhodesia, ANC guerrillas had environmental challenges in crossing to South Africa. As such, they could not effectively launch protracted rural guerrilla warfare. Studies on ZIPRA and ANC guerrilla warfare have tended to ignore these environmental problems across inhospitable territories.  For the ANC, surveillance along Limpopo River and in Kruger National Park acted more as impediments than conduits. ANC also had to cope with almost all challenges which confronted ZIPRA guerrillas such as the Zambezi, Lake Kariba and various parks which Rhodesians always used as a first line of defense but had a geographically difficult task in South Africa where the environment was not attractive for a guerrilla warfare.

This article aims to examine the importance of indigenous medical knowledge during the 1970s when guerrillas from the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) negotiated their way to the front to fight the Rhodesian white minority regime. From the 1960s until the ceasefire at the end of 1979, ZIPRA was one of the two liberation movements that waged war to liberate Zimbabwe. This article traces the experiences of guerrillas who moved from the Zambian side of the Zambezi Valley into Rhodesia. The terrain that the guerrillas had to navigate on foot was punctuated by many devastating and life-threatening challenges. Some of these included malaria, sleeping sickness, venereal diseases, snake bites, mental disorders, injuries and even fatigue. Given that the guerrillas had no hospitals and other medical facilities at their disposal, it is important to establish how local knowledge assisted them to survive, especially when ailments struck them. The purpose of this study was to determine the role the fighters’ knowledge of indigenous medicines played in dealing with these difficulties. The author collected information by conducting interviews with former ZIPRA guerrillas who had operated in Zimbabwe during the war. Some civilians who were in ZIPRA operational areas were also interviewed. The importance of the study lies in understanding the continued use and existence of indigenous medical remedies in Zimbabwe. Findings from the study are valuable in widening knowledge horizons on indigenous medical knowledge as a useful alternative in times of need.

This article examines the experiences of people in rural areas who are displaced by the construction of small dams. Scholarship on dam construction has generally focused on the impact of big dams on communities. Yet, this study argues, small dam construction projects also impact those living on the site and vicinity of small dams. Using Magunje Dam in Hurungwe District of Zimbabwe as a lens, the study traces the experiences of the changed livelihoods of communities that resisted being moved and those who were relocated to other places. By taking this approach, the study establishes the complex impact of the Magunje Dam project on the evicted people and argues that those who are affected by small dam projects sometimes suffer unwanted consequences and their challenges are difficult to remedy because they occupy the fringes of society. Their challenges go unnoticed, especially after receiving paltry compensation. The study shows that displacement and involuntary resettlement destabilise the family fabric. Through the lenses of the Impoverishment Risks and Reconstruction model (IRR), the effects of dam construction on rural people are unpacked. Data was obtained through qualitative research methodologies.