Zimbabwe’s Liberation War and the Everyday in Honde Valley, 1975 to 1979

Legacies of Victimization: Evidence from Forced Resettlement in Zimbabwe

“…Few have anything to fear from the guerrillas and feel no need to be "protected" from them' (CCJP 1977). Across resettled areas, people resisted the PV policy and indicated that they were safer outside of PVs than within; to force them to move, Rhodesian security forces utilized significant violence-including burning down villages and destroying crops-to coerce cooperation (CCJP 1977;Msindo and Nyachega 2019). As Ranger (1985: 268) writes about Operation Overload in Chiweshe communal area, while administrators sought complete control, this backfired: 'the effect of the move was to bind the different strata of the Chiweshe peasantry yet more firmly together'.…”

“…Civilian political action manifested in two ways. First, in the face of greater organizing difficulties, people only became more creative as they continued to participate in war (Msindo and Nyachega 2019). Guerrillas were able to move in and out of PVs themselves with civilians' help (CCJP 1977).…”

“…Second, although the PV policy aimed to resettle everyone in designated areas, a portion of the civilians were able to escape villagization with the help of guerrillas. They lived just outside the PVs in 'liberated zones'-areas where rebel governance featured strongly-where they continued to support the rebellion in various ways (Chisi 2019;Cilliers 1985;Msindo and Nyachega 2019).…”