Nana 12472

NATIONS AND J O U R N A L O F T H E A S S O C I AT I O N AS
NATIONALISM
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FOR THE STUDY OF ETHNICITY

A N D N AT I O N A L I S M EN
Nations and Nationalism 25 (3), 2019, 954–973.
DOI: 10.1111/nana.12472
Remembering the past against the grain:

an analysis of the reconstructions of the
past in The Sunday News’s ‘Lest We
Forget’ column
LUNGILE AUGUSTINE TSHUMA and
MPHATHISI NDLOVU
Department of Journalism and Media Studies, National University of Science
and Technology, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
ABSTRACT. Memories of the nationalist struggle are fervently contested in Zimbabwean

public spaces such as the media. This paper examines the emergence of the counter-
hegemonic historical narratives in the state-controlled media that seek to subvert
the dominant nationalist discourses propagated by the ruling party, Zimbabwe
African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF). Focusing on the Sunday
News’s Lest We Forget newspaper column, the paper analyses the representations
of the role played by the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) in the liberation
struggle, a nationalist movement whose contributions are marginalised and obscured
in the official nationalist historiography. Given that in Zimbabwe the state-owned
media are generally viewed as mouthpieces of the ruling party, this paper identifies the
tensions in the Sunday News as alternative historical memories are being reproduced
and sustained. Drawing upon the critical discourse analysis (CDA) method, this article
argues that alternative historical imaginations are rekindled in the state media.
KEYWORDS: collective memory, media, nationhood/national identity
Introduction
Studies on the intersection of the media and politics in Zimbabwe tend to focus
on the polarised nature of the mainstream media. These scholarly works ex-
plore how, since independence, the state-controlled media such as The Herald,
Chronicle and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) have been in-
strumental in entrenching, sustaining and perpetuating the hegemony of the
ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU
PF) (Chiumbu 2004; Ranger 2004; Ronning & Kupe 2000; Saunders 1999).
Other writers draw our attention to the role of the privately owned press in
countering ZANU PF hegemonic narratives and articulating alternative polit-
ical discourses (Moyo 2004; Ndlela 2005; Willems 2004). As a result of this
dominant bifurcation between ‘state media’ and ‘independent press’, there
© The author(s) 2018. Nations and Nationalism © ASEN/John Wiley & Sons Ltd 2018
Remembering the past against the grain 955
has been a gap in the research that deeply probe the nuances, tensions, para-
doxes and ambiguities surrounding the relationship between the media and
politics in Zimbabwe. In other words, there is a lack of studies that move be-
yond the simplistic and narrow state media versus independent press dichot-
omy. This paper is a contribution to this under-researched area as it explores
the counter-hegemonic narratives that are emerging and maintained on The
Sunday News, a state-controlled newspaper. Using critical discourse analysis
(CDA), this article analyses texts from The Sunday News opinion column titled
Lest We Forget. It argues that through Lest We Forget, the Bulawayo-based
The Sunday News seeks to challenge, thwart and dismantle the hegemonic
ZANU PF historical imaginations by invoking and celebrating the liberation
struggle narratives of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) that
have been marginalised, downplayed and excluded in official nationalist histo-
riography. Drawing upon the case of Lest We Forget, this paper argues that in
Zimbabwe, the state media versus independent press binary is too simplistic
and reductionist as it fails to take into account the tensions, nuances and am-
biguities surrounding the relationship between the media and politics.
Memory, liberation struggle and nationalism
The ‘nation’ as an ‘imagined political community’ (Anderson 1991: 6) is narrated

and reproduced through cultural repertoires such as memories, myths, histories
and heroes that are conjured up, rearticulated and endowed with social meanings
that serve nationalist goals (Smith 1999). Hall (1999: 38) concurs that the nation-
state is more than just a ‘political entity’, as it is also a ‘system of representation’.
It is through the media and other cultural spaces that are involved in the mean-
ing-making practices that the nation is forged, sustained and contested.
Memories of the liberation struggle are central in the imagination of the Zimba-
bwean nation-state (Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2009; Werbner 1998). Ndlovu-Gatsheni
(2009: 41) posits that the nationalist struggle is revered as the ‘foundation myth
of the postcolonial nation’. This view is echoed by Werbner (1998: 75) who notes
that the imagination of the nation was in the ‘barrel of an anti-colonial gun’. These
historical memories are pertinent in shaping contemporary understandings on
belonging, citizenship and what it means to be Zimbabwean, or what some
scholars term ‘Zimbabwean-ness’ (Mano & Willems 2008: 112; Mlambo 2013: 62).
Focusing on the postcolonial politics in Southern Africa, Melber (2010,
2009) identifies the ‘limits to liberation’. By limits to liberation, Melber
(2009: 451) draws attention to the ‘shortcomings of revolutionary movements’
in countries such as Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Namibia. The liberation
movements which took control of the government began to mythologise the in-
dependence struggle through a ‘patriotic form of writing history’ as they
claimed to be the ‘sole liberators’ (Melber 2010: 41). Saunders (2007) also ex-
amines the contested nature of history in Namibia. There is also literature that
suggests that the contributions of black women to the liberation struggle are
956 Lungile Tshuma & Mphathisi Ndlovu
minimised and silenced in official nationalist memories (Bernstein 1994;

McEwan 2003; Suttner 2007). Suttner (2007: 236) argues that in South
Africa, women played a key role as members of uMkhonto we Sizwe (an
armed wing of the African National Congress) through underground
mobilisation. However, the discourse on motherhood tends to dominate the
representations of women in the official narratives of the liberation struggle
(Kato 2014; Suttner 2007: 237). The contemporary debates on the legacy of
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in South Africa are another poignant moment
that exposes the contested nature of the memories of the liberation struggle.
This article focuses on memory politics in the Zimbabwean context, examining
the contestations and tensions manifesting in the state media.
Given that memories, histories and national identities are constructed, mul-
tiple and contested, a number of scholars have pointed out the cracks, fractures
and ambiguities surrounding the imagination of a Zimbabwean nation
(Mlambo 2013; Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2009; Raftopoulos & Mlambo 2009). As
such, the Zimbabwean national identity is perceived as an ‘unfinished business’
(Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2011: 20), that is, in the process of ‘becoming’ (Mlambo
2013: 50; Raftopoulos & Mlambo 2009: xvii). Upon gaining power in 1980,
the ZANU PF party led by Robert Mugabe began a process of narrating
and defining the Zimbabwean nation in narrow, partisan and selective ways
(Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2009). The ruling party, thus, elevated and inscribed itself
at the centre of the imagination of the Zimbabwean nation in ways that ex-
clude, silence, subordinate and marginalise the liberation war contributions
of other nationalist movements such as ZAPU (Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2012;
Robins 1996; Werbner 1998). In the dominant discourses, the Zimbabwean na-
tion is narrated in ‘monolithic’ and ‘exclusivist’ ways that valorise the contri-
butions of ZANU PF in the nationalist struggle (Muchemwa 2010: 504;
Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2008: 169). These ZANU PF-inspired narratives are
reproduced and endorsed in official nationalist historiography, state-con-
trolled media and other spaces (Mlambo 2013; Ranger 2004; Tendi 2010).
Robins (1996: 76) bemoans at how some historians have acted as ‘willing
scribes’ to produce ‘praise texts’ that uncritically celebrated ZANU PF and
downplayed the role of other liberation movements. Dabengwa (1995: 24)
rebuts the hegemonic nationalist history and condemns historians for their
‘timidity, sectarianism and outright opportunism’.
Although both ZAPU and ZANU PF having equally fought and contrib-
uted to the attainment of the country’s independence (Msipa 2015; Nkomo
1984), the liberation struggle contributions of the former were downplayed in
hegemonic discourses. In the 1980s, the supporters of ZAPU were denounced
as ‘dissidents’ with Joshua Nkomo censured as the ‘Father of dissidents’,
although he was later to be eulogised, posthumously, as ‘Father Zimbabwe’
(Ndlovu-Gatsheni & Willems 2010: 197). Martin and Johnson (1981) became
the pioneers of praise texts (Robins 1996: 77) which mainly celebrated ZANU
PF’s triumph at the expense of other nationalists’ movements especially ZAPU,
which was then the biggest opposition political party. Robins (1996) indicates
that Martin and Johnson (1981) churned out the so-called official history that
served the new ZANU PF-led government instead of questioning the new polit-
ical order. With the aim of cementing its hegemony, ZANU PF tried to form a
‘party nation’ and ‘party state’ that was to exclude everyone outside ZANU PF
and its military wing, Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA)
(Kriger 2003: 194). The emergence of ‘patriotic history’ in the early 2000 exhib-
ited the same traits of praise texts as the media and other intellectuals were to
portray united ZANU PF as the sole liberators of the country or having title
deeds to the country’s history (Ranger 2004; Tendi 2010). The desire to produce
and portray a ZANU PF-oriented nation, a nation that excluded ZAPU, was to
be seen in the use of party slogans, songs, regalia at ceremonies such as indepen-
dence day celebrations (Kriger 2003: 75), as the nation was to be defined along
the ZANU PF philosophy which means ‘one partism as opposed multi-party
democracy and Shona tribal dominance as opposed to nationalism’ (Msindo
2004: 265).
State media and ZANU PF hegemony
The state-controlled media have since independence been an appendage of the

ruling party, a development that emanates from the colonial era when the me-
dia were meant to serve and support the few white minority who were owners
of the means of production (Kupe & Ronning 2000; Moyo 2004; Windrich
1981). In the colonial era, the media were used as an ideological tool to per-
suade and silence critics of the white government which included the national-
ists’ movements (Moyo 2004; Saunders 1999). After independence, ZANU PF
inherited the same media systems which include putting the media under the
government control and appointing like-minded individuals to head media
houses so as to churn out information that support the status quo (Chuma
2008; Mazango 2005; Saunders 1999). More than 20,000 civilians suspected
of being ZAPU supporters were killed between 1983 and 1987 in what has
come to be known as Gukurahundi1 (Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2008; 2003). The
state-controlled media such as the Chronicle failed to adequately cover the vi-
olence and expose these atrocities that were being committed by the Fifth
Brigade (Phimister 2008: 200). The Gukurahundi genocide came to an end in
1987 leading to the formation of the unity government that merged ZAPU
and ZANU PF. However, the state media have continued to celebrate the role
of ZANU PF in the nationalist struggle and downplay the contributions of
ZAPU to the independence. As such, the ZANU PF government has since in-
dependence been using the media to reinforce its hegemony (Ronning & Kupe
2000; Saunders 1999).
This paper also takes into account what scholars have termed patriotic his-
tory (Ranger 2004; Tendi 2010). Patriotic history is ‘intended to proclaim the
continuity of the Zimbabwean revolutionary tradition’ (Ranger 2004: 14),
and this form of history became common in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Within the patriotic history narrative, the white community and opposition
party such as the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) are denigrated
as sell-outs and unpatriotic (Chuma 2008; Ranger 2004; Tendi 2010). Through
‘patriotic journalism’ (Ranger 2004: 13), the state-controlled media reinforce
ZANU PF’s grip to power.
There are a number of works that explore how the state-controlled media
such as The Herald, Chronicle, The Sunday Mail and The Sunday News have
been propagating ZANU PF’s nationalist and historical imaginations
(Chiumbu 2004; Moyo 2012; Ranger 2004). Ranger (2004: 13) employs the no-
tion of patriotic journalism to draw our attention to the ways in which the
state-controlled media articulate and reproduce the ZANU PF nationalist dis-
course that bifurcates Zimbabweans into ‘patriots’ and ‘sell-outs’. Moyo
(2012: 177) adds that the state-controlled media produce and sustain a ‘highly
selective discourse of the Zimbabwean nation’. Although the hegemonic his-
torical narratives are reproduced in nationalist historiography and state-con-
trolled media, the alternative versions of the liberation struggle and national
identities are emerging in scholarly works such as Mlambo (2013), Ranger
(2010), Ndlovu-Gatsheni (2009), Raftopoulos & Mlambo (2009) and Tendi
(2010). This paper examines the emergence of counter-hegemonic narratives
in a state-controlled newspaper, a site that is traditionally regarded as a bas-
tion of ZANU PF nationalist discourses.
Imagined political communities, ethnosymbolism and discourse
This paper is informed by Anderson’s (1991: 6) conception of a nation as an

‘imagined political community’. Anderson (1991: 6) argues that the nation is
imagined as ‘sovereign’ and ‘limited’. In the Zimbabwean political landscape,
the memories of the liberation struggle are central in the imagination of the na-
tion. In other words, the nation is constructed – imagined and celebrated
through memories of the nationalist struggle. Anderson (1991: 44) adds that
in 18th century Europe, ‘print capitalism’ such as vernacular newspapers
played a key role in binding dispersed communities and solidifying nationalist
sentiments. Similarly, the Zimbabwean state-controlled media are sites of na-
tionalist imaginations as they are continuously evoking memories of the liber-
ation struggle to construct a particular version of nation-state. Given that there
is no singular narrative of the nation, this article focuses on the Lest We Forget
opinion columns on The Sunday News newspaper to analyse the emergence of
counter-hegemonic articulations of the nation on state media.
Smith’s (2003; 1999) ethno-symbolism also provides a framework for exam-
ining the discourses of nationhood that are reconstructed in the narratives of
the Zimbabwean liberation struggle. Ethno-symbolists analyse myths, memo-
ries, symbols and traditions to examine the formation of nations (Smith 1999).
The emphasis is on how ethno-histories and myths are recollected, appropri-
ated and celebrated to construct, legitimate and solidify nations (Smith 1999:
9). Myths of the ‘glorious dead’, ‘Messiahs’ and ‘golden age’ are invoked and
reinterpreted to sustain nations. This article analyses myths and memories of
the Zimbabwean nationalist struggle on Lest We Forget newspaper column
that reconstruct the liberation struggle from the vantage point of ZAPU.
The media are central in forging, reconstructing and consolidating the idea
of a nation. Billig (1995: 6) argues that the idea of a nation is ‘flagged’ and
‘reproduced’ in cultural spaces such as the media. Scholars such as Madianou
(2005), Ferguson (2004) and Dayan and Katz (1992) reinforce the view that
the media play a crucial role in forging a sense of nationhood.
Method of data gathering and analysis
The research covers a 1-year period of 2015–2016 and focuses on articles that
report on ZAPU’s role in the liberation struggle. Through the use of a purpo-
sive sampling technique, articles were selected from The Sunday News’s Lest
We Forget column. Purposive sampling denotes that data collection and selec-
tion was conducted through ‘conscious and deliberate intentions of those who
apply the procedures’ (Deacon 1999: 50). The Lest We Forget column was pur-
posefully selected because it captures the reconstructions of ZAPU histories
and memories in state-controlled media. From The Sunday News’s Lest We
Forget column, the study focused on articles that were published between De-
cember 2015 and December 2016. This period is significant as it enables this
research to be embedded within the current Zimbabwean socio-political envi-
ronment. Moreover, the Lest We Forget column is being published in the con-
text of ZANU PF succession politics that played out in various spaces such as
state-owned media. Forty-five articles were published by The Sunday News un-
der the Lest We Forget column. From these 45 articles, we considered the
themes, genres and month of publication, and as a result, 15 articles were
analysed. The articles were categorised along six themes which were identified
that capture the narratives on ZAPU’s liberation contributions. The themes
are as follows:
• ZAPU as pro-militaristic
• Role of ZAPU’s female freedom fighters
• Military contributions of Phelekezela Mphoko
• ZAPU as a ‘national’ rather a ‘regional’ movement
• Commemorating ZAPU’s battles and remembering the ‘fallen’
• Tensions and fractures within ZAPU
After classifying the articles according to thematic contents, we considered

the genres. Most of the articles were written as opinion pieces and in an
interview format. Opinion pieces are important in that they are argumenta-
tive. Interviews are significant in that they indicate first-person narratives
of former ZAPU guerrillas who provide insider knowledge. The period of
publication is significant as the articles were produced in the context of the

Zimbabwean socio-political environment. We also considered the period
when Zimbabweans commemorate national holidays such as Independence
Day (April), National Heroes’ Day (August) and Unity Day (December) as
significant for analysis. Articles were analysed until data saturation was reached.
Due to the volatile nature of the Zimbabwean politics and the sensitive nature of
this topic, interviews with the journalists were not held. As such, we acknowledge
that the lack of interviews weakened some sections of this paper as our
interactions with journalists could have strengthened this study.
Critical discourse analysis (CDA) was used as a method of analysing texts.
Critical discourse analysis is a useful method as it indicates the intersection of
language, power, ideology and context (Richardson 2007). Critical discourse
analysis researchers explore how language use not only contributes to the re-
production and maintenance of unequal power relations but also challenges
the status quo (Jorgensen & Phillips 2002; Richardson 2007). Critical discourse
analysis is a constructionist approach that explores the production of meaning
in a particular socio-historical context (Richardson 2007). This article exam-
ines the meaning-making processes in the state-controlled The Sunday News
as ZAPU histories and memories are reconstructed in the Lest We Forget
column. From the various CDA models, we chose the discourse-historical ap-
proach (DHA) because of its emphasis on historical and political issues
(Wodak, De Cillia, Reisigl, and Liebhart 2009). The DHA was developed by
Ruth Wodak and other scholars within the Vienna School (Wodak et al.
2009; Wodak 2001). An analysis that employs the DHA focuses on three
dimensions: thematic contents, discursive strategies and linguistic tools
(Wodak et al. 2009). The DHA was employed to examine the discursive con-
struction of Austrian national identity (Wodak et al. 2009), the reproduction
of anti-Semitic, nativist and xenophobic discourses in Austrian societies
(Reisigl & Wodak 2001; Van Leeuwen & Wodak 1999) and the reconstruction
of Austria’s Nazi past (Wodak 2011). The following section is an analysis of
Lest We Forget articles, focusing on the aforementioned six themes and
employing the discourse-historical approach as a method of analysis.
Analysis
ZAPU as pro-militaristic
Ndlovu-Gatsheni (2011: 36) posits that ZANU PF justified the 1963 national-
ist split by branding itself as a movement advocating ‘confrontational politics’,
and disparaging ZAPU as a party that favoured a ‘politics of compromise’.
The Sunday News’s Lest We Forget column is propagating a counter-hegemonic
narrative that seeks to restore ZAPU’s image as a pro-militaristic movement
that played a key role in the liberation of the country. Thus, ZAPU is recon-
structed as a party that advocated confrontational military engagement and
partook in the armed struggle. The contributors of Lest We Forget column

employ military jargon and describe ZAPU’s military structure and recruit-
ment processes in discursive ways that seek to transform the ZANU PF-in-
spired hegemonic narrative on the liberation struggle. In an article
titled Reminiscing the Zhii era that was published by The Sunday News on
7 February 2016, Dumisani Sibanda, the writer, employs various transforma-
tive strategies in discursive ways that reconstruct ZAPU as a pro-militaristic
movement and subverts the hegemonic narrative that positions ZANU PF as
the sole force that liberated the country. The term ‘Zhii’ can be loosely trans-
lated as a ‘devastating action’, or to ‘destroy completely’, and in the Zimba-
bwean political context, it signifies the riots by Africans in Bulawayo in 1960
(Nehwati 1970: 251). Firstly, the writer of Lest We Forget uses referential
strategies to underlie the military role of ZAPU in the liberation struggle.
Clark Mpofu, the interviewee, is nominated as ‘Cde’ and ‘ex-ZIPRA combat-
ant’, thus, the language used to venerate Mpofu’s contribution in the nation-
alist struggle (Reminiscing the Zhii era 2016). Richardson (2007: 49) notes
that the ‘way that people are named in news discourse can have significant
impact on the way in which they are viewed’. Secondly, an analysis of transi-
tivity, which is the representation of participants and their roles (Richardson
2007: 54), indicates the key role of ZAPU in the planning and orchestration of
military operations. Mpofu is represented as having played a key role in ‘political
activism’ and ‘sabotage missions’ (Reminiscing the Zhii era 2016). The military
jargons or what Reisigl and Wodak (2001: 51) term ‘militarionyms’ (Reisigl &
Wodak 2001: 51) such as ‘sabotage missions’, ‘petrol bombs’, ‘explosives’,
‘landmines’, ‘hand grenades’, and ‘parcel bombs’ (Reminiscing the Zhii era
2016) are employed in this article to challenge and subvert the hegemonic narra-
tive that ZAPU favoured diplomacy, rather than military confrontation. Mpofu
evokes memories of the days of ‘Zhii’ in discursive ways that celebrate the riots,
political activism, demonstrations and other violent acts in the nationalist strug-
gle. The days of Zhii denote the riots, burning of property and other violent acts
of the 1960s. According to Mpofu, Joshua Nkomo said that ‘if industry was go-
ing to stand on the way of majority rule, then it would have to be destroyed’
(Reminiscing the Zhii era 2016). As such, this opinion piece seeks to reconstruct
Joshua Nkomo as a courageous and pro-militaristic leader, rather than a timid
and cautious nationalist who advocated diplomacy, as represented in the domi-
nant circles. In a nutshell, this Lest We Forget article employs transformative dis-
cursive strategies that serve to restore the image of ZAPU as a formidable
military force in the armed struggle.
In another Lest We Forget article – A guerrilla in solo departure – authored
by Mkhululi Sibanda and published on 31 July 2016, Nditsheni Dube chroni-
cles how he was recruited and trained by ZAPU, and took part in the armed
conflict. Military names or what Reisigl and Wodak (2001: 51) term
‘militarionyms’ such as a ‘detachment commander’, ‘AK-47 assault rifles’,
‘guerrillas’, ‘retired Major’, ‘cadres’ and a ‘freedom fighter’ (A guerrilla in solo
departure 2016) are employed in this article as referential strategies that serve
to dispel any doubts that ZAPU was involved in the armed struggle. Place
names or ‘toponyms’ (Wodak et al. 2009: 37) such as Madiliza military unit,
Marogoro training camp, Zambia, Tanzania and Soviet Union serve to discur-
sively thwart and challenge the dominant assumption that ZAPU did not sup-
port military confrontation. Further, the term ‘Venda’ is an example of what
Reisigl and Wodak (2001: 51) term an ‘ethnonym’ which, in this case, seeks
to challenge the dominant assumption that ZAPU was an Ndebele movement,
rather than a multi-ethnic configuration.
In the article - Relaunching armed struggle after political crisis - authored
by Mkhululi Sibanda and published on 3 April 2016, former Zimbabwe
People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) chief of military intelligence Abel
Mazinyane, narrates how ZAPU/ZIPRA engaged in the armed struggle.
Mazinyane argues that the resolution of the ZAPU congress in 1963 marked
the ‘official beginning of the armed struggle’ (Relaunching armed struggle
2016), a narrative that seemingly contests ZANU PF’s claim that it was the
architect of the armed conflict. Mazinyane states that ZAPU sent a group of
soldiers to Ghana, Soviet Union, Algeria, China and Egypt for training
(Relaunching armed struggle 2016). Mazinyane narrates the formation of the
‘High Command’ tasked with ‘strategizing the execution of the armed struggle’
(Relaunching armed struggle). The expression High Command is a referential
strategy that reinforces the argument that ZAPU orchestrated and took part in
the armed conflict. Militarionyms such as ‘mine laying’, ‘ambushes’ and ‘small
raids’ (Relaunching armed struggle) not only describe the guerrilla tactics used
by ZAPU/ZIPRA forces but also serve to underlie that this nationalist move-
ment played a key role in liberating Zimbabwe. In the article – The guerrilla
story in Mat North – written by Mkhululi Sibanda and published on 20 De-
cember 2015, Patrick Dube chronicles how ZIPRA military units launched at-
tacks on the Rhodesian forces. Dube was the chief of staff of ZIPRA forces
Northern Front One in Matabeleland provinces. He narrates how the ZIPRA
forces fought against the Rhodesians in Binga and Tsholotsho (Matabeleland
North) and launched raids on the Rhodesian army bases. Expressions such as
‘overran the bases’, ‘destroying Salankomo’ camp and ‘captured the enemy’s
communication equipment’ (A guerrilla story 2015) suggest that ZAPU did
not only merely engage in armed conflict but also gained military victories
against the Rhodesian forces. In a nutshell, the Lest We Forget column cele-
brates the military accomplishments of ZAPU and dismantles the hegemonic
narrative that obscures the contributions of this nationalist party in the libera-
tion struggle. It is not only the military contributions of ZAPU that are
marginalised in official nationalist discourses, but women’s contributions to
Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle are also downplayed and obscured.
Role of ZAPU female freedom fighters
Women’s contribution in the liberation struggle tends to be downplayed in

the dominant nationalist discourses, and this is rightly captured by
Nhongo-Simbanegavi (2000) who observes that women’s participation is

being written off as the history is gendered with war and politics being seen
as a male domain. However, such an unfair representation is also observed
by Chung (2006: 192) who argues that ‘female Cdes underwent rigorous
training every day. They had little time for anything else’. It is important to
explore how women are represented in ZAPU narratives that mainly looked
at the role of ZAPU female freedom fighters. The Sunday News celebrates the
contributions of female combatants in the liberation, albeit in ways that sus-
tains the patriarchal discourses. Female ex-combatants are predominantly
portrayed as motherly figures. In this way, Lest We Forget perpetuates the
hegemonic narrative that obscures, marginalises and subordinates the contri-
bution of women in the nationalist struggle.
The contributors of Lest We Forget employ discursive strategies of perpet-
uation that sustain the patriarchal social order. According to Van Leeuwen
and Wodak (1999: 93), the strategies of perpetuation operate by ‘maintaining,
supporting and reproducing identities’. On 3 November 2016, Lest We Forget
published an article titled Lorraine Maphala’s mother survives Mkushi
bombings. By referring to Rosemary Mathe Maphosa as a ‘mother’ to former
Miss Zimbabwe, Lorraine Maphala, rather than using militarionyms such as
ex-combatant, cadre, freedom fighter or comrade to nominate her, this article
sustains the hegemonic discourse that obscures the military contributions of
women. In contrast, the male counterparts are valorised and depicted as free-
dom fighters. Stanley Nleya is celebrated as a ‘guerrilla trainer who battled
Israelis’ (Stanley Nleya a guerrilla trainer 2016), and Nicholas Gibson Nkomo
is celebrated as a ‘master tactician’ (Master tactician 2016). In this way, Lest
We Forget is perpetuating the hegemonic narrative that celebrates male heroic
deeds and downplays the contributions of women in the liberation struggle.
However, such a celebration and the undermining of women participation is
against the background where nationalists ‘(guerrilla recruitment) position
on recruitment was often non-negotiable because they felt that everyone had
a duty to fight’ (Nhongo-Simbanegavi 2000: 27). Such is the hegemonic mascu-
linity in the narrative of the nationalist struggle. Connell (1995: 80) defines
‘hegemonic masculinity’ as the idea of men’s superiority over women in society
which is mainly embodied in social structures and systems. In their study of
Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle, Sadomba and Dzinesa (2004: 51) posit that
the vital contribution made by women fighters ‘has gone largely unsung’.
In the Lest We Forget narratives, expressions such as ‘hundreds of women
were killed’ and ‘a camp of young women’ are used to commemorate women
in the liberation struggles, but these narratives cement the hegemonic mascu-
linity as by portraying the females as victims rather than freedom fighters.
Moreover, terms such as ‘food’, ‘breakfast’ and ‘kitchen’ appear in the in-
stances where women are mentioned, which sustain the narrative that the role
of women in the armed struggle was preparing food for men, rather than
engaging in the armed conflicts. In an article titled Mkushi was not properly
secured (2016), images show ZIPRA combatants having a meal at Mkushi
Camp in Zambia, and people who seem to be serving food are all female com-
batants. Whilst men are depicted carrying guns, women are represented serv-
ing food. The toponyms ‘kitchen’ and ‘mother’ reinforce the dominant
stereotypical depiction of women as domestic caregivers whose responsibility
is in the home and child rearing. In another article titled Nkomo in dramatic
jailbreak (2016), Clark Mpofu narrates how Thenjiwe Lesabe, a female free-
dom fighter, brought him bread which was useful for his escape from prison.
However, such a representation is in contrast to the views articulated by other
female combatants who indicate that males were mainly deployed in the battle-
field whilst females were made to carry ammunition, medical supplies and a
gun to protect them, the job which was heavier and risky than being in the bat-
tlefield (Lyons 1999). The task was risky as women were often attacked by
Rhodesian forces (Lyons 1999; Musengezi & McCartney 2000).
Khan (2018: 1) argues that the voices of female combatants in conveying
‘their own realities about Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle’ have largely been ig-
nored. Thus, the struggles that female combatants went through is missing in
many studies on the liberation struggle in Zimbabwe, as in most case, the
literature and what terms ‘struggles historiographies’ tend to celebrate men’s
contribution to the struggle and is silent on issues such as cases of sexual abuse
(Msipa 2015; Nkomo 1984; Tekere 2007). A female combatant, Ntombiyakhe
Ndlovu, challenges the hegemonic narrative on the liberation struggle (Mkushi
was not properly secured 2016). She condemns the military commanders for
sexually abusing female combatants and also failing to properly secure the
camp, as she described the security at the camp as an ‘embarrassment and
mockery’ and denounced the men for being ‘economical with the truth’ and
‘hiding information’ about the sexual abuse of female combatants. Such
views are observed by Chung (2006: 128) who contends that females were
brave enough to live with the dark episodes during the struggle as their male
counterparts ‘could rape them and no one could protect them’. In summary,
the depictions of female freedom fighters in Lest We Forget are in threefold;
firstly, Lest We Forget celebrates the contributions of women in the liberation
struggle. Secondly, the Lest We Forget column perpetuates gender stereotypes
that undermine and marginalise the military contributions of women in the
nationalist struggle. Lastly, some narratives expose the injustices perpetrated
against female combatants during the liberation struggle. It is also pertinent
to explore the representations of former Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko.
Mphoko was fired from ZANU PF in November 2017 when Mugabe fell
from power. The Lest We Forget articles were published in the epoch of
ZANU PF factional politics, with claims that Mphoko belonged to one of
the factions.
Military contributions of Phelekezela Mphoko
The participation of former Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko is being

revisited and highlighted in most of the articles. Considering that
discourses are contextual, we need to understand the socio-political goings-

on that are shaping these narratives on Mphoko. These stories were writ-
ten at a time when Mphoko’s liberation struggle credentials were being
contested, as he was accused of having ‘deserted his comrades in
Mozambique at the height of the liberation struggle to enjoy life with his
then wife to be, Laurinda’ (Ndlovu 2016: 1). The War Veterans chairper-
son, Christopher Mutsvanga, claimed that Mphoko deserted the nationalist
struggle to be with his wife (Bulawayo24.com 2016). These struggles over
memory and the narrative of the liberation struggle were underpinned by
ZANU PF succession battles and factional politics. The Sunday News
through the Lest We Forget was embroiled in this succession politics as
it sought to defend Mphoko and frame a particular narrative of his role
in the liberation struggle.
Justificatory and perpetuation strategies are employed to defend Mphoko
and argue that he was a senior ZIPRA member. Senior ZIPRA officials, for
example, Retired Brigadier – General Abel Mazinyane – argue that the mili-
tary wing was re-constituted in 1971 and Mphoko retained the Chief of Logis-
tics position, the position which ranks him as part of the ‘ZIPRA High
Command’ (Relaunching armed struggle, 2016). The strategy is also articu-
lated using the order of discourse whereby Mphoko is mentioned soon after
the ZIPRA commanders like Alfred Nikita Mangena and Akim Ndlovu, for
example, ‘when the ZIPRA high command was formed in 1965 it included
Akim Ndlovu, Phelekezela Mphoko, Abraham Nkiwane and others’
(Relaunching armed struggle, 2016). By tracing his involvement in the forma-
tion of the High Command, the writer seeks to cement the position that
Mphoko was a senior member and a founder of the party’s military wing,
and hence thwarting the claim that he was a deserter.
The strategy of perpetuation and justification is also seen in the manner in
which Mphoko’s contribution to the struggle is represented. Mphoko is
credited for having played a leading role in the setting up of the
Zimbabwe People’s Army (ZIPA), a military initiative that was aimed at
bringing ZIPRA and ZANLA forces together. According to Watson Tsipa,
‘among the commanders were the late General Solomon Mujuru, Alfred
Nikita Mangena and John Dube and Phelekezela Mphoko’ (Creating
military corridor 2016). More so, the image of Mphoko with the late
president of Mozambique, Samora Machel and Mugabe in 1978, is used to
silence critics, as the image shows him with respected African statesman
hence him rubbing shoulders with such people makes his involvement in
the war unquestionable. However, the ZIPA initiative was not fruitful as
ZIPRA ‘resented the use of slogans, many of them hostile to ZAPU leader
Joshua Nkomo, who was seen by ZANLA as collaborating with the Smith
regime’ (Chung 2006: 147). In the context of the ZANU PF succession pol-
itics, the Sunday News sought to portray a positive image of Mphoko in
ways that suggest that this state newspaper was embroiled in the ruling
party’s factional politics.
ZAPU as a ‘national’ rather than a ‘regional’ movement
It is generally acknowledged that the Zimbabwean nationalist struggle was

bifurcated along ethnic lines (Muzondidya & Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2007;
Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2008). ZAPU tends to be seen as the party of the Ndebele-
speaking people yet it had many Shona-speaking people in its ranks and files
(Msipa 2015; Nkomo 1984). Kriger (2003: 75) argues that Zimbabwe became
imagined along ZANU PF worldview and to the exclusion of ZAPU, and as
such, a position was to manifest in the use of party slogans, songs and regalia
at ceremonies such as Independence Day. The nation was defined along the
ZANU PF philosophy which means ‘one partism as opposed multi-party de-
mocracy and Shona tribal dominance as opposed to nationalism’ (Msindo
2004: 265). However, the Lest We Forget column challenges such a bifurcated
state by arguing that ZAPU was a national party ‘which developed a good
rapport with villagers across Zimbabwe’ (Sibanda 2016). In the article, 15-
year-old Phuthi takes to the front which was published on 31 January 2016,
Mkhululi Sibanda, the writer used several strategies to challenge the notion
of seeing ZAPU as a party for the Ndebele by offering a counter narrative of
seeing ZAPU as national oriented. Place names or ‘toponyms’ (Wodak et al.
2009: 37) are used in the story where places where ZAPU operated are men-
tioned. Such places include ‘Lupane’, ‘Hwange’, ‘Hurungwe’, ‘Kariba’,
‘Zvimba’, ‘Norton’, ‘Guruve’ and ‘Kadoma’. These places cover Matabele-
land and Mashonaland regions, which then dismantles the view that ZAPU
was a party for the Ndebele-speaking people since its military wing (ZIPRA)
also operated in Mashonaland region, thus cementing the view that ZAPU
was national oriented.
Thomson (1996: 6) notes that journalists ‘employ rhetorical strategies aimed
at persuading others to adopt [their] same point of view’ and this strategy is
used to together with the referential strategy to indicate that ZAPU was indeed
a national party. In the article, Why ZAPU had more soldiers in
Mashonaland, written by Mkhululi Sibanda on 27 March 2016, the justifica-
tion of why of the ‘13,000 ZIPRA soldiers’ the majority of them were mainly
concentrated in Mashonaland region is given. Hence, these discursive strate-
gies are used to counter the hegemonic position of defining Zimbabwe along
the Shona nation and a national that view ZAPU as a party which fought in
Matabeleland for the Ndebele-speaking people.
In the article, Kariba battle: zero hour that stunned Rhodies, authored by
Mkhululi Sibanda and published on 17 January 2016, the writer challenges
the narrative that views ZAPU as a party associated with the Ndebele-speak-
ing people who mainly resides in Matabeleland region. The military demarca-
tion of Zimbabwe in terms of ‘Northern Front’ which stretched from
Tsholotsho to Guruve and ‘Southern Front’ which covered areas between
Plumtree and Mutare discursively seeks to reinforce an argument that ZAPU
was a national movement that was active in both Mashonaland and Matabe-
leland areas. More so, the national orientation of ZAPU is also captured in
the military leaders whom some of them came from Mashonaland region. In
the story Why ZAPU had more soldiers in Mashonaland (2016), Carlos
Mudzingwa is mentioned as the commander of the Southern Frontwhile
Richard Mataure was the deputy chief of operations. Shona-speaking
commanders are also mentioned in the story titled 15-year-old Phuthi takes
to the front (2016) where Ranganayi was the detachment commander who
operated in Hurungwe whilst also in Hurungwe, Tekenya was the commander
of the group which operated at Emagojini. Thus, according to Sunday News’s
argument, having commanders from Mashonaland shows that ZAPU was na-
tional oriented. Within the dominant nationalist discourses, the military bat-
tles involving ZAPU/ZIPRA forces have been marginalised, forgotten and
excluded in the narration of the Zimbabwean nation-state. The Sunday News’s
Lest We Forget seeks to evoke memories of ZAPU battles and to commemo-
rate the heroes and heroines who lost their lives during the liberation struggle.
Commemorating ZAPU’s battles and remembering the ‘fallen’
The Battle of Sinoia (Chinhoyi) between the ZANLA forces and Rhodesian
army in 1966 occupies a central place in the commemoration of Zimbabwean
liberation struggle and the hegemonic imagination of the nation
(Ndlovu-Gatsheni & Willems 2009: 956). Within the dominant discourse, the
Battle of Sinoia is regarded as the inception of the armed struggle (Ndlovu-
Gatsheni & Willems 2009: 956). Further, the bombing of Chimoio, a ZANLA
military base in Mozambique, in 1977 is commemorated in the official circles
in ways that sustain ZANU PF hegemony (Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2009: 956). At
least 3,000 ZANLA guerrillas were killed when Chimoio base was attacked
by the Rhodesian forces (Ndlovu-Gatsheni & Willems 2009: 956).
Ndlovu-Gatsheni (2012: 5) notes that Robert Mugabe indicated that
ZANU PF was the carrier of the ‘burden of history,’ the view which suggest
ZANU PF as the sole liberators or having fought in the struggle. The Sunday
News, through the Lest We Forget column, is challenging such an established
and sustained discourse by commemorating ZAPU’s battles. In the 7 August
2016 article titled Rhodesian aircraft brought down in Bubi written by
Mkhululi Sibanda, ZAPU’s battles are celebrated with the use of what Reisigl
and Wodak (2001: 51) call militarionyms which include military jargons and
weapons. In the story, ZIPRA is said to have been armed with ‘RPG-7s’,
‘PK’, ‘AK-47 fitted with a launcher’, ‘LMG’ and a ‘Surface to Air Missiles
(SAM-7) or Strela’ machine which was used to shoot down a ‘Rhodesian
Canberra fighter aircraft’ (Rhodesian aircraft 2016). The use of militarionyms
and the subsequent victory for ZIPRA forces is a discursive strategy of trans-
formation which Van Leeuwen and Wodak (1999: 93) say ‘reformulate and re-
define...a well-established situation into another’. Hence, the celebration of
these battles sought to highlight that ZAPU/ZIPRA equally participated in
the struggle and challenges views which assume that ZANU PF is the sole
‘progenitor and guardian of the postcolonial nation’ (Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2012:
1). In an article titled Spirit medium foretells Mboroma camp attack written by
Mkhululi Sibanda and published on 9 October 2016, Squeeze Dlodlo, a survi-
vor of Mboroma raid, remembers the fallen. Mboroma was a ZAPU/ZIPRA
camp in Zambia that was attacked by the Rhodesian forces led by the Selous
Scouts in 1978. Thus, Mboroma not only evokes memories of Rhodesian bru-
tality, but is being relived and reinvigorated as a symbol of ZIPRA heroism
and sacrifice. The Sunday News also commemorates the victims of Mkushi
raid in two articles titled Mkushi was not properly secured (2016) and Lorraine
Maphala’s mother survives Mkushi bombings (2016). Hundreds of guerrillas
were killed when Mkushi, a ZIPRA military and training camp for female
combatants in Zambia, was attacked by the Rhodesians in 1978. Thus, the
memories of Mkushi bombing are being invoked and commemorated in The
Sunday News in ways that seek to rein scribe and reimaging the pivotal role
of ZAPU/ZIPRA in the Zimbabwean nationalist struggle. In what Zertal
(2005: 1) terms the ‘politics of the dead in the service of the nation’, the mem-
ories of Mkushi victims are reinterpreted in order to contest ZANU PF’s
monolithic rendition of the liberation struggle.
The Sunday News also commemorates the Wankie Campaign of 1967, joint
operation of ZIPRA and the Umkhonto WeSizwe, against the Rhodesian
forces. Abel Mazinyane argues that the Wankie Campaign ‘shook the
Rhodesia and South Africa racist regimes, forcing them to militarise their gov-
ernments’ (Relaunching armed struggle 2016). Further, on 17 January 2016,
The Sunday News published another article titled Kariba battle: zero hour than
stunned Rhodies (2016) in which Mkhululi Sibanda celebrates ZIPRA’s
battles. Militarionyms and toponyms are used to show the machinery used
and places where battles took place respectively, in which the ZIPRA were
armed with ‘RPD machine gun’, ‘RPD machine (bazooka)’, ‘B10’, ‘Zegue’
and a ‘Grad P’ which ‘when it was fired, it lit the whole of Zambezi escarpment
and the night momentarily turned into day’.
ZAPU/ZIPRA heroes and heroines are celebrated and commemorated for
their contributions in the liberation of Zimbabwe. Prominent nationalists such
as Joshua Nkomo, Jason Ziyaphapha Moyo and Nikita Rogers Mangena are
venerated for their role in the liberation struggle. In the article titled Remem-
bering Zim’s gallant sons and daughters written by Mkhululi Sibanda and
published on 17 April 2016, Retired Brigadier-General Abel Mazinyane re-
members ZIPRA combatants who died during the liberation struggle, and
some of whom are ‘buried in unmarked graves’ in Zimbabwe and foreign
lands. The myths of the ‘Glorious Dead’ (Smith 2003: 218) are invoked in this
case to reinscribe the fallen ZIPRA combatants in the imagination of the
Zimbabwean nation-state. Thus, the liberation struggle and the memories of
the dead are central in the narration of the Zimbabwean nation-state. In a
nutshell, the Lest We Forget column reminds the readers that ZAPU/ZIPRA
contributed immensely to the liberation of Zimbabwe. However, the Sunday
News also exposes the problems faced by ZAPU during the nationalist
struggle.
Tensions and fractures within ZAPU
The Lest We Forget column explores the political quagmires that affected
ZAPU in the 1970s that culminated in the formation of a breakaway faction,
the Front for the Liberation of Zimbabwe (FROLIZI) led by James
Chikerema, the former Vice President of ZAPU. The underlining argument
is that the defection of leaders such as Chikerema had an adverse effect on
the political and military operations of ZAPU. Stanley Nleya asserts that the
ZAPU split and the formation of FROLIZI ‘affected the wheels of the revolu-
tion’ as some guerrillas who had undergone military training deserted, whilst
others ‘just abandoned the armed struggle and joined civilian life in Zambia’
(Stanley Nleya a guerrilla trainer, 2016). Milton Chemhuru, an ex-ZIPRA
combatant, refers to the difficult period as the ‘Chikerema crisis’ (Chronicle
letter 2016), a referential strategy that places blame on Chikerema for the
‘crisis’. Chemhuru posits that Chekerema defected with ‘most of the ZIPRA
forces to join FROLIZI’ (Chronicle letter 2016). It is interesting to note that
the Lest We Forget articles foreground the Chikerema breakaway, but fail to
explore the ZAPU split of 1963 that led to the formation of ZANU PF. The
silences, omissions and minimization on the 1963 split are ideological in the
sense that The Sunday News is attempting to celebrate the history of ZAPU
without necessarily undermining ZANU. This discursive strategy of justifica-
tion is employed in Lest We Forget articles through the silences, minimization
and obscuring of the massacre of ZIPRA guerrillas by ZANLA forces in
Tanzania in 1976. Chung (2006: 147) posits that in this ‘tragic massacre’, an
estimated 50 ZIPRA guerrillas were killed at Morogoro and Mgagao training
camps in Tanzania. However, the Lest We Forget column fails to explore the
ZAPU-ZANU PF tensions and the ZIPRA-ZANLA clashes that
characterised the liberation struggle.
Conclusion
The memories of the liberation struggle are sites of contestation in the

Zimbabwean political landscape. The media are some of the cultural institu-
tions where these memory contestations are taking place. The Lest We Forget
column has shown that the contributions of different nationalist movements,
mainly ZAPU and ZANU PF, to the country’s independence continue to be
a topical issue. The state-controlled media are ideological apparatuses that re-
produce and sustain the ruling party’s narrative about the liberation struggle.
Although the Sunday News are part of the state media that traditionally
promote ZANU PF nationalist discourses, this article argues that this state-
controlled newspaper has reconstructed the history of the nationalist struggle
by foregrounding the participation made by ZAPU in the liberation struggle.
In foregrounding ZAPU’s liberation struggle contributions, the Sunday News
is promoting multiple imaginations of the Zimbabwean nation. By focusing
on The Sunday News’s Lest We Forget column, the paper rejects the narrow
understanding that views the Zimbabwean media as polarised between state-
controlled and private media. Within the context of ZANU PF factional
politics, there are tensions and differences within the state-controlled media.
The Sunday News has offered an alternative understanding of liberation
struggle through the use of senior ZAPU officials to commemorate their
(ZAPU) battles, showing how the party was national oriented through
deploying troops across the country. The newspaper further indicated that
ZAPU was very militant by explaining and describing the kind of war
machinery they had. However, The Sunday News is selective in their reportage
as some well-documented conflict-related episodes between ZAPU and ZANU
PF are obscured and minimised, and these include the grand split of 1963, and
the Morogoro shootings. This suggests that the paper still retains the ZANU
PF ideologies where issues such as the Gukurahundi are silenced and
marginalised in the paper.
Note
1 Gukurahundi is a Shona term that means the ‘rain that washes away the chaff from the last har-
vest, before the spring rain’ (CCJP & LRF 2007: xiii).
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NATIONS AND J O U R N A L O F T H E A S S O C I AT I O N AS

FOR THE STUDY OF ETHNICITY

Remembering the past against the grain:

ABSTRACT. Memories of the nationalist struggle are fervently contested in Zimbabwean

KEYWORDS: collective memory, media, nationhood/national identity

Memory, liberation struggle and nationalism

The ‘nation’ as an ‘imagined political community’ (Anderson 1991: 6) is narrated

minimised and silenced in ofﬁcial nationalist memories (Bernstein 1994;

State media and ZANU PF hegemony

The state-controlled media have since independence been an appendage of the

Imagined political communities, ethnosymbolism and discourse

This paper is informed by Anderson’s (1991: 6) conception of a nation as an

Method of data gathering and analysis

After classifying the articles according to thematic contents, we considered

publication is signiﬁcant as the articles were produced in the context of the

partook in the armed struggle. The contributors of Lest We Forget column

Role of ZAPU female freedom ﬁghters

Women’s contribution in the liberation struggle tends to be downplayed in

Nhongo-Simbanegavi (2000) who observes that women’s participation is

Military contributions of Phelekezela Mphoko

The participation of former Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko is being

discourses are contextual, we need to understand the socio-political goings-

ZAPU as a ‘national’ rather than a ‘regional’ movement

It is generally acknowledged that the Zimbabwean nationalist struggle was

Commemorating ZAPU’s battles and remembering the ‘fallen’

Tensions and fractures within ZAPU

The memories of the liberation struggle are sites of contestation in the

Muzondidya, J. and Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. 2007. ‘Echoing silences: Ethnicity in post-colonial

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