Mukumbura

Mukumbura
Village
Mukumbura Map showing Mukumbura in Zimbabwe
Coordinates: 16°12′S 31°41′E / 16.200°S 31.683°E / -16.200; 31.683
Country	Zimbabwe
Province	Mashonaland Central
District	Mount Darwin District
Population  (2007)
• Total	30,470
Time zone	UTC+2 (Central Africa Time)
Area code(s)	+2122200
Climate	Semi-arid

Mukumbura is a village in the Mt Darwin District, located in the Mashonaland Central Province of Zimbabwe, Southern Africa.

Effects of War[]

Minefield[]

Located along the northern border of Zimbabwe, Mukumbura was an area that faced the brunt of the Rhodesian Bush War – also called the Zimbabwe Liberation Struggle. A vast expanse of Mukumbura, remains one of the major areas of Zimbabwe that is heavily contaminated with lethal landmines, even decades after the Rhodesian Bush War came to an end.^[1] The landmine strip stretches 359 km-long across the Cordon Sanitaire, lining Zimbabwe’s border from Mozambique, and traversing major border towns such as Mukumbura.^[2]  Landmines planted by the Rhodesian forces during the 1970s in order to fend off and inhibit the movement of liberation fighters from crossing into Mozambique have posed a continued threat to the security of villagers and livestock, killing, maiming and traumatising them.^[1] Rhodesian forces planted these landmines at a reported concentration of 5,500 landmines per kilometre, making it one of the longest and densest minefields in the world.^[3] The minefield was once fenced on both sides by a game fence that consisted of three steel wire strands and held by thin steel posts struck in concrete.^[2] By 1997, this had essentially been all removed by the locals or disintegrated.^[2] The overwhelming presence of landmines has created an area unsafe for development, living and work, and thereby diminishing the lives of people and animals.^[1]

The landmines were planted in a diamond formation and consisted of two rows, one planted in a straight line and supported with ploughshare landmines that were tied to trip wires.^[3] There were various types of landmines used and found in this minefield, namely R2M2 and Ploughshare made in South Africa, M969 made in Portugal, and VS50 made in Italy.^[3]

De-mining Action[]

HALO Trust, a non-government organisation, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Zimbabwean government in 2012, which authorised them to survey and clear the country’s longest mine-belt under "The Project for Mine Clearance in Mashonaland Central Province".^[3] Their three broad objectives were to – 1. Create a safer environment for local communities, along with their children and livestock, 2. Return the land to its agricultural production, and 3. Assist the government with its long-term planning in order to meet its obligations to the Mine Ban Treaty.^[4] Apart of this project, villagers have also teamed up with the organisation to help de-mine their home.^[3] The organisation trained the villagers on procedures and precautions in order to safely remove the landmines.^[3] Through this, the villagers are now also skilled enough to earn a living through removing landmines which have long prevented the development of their area.^[3]

Protection Villages[]

Arising out of the war situation was the strategic resettlement of almost a quarter of a million African people in Rhodesia into protected/consolidated villages which dictated many aspects of people’s lives. This resettlement was called Operation Overload. By the end of 1974, multiple protected and consolidated villages were set up, and this included the Mukumbura Protected Village that had three closely knit fenced-on camps, holding around 4,300 people.^[5] Mukumbura was chosen as a prime exemplar and regarded as showpieces by the Government to show to journalists and other important visitors how the Government has implemented and maintained protection for its people.^[5] Some of the local women were also trained by the administration as community workers in order to teach simple domestic skills to the women in these protected villages.^[5]

Propaganda[]

The lived reality of the people within these protection villages was different to how the government portrayed them to be. The history of the establishment of protected villages was influenced by political agendas and motives of the colonial regime and the official position of the Rhodesian government was factored by myths and propaganda.^[6] The government pushed for their establishment under the sole humanitarian and benevolent aim of protecting African people, an agenda used to justify and legitimise the displacement and uprooting of thousands of African people.^[6] The real aims of the protection villages and use of propaganda was to:

• Deceive and encourage African people as well as the international community to accept these villages as safe havens and a good deed by the government^[6]
• Create fear and uncertainty within the communities in order to appear as if they are saving the people from terrorists^[6]
• Isolate the guerillas by demonstrating the risks of the guerrillas and the recklessness of supporting them^[6]
• Intentionally manipulate facts on the war situation in Rhodesia^[6]
• Show that the protection villages were requested by the African people themselves, out of fear of terrorists^[6]
• Mask the inhumane and horrible conditions of villages^[6]

Conditions[]

A report from a resident of the Mukumbura village in 1974 shone some light onto the lived realities of the villages. It stated that many of the people residing in the camps were old men, women and children.^[5] The resident reported that many families flee across the border to Mozambique daily as they can no longer handle life within the villages.^[5] Promised amounts of food were not upheld by the officials so many people were left hungry with not enough food to go around.^[5] Each camp in the Mukumbura village were given a garden where they were able to grow their own vegetables however the rains washed poison used by the army to clear no-go areas of vegetation into the soil and plants, killing and bringing sickness to the residents.^[5] Residents were often shot by the army, raped and forced into labour for little wage.^[5]

Demographic[]

As a consequence of the landmines and the danger that they present when encountered, many people are living in a constant fear that is breeding uncertainties in the future of those settled in the area. This safety issue that is impacting individuals, as well as prospects for development, is pushing residents to move and settle in safer places, such as Rushinga and Mutare communal areas, that are becoming increasingly densely populated due to this.^[1] Naturally, Mukumbura has faced a growing underpopulation as a landmine-infested area.^[1]

Population (2007)^[7]

Male	Female	Total	5 Years and Older	Portuguese Speaking	Handicaped	Number of Households
15,151	15,319	30,470	25,032	11,371	731	6,755

Religion (2007)^[7]

Catholic	Protestant	Muslim	Zion/Zionist
1,085	799	72	9,797

Geography[]

The area of Mukumbura and characterised with a semi-arid climate with rainfall amounting to less than 650 mm.^[8] The low rainfall combined with the high temperatures (over 25 degrees Celsius) means that there is a limited amount of surface water resources even throughout normal seasons.^[9] The land itself is primarily flat, locally dissected and stony.^[10] It contains the active floodplain of the Mukumbura river and the slightly higher situated fluvial terrace.^[8] The soil is mainly residual, well drained, shallow to moderately deep fine grained sandloams over brown to yellowish red sand.^[10]

Economy[]

As a remote and marginal area of Zimbabwe, it is evident that Mukumbura is catergorised as "poverty stricken and limited in socio-economic growth”.^[11] Acting as the border crossing between Mozambique and Zimbabwe, women usually take advantage of their proximity to Mozambique to acquire second hand goods from Mozambique at a lower price and resell them in Zimbabwe at a higher price that then allows them to maximise profits.^[11] Regardless of being a poor community, they have been taught and appreciated the teaching of working talents. Men and women tend to undertake small businesses in order to sustain themselves at the very least in the current economic hardships of Zimbabwe.^[11]

Agriculture[]

The major economic activities of Mukumbura are livestock farming and crop production which are also done typically for subsistence.^[9] The area of Mukumbura lies within a region that is determined as a ‘semi-extensive farming’ region, presented through the Zimbabwean agro-ecological classification.^[10] With its low and uncertain rainfall, cash cropping is not entirely suited in this climate unless in extremely favourable localities, particularly those situated along the main river courses.^[8] In general, the soils are sandy and contain an acidic pH as a result of poor management by the farmers that take part in constant cultivation without replenishment of nutrients.^[10] Farming systems is thereby primarily based around the production of livestock and can be assisted and paired with the growing of drought-resistant fodder crops.^[8] The main crops grown in the Mukumbura areas and communal lands include millets, maize, tobacco, sorghum, cowpeas and beans which are determined by the topo-climatic conditions of the area.^[10] Cattle are mainly used to plough the fields.^[8]

Surveys carried out in Mukumbura areas found that farmers were able to identify Striga asiatica, a parasitic weed, and its variants present within their fields and soil. The parasitic plants had many plant host including cow peas, common beans, maize, sorghum, millets, tobacco and Ricardia scabra. As this represents all the crop plants that are cultivated by the farmers in these areas, the farmers’ food security are at a serious risk and threat by these parasitic weeds which latch onto the roots of the host plants, leading to reduced yields or complete crop failure.

Water and Sanitation[]

Water sources can be unsafe due to the underground planted landmines that contribute to environmental pollution.^[1] Subsequently, the majority of the water used in these areas is contaminated, and without precaution exposes people to health hazards from its consumption.  Sources of water for domestic purposes and cooking for rural people then tend to be mainly from wells, boreholes and rivers.^[1] However, there is decreased reliability of these water sources during the dry seasons as a result of many factors, with reduced groundwater being one of them.^[9] During the dry season, live stock is also watered from the boreholes.^[9] Furthermore, Water Point Committees (WPCs), which are local community management groups, exist for all the area's boreholes.^[9] WPCs are the lowest institution in the management of rural water supply.^[9] It is claimed that these committees are not entirely effective in managing the maintenance and operation of the boreholes because of reasons such as poor record keeping and incapability to mobilise the community when the boreholes breakdown.^[9]

In 2003, an international Non-Government Organisation implemented a new water supply project for the Mukumbura communal lands. The objective and intent of the water project was to increase accessibility to water and thereby reduce water borne diseases.^[9] The project outlook planned to rehabilitate 52 of the non-functional boreholes in Mukumbura while also drilling 21 new boreholes.^[9]

Tourism[]

The area of Sheba forest, Musengezi border posts and Mukumbura, that are densely populated with landmines, have a potential of attracting tourists as a result of their significant historical sites, favourable and pleasant weather, perennial rivers and small to medium game parks.^[1] Areas that have been infested with landmines become an obstacle and defer these potential tourist activities that would help generate foreign currency for the country and village.^[1]

Mukumbura Border Post[]

Mukumbura Border Control lies between Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Mecumbira is situated on the Mozambican side of the border. On each side, the borders are separated by the Rio Mukumbura River. It was reported in mid 2012 that there was little activity at the border post and that the perimeter fence between the two counties was washed away as a result of the Mukumbura River flooding.^[12] The border operates from 6am-6pm (GMT+2).^[12] When visiting and entering Zimbabwe, all visitors are required to present a valid passport, and original vehicle registration papers and license when travelling with a vehicle.^[12] If the visitor is driving a vehicle not their own, they must provide an affidavit signed by the owner that authorises its use by another person as well as third party insurance.^[12] Payments in USD or ZAR are made for road access fees that are based on vehicle size, and a carbon pollution fee.^[12]

In Popular Culture[]

Mukumbura was immortalized in the song "It's a Long Way to Mukumbura" by Mike Westcott and Leprechaun. The 1977 song is set to the music of British song "It's a Long Way to Tipperary". It rose to #2 on the Rhodesian hit music charts. The song expressed, in humorous form, the physical distance to Mukumbura from other parts of the country while also celebrating the contributions made by different branches of the Rhodesian armed forces to the Rhodesian Bush War.

References[]