By Brian Muringisi
Gogo Tito’s (real name withheld) stands at the corner of a street, next to a big pile of dirt in one of Harare’s oldest suburbs, Tafara.
As I walk closer to her she strode back into her yard, hands at the back, a sign that she has resigned to fate.
As I walked into her yard, the old woman offers me a corrugated metal tin as a sit before she chronicles the story of her journey from Mozambique to the then Rhodesia.
“We came here as a young married couple in the 1960s with only one child. I went on to have seven other kids in this country”
“This was before these houses in New Tafara and New Tafara were built. We only had Old Tafara in those days” she says.
Gogo tells of how her husband got a job as a cook to support their family and help the “comrades during the war.”
“My husband worked as a cook for many companies like Irvines, Southern Tobbaco, etc. It helped us get by and eventually helped us to get this house.”
“My husband and I didn’t directly participate in the war as we were in Harare. We however bought supplies like food, blankets, and shoes to send to the rural areas through a friend who had family there” she says.
She says the government denied them benefits that were given to war veterans and war collaborators simply because they were “aliens.”
“It pains me that my husband died with nothing after sacrificing a lot. When he wanted to claim money that was given to people who took part in the war, they told him he was an alien. Others bought houses and he got nothing” she says, tears threatening to trickle down her cheeks.
“I worry for my grandchildren and their futures. Back then, with twenty cents you could buy a loaf of bread now things are different. It’s scary” she says.
By Brian Muringisi
Gogo Tito’s (real name withheld) stands at the corner of a street, next to a big pile of dirt in one of Harare’s oldest suburbs, Tafara.
As I walked into her yard, the old woman offers me a corrugated metal tin as a sit before she chronicles the story of her journey from Mozambique to the then Rhodesia.
“We came here as a young married couple in the 1960s with only one child. I went on to have seven other kids in this country”
“This was before these houses in New Tafara and New Tafara were built. We only had Old Tafara in those days” she says.
Gogo tells of how her husband got a job as a cook to support their family and help the “comrades during the war.”
“My husband worked as a cook for many companies like Irvines, Southern Tobbaco, etc. It helped us get by and eventually helped us to get this house.”
“My husband and I didn’t directly participate in the war as we were in Harare. We however bought supplies like food, blankets, and shoes to send to the rural areas through a friend who had family there” she says.
She says the government denied them benefits that were given to war veterans and war collaborators simply because they were “aliens.”
“It pains me that my husband died with nothing after sacrificing a lot. When he wanted to claim money that was given to people who took part in the war, they told him he was an alien. Others bought houses and he got nothing” she says, tears threatening to trickle down her cheeks.
“I worry for my grandchildren and their futures. Back then, with twenty cents you could buy a loaf of bread now things are different. It’s scary” she says.
The government continues to pay-out allowances and benefits to war veterans and war collaborators, however, people like Gogo Tito have remained as part of the “forgotten” liberation war heroes.
The government continues to pay-out allowances and benefits to war veterans and war collaborators, however, people like Gogo Tito have remained as part of the “forgotten” liberation war heroes.
