Talk:Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army

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Improvements required
work is needed to integrate the last paragraph of this article (incorrectly included in the References section) into its proper place and to correct the contents of this last paragraph to meet WP standards.

It seems someone is tempering with original infromation on this page. The article is becoming smaller and some details are now missing. I suggest that its better we re-update it and lock it for editing —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.246.52.46 (talk) 11:47, 27 January 2011 (UTC)

Material removed August 2010
Joseph Msika, speaking in Jotsholo at a ceremony organized by the Mafela Trust to remember 11 Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (Zipra) cadres who were killed in 1979 by Rhodesian soldiers during the ceasefire period, he said the armed struggle began in Matabeleland, Bulawayo in particular.

He said the "Zipra spearheaded the liberation struggle and by 1980 had infiltrated the entire four corners of the country, zanla bore the brunt of the liberation struggle hence their success during the independence elections, what derailed zipra wsa their misguided pacifist ideology. Commenting on the 11 ZIPRA cadres, Cde Msika said it had taken long to give them the respect they deserved in view of what they died fighting for.

"It is true that this issue has taken too long to be looked into. All heroes should be accorded the same respect and we will do that," he said.

The traditional leadership of Jotsholo said it was a taboo to exhume people for reburial.

The 11 ZIPRA fighters are buried in a mass grave near the spot where they were killed. The 11 cadres died on their way to an assembly point at St. Paul's in Lupane.

Initially, they were 22, but 11 died and 11 survived.Narrating the ordeal that they went through, one survivor of the brutal attack, Cde Derrick Moses Moyo said,

"When we boarded the bus owned by Pullen, we soon realized that the mood of other passengers suddenly changed. The bus was moving at a strangely slow pace. The driver, whom we only know as Dube, was also behaving in a strange manner."

Cde Moyo said some of the cadres decided to travel while on top of the bus to give them cover.

"[The driver] was holding the steering wheel with one hand while the other was holding the door which was not closed. When we were about to reach the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road, he spotted a Puma (Rhodesian army truck) which was blocking the road. The driver suddenly switched off the bus engine and jumped off the bus and disappeared into the bush. Suddenly there was heavy gunfire and a helicopter appeared and the bus was bombed. Eleven of our fellow comrades died on the spot and some of us were injured."

All of the 11 who died were from Matabeleland South province. They are Dennis Nhlanganiso Moyo, Charles Moyo, David Moyo, Lovemore Moyo, Poktiva Nyathi, Lizwe, Livson Dube, Agrippa Tshabalala, Eleck Ngwenya and Thomas Moyo.

The meeting was also attended by the Zanu-PF National Chairman, Cde John Nkomo, Governors of Matabeleland North and South provinces, Cdes Thokozile Mathuthu and Angelina Masuku respectively, Minister for Small and Medium Enterprise Development, Cde Sithembiso Nyoni, Zanu-PF Matabeleland North chairman Cde Headman Moyo and former members of the Zipra high command and other ruling party members.


 * The above text was removed without explanation, but needs considerable work before it can be used. Babakathy (talk) 11:44, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

Casualties
The table from powerkills is just that: a table. Both the source and the primary sources cited do not sound exactly NPOV (Marxist terrorism), and I cannot trace the source in powerkills references. The second fundamental problem is this is an article about ZIPRA and the deaths attributed are lumped with ZANLA, without any suggestion about who was responsible for what. That powerkills (and presumably its source) doesn't (can't) determine who was responsible for what is a problem, rather like saying in WW2 that USSR and USA were at war with Japan and bombed Hiroshima. Potentially highly misleading.

You will see here I've asked for help sorting out the casualty details. I'm also trying various hard copy sources.

Also posted here. Babakathy (talk) 05:55, 28 May 2013 (UTC)

Fair enough, even though RJ rummel is usually considered reliable to add. The table is rather vague with regards to Zimbabwe at least. 88.104.215.213 (talk) 16:26, 28 May 2013 (UTC)