A meeting with General Rex Nhongo

General Solomon Mujuru (known in exile as Rex Nhongo) was the foremost military commander of the Zimbabawe National Liberation Army (ZANLA), the military wing of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) in its war against the white regime of Ian Smith in Zimbabawe. General Mujuru took command of the Zimbabwe National Army at independence in 1980, retiring ten years later to go into business.

He died on the night of 15 August following a fire at his house on the farm Alamein, a productive and high-value operation illegally requisitioned as part of a "landgrab" from Guy Watson-Smith in 2001.

General Mujuru's wife, Joyce Mujuru, became Vice-President of Zimbabwe in 2004.

John Austin, a former senior Zimbabwean customs officer who was detained in Zimbabwe for two years with his colleague Neil Harper between 1986 and 1988, has written the reminiscence below of a professional encounter with General Mujuru (Rex Nhongo).

Interestingly, both John Austin & Rex Nhongo are Zimbabweans born in 1949, both career officials for their country, both fully retired but in VERY different circumstances.....

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My meeting with the General

LONDON - I only encountered Rex Nhongo once in my Customs career and it was not unpleasant at all. This is how I remember the incident....

It was 1985 or 1986 as I was by then Collector of Customs & Excise i/c Harare. My staff of about 250 then had few whites as I was only one of five left (the other four all mostly junior admin support staff of long service). Indeed, my four senior managers were each and all of them political appointees ("PD's" - appointed by Presidential Directive after Independence, or "Cadre Deployees"  -  and they included the likes of Cdes Wiridzayi Kwedza, George W T Mhiribidi, Alex Mavunga, Jephat Mujuru (a relative of Gen Rex) and the now notorious Obert Moses Mpofu, an acolyte of and relative by marriage of Emmerson Mnangagwa, the head of State Security at the time which included in particular the Central Intelligence Organisation, or secret police. Mpofu told me this himself prior to his leaving Harare Customs where he was my 2 i/c, to go into politics under a ZANU ticket in Tjolotsho).

The Harare Custom House in Angwa Street/South Avenue was abuzz one morning when Gen Nhongo came in to the Motor Traffic & Private Imports section in the banking hall to clear a case of Scotch he had imported from South Africa. None of the black counter officers (ex-comrades or others) could or would deal with the General's clearance. They were all in awe (or fear?) of his presence and were simply at a mental crossroads of suspended animation whilst unable to decide whether or not to do their duty and go about assessing and collecting his import dues, or not, or what ?

Internal phones rang hot as the buck was passed to the line manager (Festus Ngcebetsha), I think..... then to one of my senior management team of  "upstairs comrades" (Kwedza or Mhiribidi), I think..... then to me. My advice was simple - the general was not exempt from paying import dues, so just get the officer or manager to make out a receipt for the amount and take the money. To a man and woman (comrade or otherwise), they all turned coy on me, expressing amazement that I could even think of charging this particular high-ranking "chef" import duty (on his case of Scotch).

In order to demonstrate both leadership and the "without fear or favour" slogan popular at the time, I said if they liked to bring a receipt book and a date stamp to my office, and invite the general upstairs, I would attend to it myself. Quick as a flash it was arranged and General Rex was ushered into the Collector's office with his accompanying staff officer - a colonel, carrying the General's briefcase. You could have heard a pin drop in the executive wing of the Harare Custom House.

Whilst I was attending to the General's papers and clearance he looked around my office and noticed my Territorial Army Commissioning Parchment and three medal ribbons in a frame on the wall. He was interested in them, liked them, and mentioned that he didn't have a Parchment.

I joked with him that he was fortunate, for his own Parchment would commission him into the new Zimbabwe National Army at the rank of General and thus become unique..... for the ex-Rhodesian Army officers in the ZNA had all been commissioned 2nd Lieutenants (ex-Sandhurst or Gweru School of Infantry) or Lieutenants if commissioned from the ranks - excluding the odd professionals, such as doctors who might be commissioned as Captains.

This is because the Commissioning Parchment records the officer's rank on date of issue, with the added words "or in such higher rank as I or the Minister of Defence may from time to time hereafter promote or appoint you", and it was signed off by both the Head of State (the President) and the Minister of Defence. He seemed to like this notion and asked his Colonel to take note,  whilst commenting too that one of my three ribbons included the Zimbabwe Independence Medal (ZIM) - a medal he also had. I explained that I was in the Territorial Army Corps of Engineers and had been mobilised on call-up before, during and after the elections in 1980 which brought majority rule to Zimbabwe and ZANU to power.

Concerning those import dues, I told General Rex my calculations and requested payment to finalise clearance. He asked if I needed cash or could he pay by cheque. I said that normally we required "bank certified" cheques or cash, but in his case I would have no hesitation in accepting his cheque - if that was what he preferred. He clicked a command at his Colonel who placed a briefcase on my desk, opened it, and took out a brand new cheque book sitting on top of a packed briefcase completely full of brand new Reserve Bank issue $20 notes (the highest denomination in Zim at the time - and worth about R27 or £6 each then). I knew they were new Reserve Bank issue notes as they still had the Reserve Bank motif paper around each bundle (and I had seen these on the money we collected from the Reserve Bank on staff paydays - I had just NEVER seen so MUCH money before in one container). 

When I told General Rex the amount for the cheque, he passed the cheque book to me and asked me to complete it for him so there would be no mistake and he would simply sign it. I did so, noticing it was the very first cheque in the book. When I handed it back for signature, he held the pen in his fist which he pushed up and down a few times in the signature space. I was amazed to witness that this powerful military man seemed actually to be semi-literate, although his "stammer" for which he is known was barely noticeable.

On leaving, he pulled out a $5 dollar note and gave it to me to thank me for my trouble. I told him we were not allowed to accept "gifts" from the public but that, in this case, I would accept his gift on behalf of the Harare staff and donate the $5 to our kitty for the annual staff Christmas party. He smiled, thanked me and left with his colonel and his clearance papers to go and take delivery of his case of Scotch.

I never saw the general again, and the $5 was left in the cupboard behind my desk in my office. I told my Senior Collectors of it and that it was to go to the Christmas party funding. I do not know what became of the $5, for the CIO under Mnangagwa had Neil Harper and me detained without trial in Chikurubi Maximum Security prison before the next Christmas came around. I hasten to add that I do not believe our wrongful detention had anything to do with the General's Scotch clearance that I attended to - for Nhongo (Solomon Mujuru) and Mnangagwa have always led opposing tribal factions.

Of course, our detention by Mnangagwa was certainly to do with drug smuggling to South Africa (Mandrax) and luxury car smuggling north from South Africa (BMWs and Mercs), involving among others the CIO and their associates in the South African liberation movements, along with other cadre controlled syndicated regional criminal activity. (With hindsight, I would say these early criminal syndicates with control of the State machine in Zim formed the foundation to the post-apartheid tsunami of crime and corruption in South Africa today).

While the episode with General Rex Nhongo was all a bit a tense for me (and especially my Harare staff), he was completely pleasant & polite throughout, and went out of his way to put me at ease. Thinking back on it today, I can say that I found it exciting rather than frightening, whilst my subordinates seemed to be quaking at his presence. Whether the incident was some sort of test or not, I'll never know. What I can say is that it impressed me greatly - for it showed the General seeming to demonstrate great leadership in respect for the rule of law and payment of taxes (whether intentionally or otherwise).

There are many others in the ZANU dung heap for whom I would be unable to write such an un-incriminating epitaph. As is usually the case with ZANU politicos and securocrats, their biggest enemies always come from within their own cattle pens.

John V Austin

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