Nehanda Radio is serialising the book “Solid Impact Stories: Experiences of Student Rights Activists in Zimbabwe (2000-2012)” courtesy of the Students Solidarity Trust (SST). Today we look at Wellington Mahohoma.
“Serving people through seeking justice is neither an option nor choice, but a duty which we are all compelled to carry out…. I staged a one man demonstration when the administration failed to secure cleaning services for the halls of residence,” Wellington Mahohoma
Wellington Mahohoma famously also known as War-vet or Mavhudzi or General Homes was born on November 22, 1982 at the Edith Opperman Maternity Clinic in Harare in a family of five children.
His father was a humble man who worked as a firemen. His early years were spent in Harare until the age of six when his father was relocated to Buffalo Range Airport in Chiredzi in 1988. In 1989 he was enrolled at Nyati Primary School for primary education and completed this in 1995.
In 1996 he was enrolled at Malipati Government Secondary School for (MGSS) ordinary level education. The four years at MGSS marked the first eventful years of his life. The years gave him insights to what he was to be in the future, a social justice activist.
Wellington had several brushes with the school disciplinary committee for several acts of misconduct which included amongst them inciting other students to protest against mistreatment they were subjected to by the teachers and other staff members.
He was also involved in many activities including chess and volleyball. He completed his ‘O’ Levels on schedule in November 1999. In February 2000 he was enrolled at Hippo Valley High School (HVHS) where he studied Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry.
During his two year stay at HVHS he continued to play both chess and volleyball. He became captain of the first volleyball team and won an award for his contributions to the volleyball team.
In August 2002, Wellington enrolled at the UZ where he was studying towards a BSc Honours Degree in Land Surveying and Geoinformatics at the faculty of engineering. It was during the registration week of his first year that he came into contact with university student activism.
All first year students were required to subscribe to the student union by paying a subscription fee. Wellington did not understand why students should be forced to join a union. The first semester of his first year was disrupted by several job actions by the academic and non-academic staff.
This led to numerous demonstrations by students who demanded that the grievances of the university staff be resolved. He suddenly found himself at the frontline.
By then he was not a threat to the administration thus he managed to go unnoticed and unpunished. He had this to say about how he ended up taking leadership roles in student activism:
“My participation in the demonstrations caught the eye of one of the prominent member of the RCC then, Sendisa Sandura Ndlovu a second year engineering student who then recruited me into the Revolutionary Command Council.
“I made the decision to take a leading role in student activism after the 2 June 2003 Final Push. I was invited to the planning and coordinating meeting which was held the night before in Manfred Hudson Hall. What happened the following morning was both exciting and saddening.
“Witnessing a multitude of my peers determined to bring change to my country, led and inspired by products of the student’s union amongst them Chivasa, Chimedza and Zimunya compelled me to become a student leader.
However what happened after the attempt to march towards town through the Churchill gate made me realize the dangers which came with the duties as well. The two hour visit by state agents, soldiers and police left battered bleeding bodies with fractured limbs all over campus.
There was need to confront the regime though with full knowledge of what could possibly happen (Mahohoma 2012).”
In the 2003 SRC elections Wellington, then popularly known as War Vet for his participation in the demonstrations or Mavhudzi because of the afro he had during those days, decided to run for SRA elections. He easily made it into the SRA representing the engineering faculty.
He was elected the Audit Chairman by the assembly. It did not take long for him to attract attention from the authorities. During the early months of his term of office the Levi Nyagura led administration attempted to seize the student’s union building from the students.
“I recall vividly one afternoon, whilst sitting at the famous stone work with Comrades, a group of people clad in white overcoats arrived at the students’ union building with notebooks. The group quickly went to work without even asking permission from the SRC, inspecting the building and taking notes.
“We had to act, and we did! Together with the SRA Chairman Tapiwa Mutava and other core members of the RCC chased these people away. I was arrested days later for this conduct together with Mutava. We spent almost half of the day at the University Security control room where the GB’s recorded statements.
We were then arraigned the same day before Nyagura towards the end of the day who threatened us with expulsions for our continued involvement in SRC activities. More trouble was to follow as I had become one of the reliable cadres to the Sandura led executive.
It was unfortunate that the Sandura executive did not last, the executive was soon to be suspended for leading several demonstrations with the last one seeing the burning of the VC’s car and destruction of the CBZ UZ branch.
In solidarity, I was part of the group who tried to force Nyagura to reinstate our leaders through staging demonstrations and an attempted hunger strike. For my activities I was detained several times by the University security.
This did not deter me from carrying out my duties; it is during this period that I staged a one man demonstration when the administration failed to secure cleaning services for the halls of residence.
The demonstration was a success as more people joined and after being addressed by the suspended comrades we approached the VC’s office demanding audience with him. With our term of office approaching its end, I was one of the cadres who were expected to contest in the elections.
Unfortunately this did not happen due to many reasons. My studies were at stake as I was performing badly. At the same time I had also personal family problems. To many I had betrayed the struggle!
Despite not contesting the elections I was co-opted into the SRA under the Watchdog Committee created by Freeman Chari the then SRA chairman. In that year I became more active in NCA activities and at one time with the blessings of the ZINASU president Phillan Zamchiya became the NCA UZ branch chairman.
This buffer period helped to transform me into a better leader as I benefited from interactions I had with several comrades who had become before me (Mahohoma 2012).”
In 2005 with advice from trusted comrades he decided to run for SRC office for the post of secretary general for the student executive council.
Emerging from a year of self-reflection as General Homes, he made it into the executive council and took charge of the Legal and Academic Affairs. Unknown to him then, this became another defining phase of his life.
“Most of the comrades I was in the trenches with had already served their terms thus I was joined by a new crop of leaders in the name of Hentchel Mavuma, Collen Chibango, Mfundo Mlilo, Trevor Judah Murai, Garikai saddam Kajau and others.
Coming from different political backgrounds and different experiences we chose to give unity a chance. We were going to be one team with one goal, to serve the union. Despite the peaceful approach we adopted to use, the university administration undermined our executive.
It is when we decided to change strategies that splits developed in our executive. The militant group, composed of Mavuma, Chibango, Mlilo, Murai, Chitekwe, Zirebwa and I (Dare Rechimurenga) opted for a more confrontational approach whereas the rest chose to be submissive to the administration.
We requested a meeting several times with the VC but our requests were denied. We had to confront the system and one afternoon we decided to block his car from leaving the car park and finally he agreed to meet us.
It was going to be the only meeting we sat down with the administration in an attempt to solve many problems facing the union. The meeting however proved to be a waste of time as Nyagura chose to use the meeting to threaten us.
What followed in the following months is documented in several newspaper articles, court submissions by lawyers acting under instructions, suspension letters, and summons to appear before the university disciplinary hearing.
The multifaceted problems facing the union then demanded us to be vigilant. The militant group, now known as Dare Rechimurenga, rose to the occasion scoring victories along the way.
We were unstoppable! It was after several demonstrations that the system realized that we had won the union’s full support that they decided to chop our wings. I received my first suspension letter in October together with other members of the Dare Rechimurenga.
Thanks to ZLHR we were reinstated through an order by the High Court however with strict conditions. We were suspended again a week after leading a demonstration protesting against poor quality of food in the dining halls.
We spent the rest of the semester on suspension; the administration had managed to silence us for a while. In the same year in October the MDC split and we took it upon ourselves to try to get the two parties to solve their differences. This however failed as divisions amongst Dare developed.
Difficult times had just begun! I went to stay at an uncle’s place whilst the rest of the Dare Rechimurenga (DR) went to Silveira house. I went home in December for the holidays. Upon arriving home, I suddenly realized why comrades chose to stay away from home after being suspended from college.
I had betrayed my brothers and sisters who had sacrificed the little they had to make me continue with my university education after the passing on of my mother in 2004. They didn’t understand why I had to be chased away from university for helping others who themselves were still at university!
My brothers were even considering looking for alternatives for me to have another chance at tertiary education. I had to face the consequences of my actions not to cause pain and suffering for my siblings.
I left home early January to join the surviving four members of the command council at Silveira House (Mahohoma 2012).
Members of the UZ Dare Rechimurenga then shifted focus from UZ to student activism at national level. It was a feeling amongst the DR members that we had made our mark at the UZ; it was time to rejuvenate student activism nationwide.
ZINASU then was almost dysfunctional. It was after long discussions that we resolved to take over ZINASU. We met with Deprose Muchena who at that time had become our mentor and most supportive person. He advised that we should go and meet with the board chair Arnold Tsunga.
Tsunga invited the two remaining active members of the executive Mkwananzi and Katema to the meeting. We were going to work as a team towards a ZINASU congress and thus we formed the National Coordinating Committee (NCC).
It is during the same period, beginning of 2006, that we were also reinstated to the university after meeting with the legal proctor Zindi. We did not last for long! The government announced that it was going to withdraw financial support for students. This presented a national crisis for the union.
Together with the NCC we embarked on a national tour to mobilize students against this ill-advised decision. The tour was a success with exploits in Bulawayo, Gweru and Masvingo. The final destination was going to be the UZ! We invaded campus and addressed students.
Chibango, Mavuma, Mlilo, Sande, Chitekwe and myself were arrested! Upon release four days later, we were invited to the VC’s office where I, Chibango, Mlilo, Mahohoma were served with suspension letters.
We resolved to refuse to sign the letters. We were rearrested and sent back to police cells. A week later a hearing was held and we had to wait a week to know that we had been expelled and barred for life from the UZ.
Wellington continued serving the union through the NCC. His efforts saw the ZINASU congress being a success.
However the split of the MDC and some flaws created by power struggles during the congress made him together with the remaining members of Dare Rechimurenga to withdraw their candidacy from the congress elections.
This marked the end of his short eventful life as a student activist and leader. He however ever continued to fight for a better Zimbabwe forming Zimbabwe Youth Movement (ZYM) along the way with other former student leaders and ordinary youth.
In 2008, thanks to the Dutch government, I received a Libertas scholarship to study in the Netherlands. I enrolled at Maastricht University where I graduated in August 2011 with Bachelor in Liberal Arts and Sciences with a double major in Mathematics and Computer science.
I am currently studying towards an MSc in Operations Research with Maastricht University. After completing my studies I plan to join my wife and son in Zimbabwe working in the private sector.
Serving people through seeking justice is neither an option nor choice, but a duty which we are all compelled to carry out. I will continue serving the people!
Leadership positions
• Nyati primary School: Prefect (grade 5 and 6), Vice Headboy(grade 7)
• Prefect: Malipati Sec School (form 2)
• SRA: Engineering Rep, Audit Chairman 2003-2004
• SRA: Watchdog committee Vice-Chairperson 2004-2005 • NCA: UZ branch Interim chairman 2004-2005
• SEC: Legal and Academic Sec 2005-2006
• Founding Treasurer ZYM 2007-present