Ms Josina Mthemba Machel, daughter of former Mozambique revolutionary leader, Samora Machel.
What you need to know:
She was advised to rest and maintain a special diet. However Josina just went about serving her people under the leadership of FRELIMO.
Its 45 years since Josina Muthemba Machel joined our ancestors and was wrapped by Mother Earth in her warm and fresh soil! Before she passed away, Josina experienced excruciating stomach pains and severe exhaustion and had to be flown to Moscow where she was found to be with liver cancer. She was advised to rest and maintain a special diet. However Josina just went about serving her people under the leadership of FRELIMO.
By the end of 1970 Josina left her one year old son Samito with her friend and went to Niassa Province to evaluate the situation.
For two months she bravely travelled on foot throughout the liberated areas observing and talking to many comrades and communities. She had a brave heart, but her body was weak!
March 1971 she went to Cabo Delgado Province; this was the most painful trip and her last. In early April 1971 while in very poor health, weak and emaciated Josina had to submit against her will.
While crossing the border into Tanzania; she handed her gun to her companion said “Comrade, I cannot go on, give this gun to the Regional Commandant so that it can contribute in the liberation of the Mozambicans”
Josina Muthemba had a covenant with Afrika and Afrikans that we must be vigilant until imperialism is destroyed! This was the seed that was planted in her heart by her family. She never betrayed, was trusted, and the interests of the nation came first.
She was seriously ill when she arrived in Dar es Salaam and was admitted at Muhimbili Hospital on the 5.4.1971. Heaven light shone on her, she heard the call and knew her time was up and was ready to go.
She let go her last breath on 07.04.1971 grateful that she has fulfilled the covenant. She was buried on the 15.4.71 at the Kinondoni Cementry in Dar es Salaam at a very tender age of 25.
After independence Josina and other heroes of the liberation were given a befitting burial in Maputo Mozambique.
Josina was among the first 25 young women who were given military and political training in a special Military Detachment for FRELIMO Women. These comrades helped women in distress and those whose homes have been destroyed by the Portuguese terrorists.
They comforted those in grief, they treated and supported fellow combatants who were wounded in action; they counseled those who were traumatized psychologically as a result of what they experienced during the liberation war.
It was painful to see your comrade die in your hands and asking you to tell his children that they should not cry for him or her! Imagine you are forced to witness your loved ones being raped and dehumanized by those uncivilized and uncouth creatures! These secret wounds transform into scars and take generations to heal!
Notwithstanding her young age Josina braved on and became a forward looking leader by projecting on the needs and aspirations of the Mozambican children.
Many children had become orphaned; lonely, internally displaced because of the war to repossess their land and dignity.
The Women Detachment was the rear guard of those on the frontline and the custodian of important resources such as food, water, arms. They worked with the communities in the liberated areas livening up their spirits by giving them the history and goals of FRELIMO and galvanising their creative energies on what they can do for their loved ones at home and on the frontline.
These were youths with an Afrikan personality ready to serve and suffer. If they left their homes it was to accumulate relevant knowledge and skills for the benefit of their community’s emancipation.
Josina will remain the most important spirit of the kind of youth Afrika needs in the economic liberation struggle. Her commitment and energy were bigger than her health. She was a revolutionary in her own right even before she married Samora Machel in May 1969 at Tunduru.
Josina gave her everything including her son who needed her most. She gave hope to others that victory for the sake of their children is certain even though she knew it won’t be in her life time. Like slavery and colonialism war is bad because the pangs of pain remain long after the war has ended
Who will tell our children our Afrikan heritage so that they can join the invisible war against imperialism? Josina played her part; what about us? What must we do today to guarantee the tomorrow we want for our children?
Marie Memouna Shaba is a daughter of the Afrikan revolution and socio- economic-political analyst from The Afrikan cultural heritage perspective
