Eliah Bandama
Eliah Spins Nhamoyesango Bandama was the Commander of Zimbabwe National Army's 3rd Brigade. He served in the army in different capacity till the time of his death. He was born on 1 December 1958 and died on the 11th of July 2012.[1]
Background
Bandama was born and bred in the Chipinge district of Manicaland. He attended Chikore Mission in Manicaland for his secondary education.[1] During his schooldays, he was arrested on allegations of insubordination due to his defiance of the school's racist laws. Before completing his secondary education at Chikore Mission, he left the then Rhodesia for Mozambique en-route to Zambia and Tanzania in 1975. [2]
Life During the Liberation Struggle
Bandama left for Mozambique with in order to join the Second Chimurenga war. While in Mozambique, Bandama was arrested together with colleagues on suspicion of being British South Africa Police agents. They were transferred to Posto Machazi as prisoners where they met other Zimbabweans, with their numbers there increasing until there were 6 000 of them. They were addressed by Robert Mugabe and after that Bandama was able to enter several military training camps. At Chomupani Camp in 1977, Bandama sustained injuries on his knee and thighs from multiple shots by Rhodesian helicopter gunships. His Chimurenga name was Spins Nhamoyesango.
Post War Period
In March 1978, he was selected to attend a course in Engineering, Mobile Warfare, Officers’ Course and Training in China. He belongs to the first crop of guerrillas from the Zimabawe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) to be incorporated into the newly formed Zimbabwe National Army in 1980. [3]
In 2005, Bandama was appointed commandant of the Zimbabwe Military Academy before he was posted to Army Headquarters three years later as Colonel (Staff General Branch).[4]
In 2010, he was promoted to Brig-Gen and appointed commander 4th Brigade after which he was moved to 3rd Brigade in the same capacity.
[4]
At the time of his death, Bandama was also the patron of Buffaloes Football Club. He was instrumental in facilitating technical support for the club.[5] Due to his influence in the club, the team had seen some better days judging by its performance in the Premier Soccer League (PSL). Due to his influence in the political sphere of Zimbabwe, Bandama was declared a national hero by the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (Zanu PF) party.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 , Brig-Gen Bandama is national hero, Nehanda Radio, published:15 Jul 2014,retrieved:15 Jul 2014"
- ↑ , Brig-Gen Bandama declared national hero, ZBC, published:15 Jul 2014,retrieved:15 Jul 2014"
- ↑ Felix Share, Brigadier-General Eliah Bandama declared a national hero, Bulwayo 24, published:15 Jul 2014,retrieved:15 Jul 2014"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 R. Bande, Accord Brig-Gen Bandama national hero status — ZDF, The Sunday Mail, published:13 Jul 2014,retrieved:15 Jul 2014"
- ↑ B. Chiketo,Buffaloes' patron Bandama dies, Daily News, published:12 Jul 2014,retrieved:15 Jul 2014"
