He is one of the #FreeMRP9 who was jailed for three years in maximum security after staging a protest in Bulawayo in 2021. Musician, poet, and Mthwakazi Republic Party’s communications head, Ackim “iGabazi” Ndebele (1987, Malalume, Plumtree), speaks out.
<Read time: 9 min>
“You don’t necessarily see blatant tribalism until you become older.”
Primary School: Malalume Primary School
Secondary School: Malalume Secondary School
After School: Baptist Church Youth Fellowship (2013); Hillside Teachers College, Bulawayo (2019)
Induna: Chief Mpini
Umlisa: Headman Senganyondo
Party: Mthwakazi Republic Party (since 2018)
You may listen to iGabazi’s single, ‘Man of God’, while you read – SJ.
The Getjenge of…
I am a native of Malalume in Getjenge/Plumtree, Bulilima District. Previously, it was called Bulilimamangwe. Mangwe District is now on its own.
The Child of…
Impilo ibe ingekho mnandi ngoba ngatshiywa ngabazali ngimcane (Life was very difficult growing up in the countryside, orphaned). My father passed away when I was 5, and then my mother as well when I was 13. Without our father, our mother had to move us to e-Mahalatsheni, ko-Nkomo, where she was born, as she struggled with working in Botswana.
The first time I had a school uniform in life was when our neighbour, Mphathisi Ndlovu, handed his down to me. He became a professor at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST). The Ndlovu family helped me a lot because I herded their cattle as a means of paying school fees.
The teachers used to say I was a genius at school, and I was the first person in our village to achieve four units in the state exams (four units is the highest pass mark in our primary education, based on four subjects. I had seven units – SJ). Even in secondary, I was the first with seven subjects, of which four were “A’s”. I was never expected to excel like that, given my situation at home. Despite the pass, I couldn’t proceed to Advanced Level because my grandmother felt that I should go to work instead and educate my younger siblings as well.
The Self-Determination of…
My uncle Edward Nkomo found me a job as a general hand at Radar Metal Industries in Bulawayo, and working in a factory was difficult. Initially, I tried my luck at the army’s 1:3 Infantry Battalion in Plumtree. That was the first time that I encountered systemic tribalism and marginalisation of Matabeleland people. The recruiter said, “Ndebele people think this army is yours. This army has no place for employees from Matabeleland.”
I remember his words very well. It bothered me a lot.
The Diaspora of…
I left for South Africa in 2007. After 3 years, while working in construction and being helped by another uncle, Enock Mlugulu, I met elders from MLF (Mthwakazi Liberation Front, founded on 6 June 2006 in South Africa and launched on 28 December 2010 in Bulawayo. The treason trial of Paul Siwela, Charles Tomas, and John Gazi followed, and the Matabeleland Liberation Organisation evolved from this point. Although incomplete, Khumalo (2017:5) lists a timeline of Mthwakazi’s post-kingdom actions since Prince Nyamanda kaLobengula’s Matebele National Home Society of 1914 – SJ).
The people of MLF taught me politics, and remember that MRP (Mthwakazi Republic Party, founded on 12 January 2014 – SJ) was not yet there. Thus, from my experience in the army and in the industries, seeing how our people were treated pushed me into politics. Growing up in rural areas, you don’t necessarily see blatant tribalism until you become older. Seeing strikes in South Africa and people expressing themselves against the government was an eye-opener.
The Home Return of…
South Africa had a construction boom ahead of the 2010 World Cup, but after that, all the jobs vanished, and I returned home after 2012. I also felt that I needed to be politically active ekhaya. I didn’t like that MLF and MLO were vocal outside the country. Our people are not politically conscious because of the fear caused by Gukurahundi (Matabeleland and Midlands provinces, created by the British South Africa Company in 1894 from the erstwhile Mthwakazi State (1840-1893), went through a genocide in post-colonial Zimbabwe infamously known as ‘Gukurahundi – rain that washes away the chaff’ between 1983 and 1987 – SJ).
The Back-to-School of…
I started doing temporary teaching at Nkedile Primary School in the border ward of Mphoengs, Mangwe. I noticed again in the district offices that Shona people were the ones employed, and I started organising teachers because there was no way that we could obtain employment in Mashonaland villages. As a result of that pressure, they stopped hiring Shona teachers in Bulilima and Mangwe around 2014. The government then stopped semi-skilled temporary teaching, and everyone was required to attain a tertiary education. Just as well, the government yanked the hiring of teachers from district offices and centralised it to date.
The United College of Education (UCE) did not accept me, but thankfully Hillside Teachers College did in 2017 (The predecessor to UCE was KwaNongoma College of Music Bulawayo, 1959-1971. Look out for my upcoming book, Thole IikaMthwakazi, concerning Matabeleland’s music history – SJ).
The Student Activism of…
I organised resistance to the forced learning of National and Strategic Studies (NASS), which is simply an extension of Chitepo School of Ideology, and misinformation about Mthwakazi history. By 2019, I became president of the Student Representative Council (SRC) of the college without having been elected through an alignment to either ZINASU or ZICOSU (Zimbabwe National Students Union and its arch-rival Zimbabwe Congress of Student Unions – SJ).
I once went to a ZINASU meeting, and I was asked to speak at the end. I addressed them, citing that I had not heard Matabeleland issues being discussed in the entire meeting. They did not want to have anything to do with me after. I also organised a strike and shut the college down for two days.
“I was not new to police brutality, but this time around, the entire skin on my back was gone.”
The MRP-5 Arrest of…
My work thus attracted the attention of the state, and the first time that I got arrested was during the issue of uBaba Felix Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni (My Umguza chief, who served 2014-2019 and had to flee the country – SJ). It was Partone Xaba, Prince Ncube, Ndabezinhle Ncube, Mongameli Mlotshwa, and I.
The Dean of Students, Masaisai, came to my aid and defended me, stating that I was a student activist. The state thought we were part of the Tajamuka/Sesijikile movement, but there was no association whatsoever. The college said that they were “instructed” to inform me not to seek SRC re-election or otherwise I “would be failed.” We were acquitted.
I, however, remained president of the Debate Society. People have clips of my speeches, as I used that platform to criticise the government because I had academic protection in that regard. I emerged as a great public speaker in the country, winning several awards, including a gold medal at the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Polytechnic, formerly Gwanda ZINTEC College.
I must thank the lecturers at Hillside because they protected me for those three years when I was there. I once had the word ‘Mthwakazi’ in my speech, and they asked me to remove it – we had to submit our debates prior. They wanted me to say ‘Matabeleland and Midlands’. I removed it, but on-stage I said it!
The MRP-9 Arrest of…
Although COVID-19 slowed things down, people would approach the Mthwakazi Republic Party when they had a problem. We had responded to the Ntabazinduna lodge wrangle, again in Chief Ndiweni’s area, and so by the time we were arrested days later on 10 March 2021, that was their excuse. There had been an abduction attempt on MRP president Mqondisi Moyo in the night, and we peacefully protested that. The MRP-9 included two women: Sibongile Banda and Busi Moyo, Tinos Nkomo, Mongameli Mlotshwa, Livson Ncube, Maxwell Nkosi, Welcome Moyo, Nkosilathi Ncube, and I.
I was not new to police brutality, but this time around, the entire skin on my back was gone. We were brutalised and tortured. Because of those injuries, they couldn’t release us and opted to present us to court instead. I remember when I appeared in court, I didn’t even have a shirt on because the state torture had torn it into pieces. The magistrate was flabbergasted as he had never seen such in his career! The women of MRP had to wrap me in one of the MRP textile fabrics so that I could be presented in court. Our colleague, Welcome Moyo, could not even stand because of the injuries he had sustained.
We had been shot at with Mossbergs. You must go to the hospital to remove the fragments, and since we were denied bail and therefore denied treatment, we had to remove them by cutting them out ourselves. In a remand prison, you naturally meet all kinds of people inside, and they offered to do it as they had experience in removing them. Nkosilathi could not handle the first aid in the cells, and so the fragments rotted inside his legs. To date, his leg has never recovered well. (Observers drew parallels between the MRP-9 and the ZAPU-9 of 1980, which included Sidney Malunga and Richard Ndlovu. Ackim and I discovered that he and I are extended relatives of Richard Ndlovu – SJ).
The Criminal Teacher of…
Bail was granted after two months in May 2021, and the government suddenly offered me a teaching job at Zwangendaba High School in Lupane. We always hear about teacher shortages, but they had refused to give me a job since graduating in 2019. I was considered a criminal who had to report weekly to the police while teaching in public service! Before I could wrap my head around that, I was summoned to perform my poetry for the opening of the Bubi-Lupane Dam for Zimbabwe’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, and the entire cabinet.
Six of us were asked to perform, with Jonathan “Mntakagogo” Moyo and I being staunch MRP activists. We got there and we were told that only two poets could perform – the MRP activists. Jonathan was two years my junior at Hillside, as well as the SRC, and he had introduced me to the MRP as he had long been a member. Unfortunately, some artists have to make hard decisions and go where the money is. I couldn’t entertain it.
The Republic of… continues to Part Two with Ackim Ndebele next week on 26 August 2025, where we find out that he is also an ordained Man of God.
Interview date: 13 August 2025
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Cite this article: Jermain, S. (2025, August 19). The Republic of. . . Ackim Ndebele. Sonny Jermain Online. https://sonnyjermain.com/the-republic-of-ackim-ndebele/
In-text: Parenthical – (Jermain, 2025); or Narrative – Jermain (2025).
