Remembering Josina Muthemba Machel, The Unsung Mozambican Independence Warrior

The story of the Mozambican struggle for independence is not complete without the name; Josina Muthemba.
Josina was born with a twin brother, Belmiro, in Vilanculos, Inhambane, Mozambique on August 10, 1945 into an assimilado family that vehemently opposed colonial rule in Mozambique.
At age 7, Josina entered the primary school Dom João de Castro in Mocímboa da Praia, a school for the children of Portuguese and ‘assimilado’ families. ‘Assimilados’ could include Asians and individuals of dual heritage i.e., one parent being European and the other being African. At the primary school there were only about twenty Africans (including Josina) to about a hundred Portuguese.
Her family was considered part of the ‘assimilados’ (Portuguese for assimilated) who were granted the honorary status of whiteness by the colonial Portuguese authorities as opposed to being ‘indigena’ or ‘native.’
During her secondary school, Josina became fully aware of the objectives of colonialist education. She once revealed in an interview that ‘The colonists wanted to deceive us with their teaching; they taught us only the history of Portugal, the geography of Portugal; they wanted to form in us a passive mentality, to make us resigned to their domination”
Josina, whose bravery manifested early in life joined the Mozambican liberation struggle first by becoming active in clandestine student groups, before joining the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) in 1960. She was the driving force behind the Women’s Detachment, a group of women that later picked up arms to fight for their country’s liberation.
Her grandfather was a Presbyterian lay preacher who spoke out against Portuguese colonialism. Her father, two of her sisters, and two uncles were all jailed at one point or another as a result of their participation in clandestine opposition to the Portuguese colonial administration.
At the age of 18, the politicised Josina fled the country with other students in order to join FRELIMO in Tanzania. Among her comrades were the future President of Mozambique, Armando Guebuza, and seven others (both young men and women).
They failed in their endeavours for after a journey of 800 miles they were arrested at Victoria Falls in Northern Rhodesia and returned to the brutal hands of the Portuguese authorities in Lourenco Marques.
A six-month stint in prison in which she was neither sentenced nor condemned was ended by the campaign for her release by FRELIMO that led to her release shortly before her 19th birthday. She was now under surveillance by the Portuguese police. Wholly undeterred, the courageous Josina made another attempt to flee with fellow students. They endured a period of time in refugee camps in Swaziland and Zambia; dodged the Portuguese security police and betrayal by informants. In Botswana the British colonial authorities sought to deport them but again the intervention of the adept FRELIMO leader, Eduardo Mondlane and campaigning by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and United Nations ensured the group of 18 students were allowed to enter Tanzania and then Zambia and finally Dar es Salaam.Josina ‘s Unending Sacrifices For The Liberation of Mozambican Women:
The young Josina at the age of 20 took up a post as assistant to the director of the Mozambique Institute in Dar-es-Salaam. The director was none other than Janet Mondlane, the American wife of the leader of FRELIMO. The two became close friends. Reports credit Josina for being the driving force and vision behind the establishment of the Women’s Detachment (Destacamento Feminino) in 1967, the group of women that later picked up arms to fight for their country’s liberation.
In 1968, Josina identified the need for organised health centers, schools and child care provision within the liberated zones, to address the needs of the wounded and traumatised victims and soldiers of war as well as the children who had become orphans.
In July 1968 she was nominated a delegate to the Second FRELIMO Congress held in Niassa province and she made an uncompromising stand for the full participation of women in the struggle for the liberation of Mozambican society and its transformation.
Josina was later made head of the Women’s Section in FRELIMO’s Department of International Relations at the age of 24. This position required her to travel outside the country to international gatherings relating to women’s rights and she spoke on the experiences and realities of Mozambican women and people from her own first-hand knowledge.
She consistently advocated for women’s equal participation in political, economic and social life. The year 1969 was an eventful year in her life for in May 1969 she married Samora Machel in southern Tanzania. In November of that year they had a son, named Samito.
She was also appointed head of FRELIMO’s Department of Social Affairs and she continued to develop child care and educational centers for children in the north of the country. She encouraged girls to attend school, which was one of the resolutions passed at the Second Congress. Despite giving birth, the indefatigable Josina resumed work almost immediately in the provinces of Niassa and Cabo Delgado whilst their son was looked after in Dar es Salaam.Josina’s Sad End:
In Dar es Salaam, Josina became seriously ill in April 1971. The cause of her ill-health was not clear, different versions, while some said liver cancer, others tagged it leukemia. She was taken to Muhimbili Hospital but unfortunately could not make it back alive as she died on April 7, 1971 at the age of 25. She was buried in Kinondoni Cemetery where her uncle Mateus Muthemba, who was assassinated by Portuguese agents in 1968, was also interred.
The hospital where she died was named Josina Machel Hospital in her honour in Luanda, Angola.Source: South African History Online and Wikipedia