Morrison Nyathi

In his book Pamwe Chete: The legend of the Selous Scouts, founder of the Selous Scout regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel R.F Reid-Daly talked about Nyathi as a well educated man who had been in charge of 30 liberation war fighters.

In her book Re-living the Second Chimurenga, Memories from the Liberation Struggle in Zimbabwe, former participant in the liberation struggle for independence, Fay Chung narrated Nyathi's involvement in the war thus:

Nyathi, former camp commander of Nyadzonia, was a member of the Selous Scouts sent to infiltrate ZANLA. He did so admirably, and soon won promotion to the rank of camp commander for his high-level military skills. However, he was accused and found guilty of extorting money from the peasantry, and for this transgression he was demoted. He was also accused of taking liberties with women freedom fighters, a form of behaviour condoned by the veterans but condemned by the Vashandi. ZANLA was very strict in ensuring that its soldiers did not alienate the people, their lifeline, in any way. Soon after that, Nyathi returned in his true guise as a member of the Selous Scouts, the crack Rhodesian military unit trained in unconventional warfare whose main task was now to fight guerrilla incursions by making pre-emptive strikes into neighbouring countries. In this case, they felt justified in attacking a refugee camp where there were many potential recruits for the guerrilla army, even though none of them had yet received any military training. Nyathi was captured by ZANLA guerrillas in the streets of Salisbury soon after independence in April 1980. He disappeared, and was believed to have been killed. The head of the Selous Scouts left Zimbabwe soon after that, fearing that the Scouts would be hunted down and killed for their actions at Nyadzonia and elsewhere.^[2]

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