Southern Eye reports that ex ZIPRA combatants were not surprised by Gukurahundi. It says they claim that ZANU and its military wing, ZANLA, were openly hostile to the party even before independence.
Retired Colonel Baster Magwizi, Zipra Veterans Association spokesperson said that ZAPU and ZIPRA, its military wing never deployed any dissidents. He asserts that dissidents were Mugabe’s secret agencies to justify an attack on ZAPU. He recalled:
You will appreciate that there were no dissidents before Gukurahundi in the sense as they were known. Their (government) agenda was to wipe out Zapu and its supporters and Zipra, of course.
So the 1980s scenario came as no surprise to us because there was a standing agenda of Zanu working with the West to destroy Zapu because Zapu was considered a communist movement and Zipra, community-led forces.
The Mugabe led regime deployed a North Korean trained fifth brigade that killed a lot of people in the Midlands and Matebeleland provinces.
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More: NewsDay