Speaking during the launch of his book On the Shoulders of Struggle in Harare on Wednesday evening, Obert Mpofu made sensational claims that the people who were revisiting the Gukurahundi genocide were doing so because they wanted to “please their masters” and tarnish the image of the ruling party. Daily News reports.
Mpofu said people who were affected by Gukurahundi, most of them he represented in parliament, had moved on but people who had never set foot in the rural areas were still talking about it.
Said the former cabinet minister:
If you look at all those constituencies in Matabeleland that strongly support Zanu PF, they are constituencies that were affected by those (Gukurahundi) disturbances.
Not that they supported the disturbances, but they know the old man Joshua Nkomo and the old man Mugabe sat down and addressed the issue. The critics have not read the Unity Accord. The preamble talks about unity, peace and progress.
Sometimes you wonder what is going on, just because they want to please the external detractors. Let’s not continue to divide our people.
I made mention of the Gukurahundi where people have decided to be spokespersons of that sad development. I have been in government for almost 26 years and I have been a Member of Parliament for almost 23 years and my constituency is one of the constituencies that were affected by those disturbances.
I know the people. I live with them. But you have got people in town, people in Harare, Bulawayo, who have never been to a rural area trying to convince me that they know Gukurahundi better than me. Please learn if you are ignorant
A snippet from the book Mpfofu was launching reportedly says:
It may be noted that although Gukurahundi occurred, the timing of this conversation points towards a deliberate attempt to: discredit the legitimacy of the government, question its sincerity towards inclusive development, criminalise the government, seek International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecution of government officials, and finally, give opposition parties an opportunity to retain relevance in Zimbabwe’s political arena by manipulating this narrative.
Opposition politicians and their proxies have used the issue of Gukurahundi as a smear campaign against Zanu PF. The sincerity of some of these discussions is questionable considering the CSOs (civil society organisations) sponsored polarisation of our politics in Zimbabwe,” the former Umguza legislator writes in his book. The same western countries which were mute when this gross human rights abuse occurred are the ones funding CSO advocacy on Gukurahundi. This reveals the ulterior motive behind the sensational construction of this matter even beyond the unity accord.
Ironically when the President wanted to kickstart the process of issuing death certificates for some Gukurahundi survivors, a Gukurahundi survivor filed an application at the high court to stop them. Some people still think the issue of Gukurahundi is still to be addressed as 90% of survivors are said to be battling mental health issues.
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