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Some 11 villagers in Nkayi, Matabeleland were flogged and forced to sing war songs in Shona by Zimbabwe Republic Police officers, human right lawyers have said.
Posting on X today, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said the villagers were beaten as part of “a brutal crackdown” apparently to investigate theft of diesel.
Said the <a href="https://x.com/ZLHRLawyers/status/1833478133162643927">ZLHR post</a> in part:
<blockquote>
The Nkayi villagers have asked ZRP authorities to take remedial action against some delinquent police officers, who ill-treated them by severely assaulting them &amp; coercing them to sing some liberation songs…
In a letter of complaint written to the Officer-In Charge of Manoti Police Station by the Nkayi villagers’ lawyers Jabulani Mhlanga &amp; Prisca Dube of ZLHR, the villagers protested against the conduct of the police officers for conducting a violent operation across 3 homesteads belonging to the Sibanda, Ncube &amp; Lunga families, under the pretext of investigating a case of alleged theft of diesel belonging to Oscar Mawarire, local entrepreneur.
Mhlanga &amp; Dube stated that the ZRP officers, who were armed with a rifle, truncheons &amp; whips, unlawfully assaulted the villagers including a minor, using excessive force &amp; without just cause. In addition, Mhlanga &amp; Dube stated that the villagers were coerced into singing some liberation songs in Shona language &amp; were further assaulted for allegedly failing to sing the songs correctly.
The ZRP officers, Mhlanga &amp; Dube said, rummaged through the villagers’ homesteads even though they did not have search warrants authorising their actions &amp; proceeded to seize various tools from the homesteads, alleging that they were weapons that were used by the villagers in committing some criminal activities. 
The human rights lawyers said although Mawarire, who is the complainant in the matter, informed the ZRP officers that the villagers were not the people whom he suspected of stealing his diesel, the law enforcement agents insisted on arresting the villagers &amp; subsequently, 7 of them were apprehended &amp; taken to a police post located at Kana Mission. The villagers, Mhlanga &amp; Dube said, were not given an opportunity to wear their shoes or warm clothing &amp; neither were they informed of their rights at the time of being apprehended.
The ZRP officers reportedly threatened to make an example of the villagers in order to deter “Ndebele thieves” from crossing into “Shona territory” &amp; were once again subjected to further physical abuse &amp; forced to sing more liberation songs. At the police base, the villagers were made to sleep on concrete floors, without the provision of blankets and with no ablution facilities, with men being handcuffed to each other.
The villagers were all released on 15 July after being ordered to pay US$30 each per person by a police officer, who only identified himself as Dube but were not issued with any receipts acknowledging payment of what was supposed to be an admission of guilt fine &amp; were also not furnished with some request for medical report forms in order for them to seek medical attention at government-run medical facilities.
The villagers only received medical treatment for their injuries at a private medical facility and afterwards engaged Mhlanga &amp; Dube, who on 1 August wrote a letter of complaint to the Officer in Charge of Manoti Police Station demanding that the law enforcement agency conduct an investigation into the ill-treatment &amp; assault of the Nkayi villagers &amp; take remedial action against the perpetrators of such brutality.
The human rights lawyers protested against the violation of the villagers’ fundamental rights including the right to liberty, right to dignity, the right to bodily &amp; psychological integrity, protection from cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment &amp; the right to equality &amp; non-discrimination, all enshrined in the Constitution. The conduct of the ZRP officers, Mhlanga &amp; Dube said, amounts to a serious breach of their constitutional mandate &amp; hence the perpetrators of the brutal assault of the villagers should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
</blockquote>
The development has angered who have referred to this as “Gukurahundi all over again”.
<a href="https://x.com/Mamoxn/status/1833495275186630892">Said writer and activist Thandekile Moyo</a>:
<blockquote>
When they did this during the Gukurahundi genocide, They said we were dissidents. Is this tribalism another operation against yet another generation of dissidents? This is unacceptable and Matebeleland should not accept this.
</blockquote>

Mbiko KaMadlenya said it brought back memories of a similar ordeal he experience:
<blockquote>
This happened to me and my relative in 1985 we were in grade 7, forced to sing shona song’s beaten and kept at police station for 2 weeks, our crime for being Ndebele. Shocked that its happening in 2024
</blockquote>

Pindula News

ZRP officers in Zimbabwe beat up some villagers in Nkayi, Matabeleland, and made them sing war songs in Shona. The police were investigating a theft case. The villagers were hurt and forced to sing the songs by the officers. Human rights lawyers are now involved and demanding action against the officers. The villagers were arrested, mistreated, and made to pay money before being released. This incident has upset people, who are comparing it to a past injustice called Gukurahundi. It is considered tribalism and discrimination against the people of Matabeleland.

ZRP Officers Beat Matabeleland Villagers, Force Them To Sing War Songs - Human Right Lawyers

The Gukurahundi Community Outreach Programme has yet to begin due to unresolved logistical issues, it has emerged.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa officially launched the programme on July 14, 2024, at the Bulawayo State House, five years after its initial proposal.
The initiative aims to create a platform for victims and survivors of the Gukurahundi atrocities to voice their grievances before a 14-member panel headed by chiefs.
Despite the government’s high-profile launch, the hearings have not yet commenced.
In an interview with <a href="https://cite.org.zw/gukurahundi-hearings-stalled-chiefs-reveal-unresolved-issues/">CITE</a>, Chief Lucas Mtshane Khumalo, President of the National Chiefs Council, confirmed that the hearings have not yet begun and expressed uncertainty about when they will start. He said:
<blockquote>
We have not started, and we don’t know when we will start. There are still some logistics that have not been concluded.
We are not sure when we are going to start, but we will announce it when we are ready because we want publicity for this programme. However, there are some pending logistics.
I don’t want to divulge the specific logistics, but there are pending matters that need to be resolved.
There are many considerations when preparing to go out into the field—transportation, food, and subsistence allowances, among others.
</blockquote>
Chief Mtshane also noted that the budget allocated for the outreach programme is insufficient. He said:
<blockquote>
I think they underestimated the budget for this process. It is not enough for what’s required on the ground. The budget exists, but it does not cater for all the needs.
</blockquote>
In previous meetings between Mnangagwa and the chiefs, the government confirmed that a budget had been allocated for the hearings, although the specific amount was not disclosed.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

The Gukurahundi hearings that were supposed to start have been delayed because there is not enough money and some logistical issues have not been sorted out yet. The program was started by Mnangagwa in 2024 to give a chance to the victims of the Gukurahundi atrocities to speak up. The hearings were supposed to be run by a 14-member panel led by chiefs, but they have not started yet. The chiefs say the budget is not enough, and there are still many things that need to be sorted out before they can begin.

Insufficient Funds Stall Gukurahundi Hearings

Nkulumane Member of Parliament, Desire Moyo (CCC), said the Gukurahundi Community Outreach Programme should be carried out in a manner that allows victims the freedom to forgive without undue pressure, reported the <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/southerneye/local/article/200029794/no-to-command-healing-nkulumane-mp">Southern Eye</a>.
Just over a week ago, President Emmerson Mnangagwa officially launched the outreach programme in Bulawayo, aiming to bring closure to the emotive Gukurahundi issue.
The programme, which is led by traditional leaders, is intended to provide a platform for victims and survivors to express themselves in pursuit of healing and reconciliation.
Speaking in the National Assembly last week, Moyo said the outreach programme has the potential to facilitate national healing and reconciliation, provided it is conducted properly. He said:
<blockquote>
I rise on a point of national interest, noting that over the weekend, the government launched an outreach programme on Gukurahundi hearings. The hearings will be led by the respective chiefs in Matabeleland.
I note that this process has the potential to bring about national healing and reconciliation if it is conducted in a good manner, devoid of political disturbances and submissive commentary. It has the potential to even heal the dead.
</blockquote>
Moyo also urged Parliament to complement the Gukurahundi outreach process by developing legislation that would criminalize the justification of the killings.
In response, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Jacob Mudenda, suggested that Moyo could present his case and recommendations during the ongoing outreach programme. He said:
<blockquote>
If you listened very carefully to the launch of the programme, it is an outreach programme where all those who feel they have something to say about the outreach programme are given an opportunity to do so and what you are proposing is crisscrossing the outreach programme unnecessarily.
Let us wait for the results of the outreach programme and obviously in terms of our processes, the report may be tabled before the House if it pleases His Excellency, the President.
</blockquote>
Moyo said he hoped that the process would be carried out in a way that allows for voluntary forgiveness. He said:
<blockquote>
I hope it will be done so that we have the freedom to forgive rather than being commanded to healing.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Nkulumane MP, Desire Moyo, wants Gukurahundi healing to let victims choose forgiveness. President Mnangagwa started a program in Bulawayo to help with healing. The program is led by traditional leaders and aims to help victims and survivors heal. Moyo hopes the program will bring national healing if done properly. He also wants laws against justifying the killings. The Speaker of the National Assembly said Moyo can share ideas during the program. Moyo hopes for voluntary forgiveness, not forced healing.

Gukurahundi: No To Command Healing, Says Nkulumane MP

The Deputy President of the National Council of Chiefs, Fortune Charumbira, has confirmed that the Gukurahundi Community Outreach Programme is a personal project of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is rolling it out with the assistance of traditional leaders.
Chief Charumbira’s remarks came during his closing address at the official launch of the outreach programme by President Mnangagwa at the Bulawayo State House on Sunday.
These remarks corroborate the views expressed by various commentators who have long asserted that the Gukurahundi community programme is a top-down approach driven by President Mnangagwa. Said Charumbira (via <a href="https://cite.org.zw/gukurahundi-outreach-program-is-mnangagwas-personal-project-charumbira/">CITE</a>):
<blockquote>
So I’m lucky. We are lucky also to be blessed by the president who said, ‘This thing of Gukurahundi, it’s mine as president, I am the owner with the chiefs council. The two of us don’t want anyone to interfere. We asked him ‘we have politburo’ (who may question this) and he said, ‘tell them to come to me’.
</blockquote>
Meanwhile, political commentator Brighton Mutebuka said President Mnangagwa’s efforts to address the Gukurahundi atrocities will fall short unless comprehensive measures are taken.
These include ensuring proper justice, healing, honesty, specialist support (such as counselling), dignified burials, accountability, issuance of identity documents, estate resolution, and fair compensation for victims and their families. Said Mutebuka:
<blockquote>
Having waited for so long, the victims deserve a credible process. As to what is credible or not – this can only be adequately addressed via a genuine consultative process involving victims and their family members.
ED and the State should not be anywhere near that process. This is because they face accusations of being the perpetrators in the first place.
Their active involvement leaves them open to charges of creating an intimidatory atmosphere – which defeats the very objective that is ostensibly being sought.
</blockquote>
Gukurahundi refers to a series of massacres and human rights abuses committed by the Zimbabwean government’s Fifth Brigade against civilians, primarily in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces between 1983-1987.
Estimates suggest that up to 20,000 civilians were killed during this period, though the exact death toll is disputed.
Some historians, human rights groups, and victim communities have characterised Gukurahundi as a genocide, citing the targeted killings of the Ndebele ethnic group by the government.
However, there is a lack of consensus among scholars and international bodies about whether the Gukurahundi events meet the legal definition of genocide, which requires proof of intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

President Mnangagwa is leading a project called Gukurahundi Community Outreach Programme with the help of traditional leaders. The program aims to address the Gukurahundi atrocities that happened in Zimbabwe between 1983-1987. Experts say more needs to be done to bring justice to the victims, including counseling and compensation. Some say the government should not be involved in the process because they may have been responsible for the atrocities. Gukurahundi refers to the killings of thousands of civilians by the Zimbabwean government. It is debated whether it was a genocide.

Gukurahundi Outreach Mnangagwa’s Brainchild, Says Charumbira

Brighton Mutebuka, a UK-based Zimbabwean political analyst, says President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s efforts to address the Gukurahundi atrocities will fall short unless comprehensive measures are taken. 
These include ensuring proper justice, healing, honesty, specialist support (such as counselling), dignified burials, accountability, issuance of identity documents, estate resolution, and fair compensation for victims and their families. Wrote Mutebuka:
<blockquote>
<h2>Is ED’s Current Attempt At ‘Burying The Ghost’ Of Gukurahundi A Credible Attempt At Addressing The Subject?</h2>
1. When historians finally sit down to mull over ED’s legacy, one of the central themes that will emerge about his rule is sincerity/genuineness.
2. Thus, while it is clear that resolving the contentious Gukurahundi atrocities is the right thing to do, there are huge question marks over the HOW part of it.
3. At present, we are seeing ED and his regime all over the relevant processes – seeking to dictate and control events.
4. Presumably, ED intends to bring lasting closure for the victims by affording them proper justice, healing, honesty, and specialist support, such as counselling, proper burial, accountability, the provision of identity documents, the winding up of Estates and compensation, amongst other things.
5. Anything short of the above will not hack it – and will prolong the suffering of victims and stall genuine attempts at healing, the achievement of lasting peace, and nation-building.
6. Having waited for so long, the victims deserve a credible process. As to what is credible or not – this can only be adequately addressed via a genuine consultative process involving victims and their family members.
7. It is respectfully that ED and the State should not be anywhere near that process. This is because they face accusations of being the perpetrators in the first place.
8. Their active involvement leaves them open to charges of creating an intimidatory atmosphere – which defeats the very objective that is ostensibly being sought.
9. In fact, given the prevailing political environment in Zimbabwe at the moment, (and ED &amp; his regime’s central role in it), which is more or less marked by the very toxic, brutal &amp; predatory politics that underpinned Gukurahundi, there are compelling reasons to ask whether or not it is appropriate for ED and his regime to superintend over this process.
10. There is something extraordinarily jarring/farcical about this taking place in an environment where more, not less rank authoritarianism is taking place – and new and frightening levels of repression are the order of the day – meaning a piling list of even more, not less victims that a future government will need to address.
11. There are two schools of thought that I propose to share. The first one is that, given the sensitivity and importance of the subject – and given the mistakes that were committed through ramming the Unity Accord down ZAPU’s throat in 1988, there is no point in proceeding with the current initiative in isolation, prior to addressing the current political environment &amp; recoiling from the current path of egregious human rights violations.
12. The second one is that there is no point in proceeding with the current process if it is not independent of the state and ED’s shadow as it will not adequately address or meet the needs of the victims.
13. In fact, I stand to be corrected but, as presently constituted, it is likely to be viewed as a rubber-stamping exercise lacking the buy-in of the victims.
14. If my take is correct, then it will have to be redone properly sometime in the future once optimum conditions have been achieved.
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
This is a project of great historical and national importance. It presents a sore point/festering wound/injustice/fault line that has acted as a formidable barrier in moulding a cohesive, stable, peaceful and enduring post-independent state.
There currently does not appear to be a genuine appetite to address the grievances and fissures which marked the fault lines that were inherited at independence.
Indeed many in the Matabeleland provinces still continue to complain bitterly about marginalisation, prejudice and discrimination by the nation-state.
That needs to be addressed on an urgent basis – and included as part of credible attempts at addressing the troubling legacy of Gukurahundi – which should additionally be linked to wider efforts at establishing lasting peace in Zimbabwe.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Brighton Mutebuka thinks President Mnangagwa's plan to address Gukurahundi is not enough. He says victims need justice, healing, counseling, dignified burials, and fair compensation. Some questions are: Is the President sincere? Should he be involved in the process? Mutebuka suggests the process should be independent from the government. He says the current political environment in Zimbabwe is not good for such an important task. This project is crucial for national healing and peace. Victims deserve a proper process that addresses their needs. It is important to also address other issues like marginalization and prejudice in the country.

Pertinent Questions On Approach To Gukurahundi - Mutebuka

Heal Zimbabwe Trust (HZT) has demanded that the government should release reports by two commissions that investigated the Gukurahundi atrocities “as part of truth-telling” ahead of new public hearings in Matabeleland.
The demand by HZT comes after President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Sunday launched the Gukurahundi Community Engagement Outreach Programme in Bulawayo which he said will bring closure to victims.
However, in a statement issued on Monday, 15 July 2024, HZT said while it acknowledges the first steps taken to address Gukurahundi, it called for a comprehensive, genuine and victim-centred process that satisfies the basic minimum values and standards set out by the African Transitional Justice Policy.
These include African leadership, national and local ownership, inclusiveness, equity and non-discrimination, African shared values, context specificity, synergizing, sequencing and balancing transitional justice elements, due regard to gender and generational dimensions, cooperation and coherence, as well as capacity building for sustainability. Said HZT:
<blockquote>
This is important to ensure that the process achieves the stated objectives and brings true national healing and reconciliation, finally closing the wounds and trauma communities have endured for years.
The ultimate goal should be building true national healing that is anchored on the pillars of transitional justice set out by the Office of the UN High Commission for Human Rights namely: truth, justice, reparations, memorialization and guarantees of nonrecurrence.
</blockquote>
Heal Zimbabwe Trust made the following recommendations:
<ul>
<li>Government must release the reports of the Dumbutshena and Chihambakwe Commissions of Inquiry as part of truth-telling.</li>
<li>Government must take a step back from the programme as it is conflicted to lead the process. While President Mnangagwa has said traditional leaders are leading the process, he must not be seen as handholding the chiefs in the process.</li>
<li>The Outreach Programme must be victim-centred, genuine and sincere, recognizing the centrality of victims and survivors in the consultations and the implementation of their demands for true healing in line with the UN Secretary General report on the rule of law in conflict and post-conflict societies (S/2004/616)</li>
<li>The Outreach programme must provide a witness protection mechanism that is clear and well explained to communities to avoid fears of revictimization of survivors. The witness and survivor mechanism must ensure that a) victims are treated with dignity and humanity, b) witnesses are assisted to present their views and concern and c) there is an effective long-term witness protection program.</li>
<li>The process must devolve to the villages to ensure wide consultations that are rooted in communities to ensure no one and no place is left behind. A bottom-up approach is critical in correctly capturing the voices, demands and wishes of the victims and communities affected by Gukurahundi.</li>
<li>Heal Zimbabwe Trust urges government and the traditional leaders to work with civil society organisations that have advocated for the resolution of Gukurahundi instead of vilifying them. Resolving Gukurahundi to build true national healing and reconciliation will require concerted efforts from all stakeholders to foster consensus and cohesion.</li>
<li>The traditional leaders must take a leaf from other African countries that have implemented transitional processes like Liberia, South Africa and Rwanda.</li>
</ul>
The Zimbabwe Commission of Inquiry into the Matabeleland Disturbances was established by the late former President Robert Mugabe and chaired by Justice Simplisius Chihambakwe. The commission carried out its work between 1983 and 1984, but its findings were never publicly released.
This came after another inquiry in 1981, when Justice Enoch Dumbutshena led a panel of seven members to investigate the mutinous disturbances that took place in February 1981 at the Glenville Military Camp, Ntabazinduna Military Camp, and Entumbane ZANLA and ZIPRA Camps.
In 2003, Mnangagwa, who was the Justice Minister at the time, told the Supreme Court during a lawsuit brought by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and the Legal Resources Foundation that the findings and recommendations of the Dumbutshena Commission “were solely for use by the government and the government had no legal duty to divulge the findings to the general public.” He added:
<blockquote>
In any case, because of the sensitivity of the matter at the time the report was presented to government, it was not reproduced and as of now, it has not been located.
</blockquote>
Retired High Court judge Selo Nare, as chairman of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) in 2019, told journalists that the government had told him that both reports “have been lost.”
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Heal Zimbabwe Trust is asking the government to release reports from two investigations about Gukurahundi. They want the truth to be known before new public hearings in Matabeleland. President Mnangagwa started a program to engage with the community about Gukurahundi, but HZT wants a more comprehensive process. They want the victims' voices to be central and for the process to follow certain rules for justice. HZT also wants the government to work with civil society groups and traditional leaders to find healing and reconciliation like other countries have done. There have been previous investigations into these events, but the reports have not been made public.

Heal Zimbabwe Trust Demands The Release Of Dumbutshena, Chihambakwe Reports

Julia Mlilo, a 77-year-old woman from Silonkwe Village in Tsholotsho District, has yet to find forgiveness for the immense pain inflicted upon her during the Gukurahundi atrocities.
Despite her advanced age and diminished mobility, Mlilo’s memories of that fateful day remain vivid.
Speaking to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c51yl354ed2o">BBC</a>, she recounted how, at the sound of gunfire on 24 February 1983, she had hastily abandoned her work in the field and fled into the bush with her husband and children, desperate to escape the violence.
When they emerged her father and more than 20 of her husband’s relatives had been badly assaulted and burnt, many beyond recognition.
She said only the heads were identifiable and they gathered up the remains into a tin basin that had been used for bathing and buried them in a nearby pit.
Mlilo said the place where they were slaughtered and the area of their burial, adjacent to a field of crops, is now marked by reflective white and red crosses. She said:
<blockquote>
I haven’t forgiven them, I don’t know what would make me forgive. Whenever I see soldiers I feel the pain and I start trembling.
I don’t trust the process because it’s being done by the government, but I will take part in it.
</blockquote>
In the village of the neighbouring village of Salankomo, mass graves surround Thabani Dhlamini’s home.
One of the mass graves lies near the toilet block at a primary school where teachers were killed and dumped there in the 1980s.
In another, steps away from Dhlamini’s house, 22 relatives and neighbours are buried in two graves.
Speaking to BBC, Dhlamini who was just 10 at the time, is still haunted by the memories. The 51-year-old said:
<blockquote>
We were not able [to talk about it] and we were in fear to speak about it. I want to free myself from what I witnessed, I need to vent out what I felt.
</blockquote>
Dhlamini, along with a group of boys from his village in 1983, saw how soldiers frog-marched 22 women, including his mother, into a hut which they then set on fire.
It is alleged that when the women broke down the door to flee the flames, the soldiers mowed them down with their guns before they could escape.
Dhlamini’s mother was the only survivor as she managed to hide along the side of a nearby grain hut.
The soldiers then ordered the older boys in the group watching nearby to carry the bullet-ridden bodies of the women into the smoking hut and another alongside it.
Dhlamini’s 14-year-old friend Lotshe Moyo was one of them. He was wearing a pin supporting Joshua Nkomo, nd because of that, afterwards, he too was ordered inside, shot and both huts burnt to ashes.
The remains of the victims are still in the ruins – an overgrown area surrounded by a chain-link fence and lots of crosses. On a whitewashed brick wall, the names of the dead are written. Said Dhlamini:
<blockquote>
When we started talking about it my memory returned and it seems as if it had happened today. It makes me feel as if I can cry.
</blockquote>
On Sunday, 14 July, President Emmerson Mnangagwa launched the Gukurahundi Community Engagement Outreach Programme in Bulawayo.
He said the Programme is a transformative step towards national cohesion and healing and will be led by chiefs.
Mnangagwa, however, accused Zimbabwe’s former colonial powers of instigating divisions in the country, which he claims ultimately led to the Gukurahundi massacres.
In an interview with the BBC, Mbuso Fuzwayo, a 48-year-old member of the local advocacy group Ibhetshu LikaZulu, said the government must take responsibility for the Gukurahundi atrocities.
Fuzwayo’s own grandfather was allegedly abducted during that period and never seen or heard from again. Said Fuzwayo:
<blockquote>
They must not try to say this was a Mugabe thing. It was a collective thing. The chief perpetrator might be dead, that is Mugabe – but Emerson Mnangagwa remains in the absence of Mugabe.
Up to today, we don’t know why the people were killed – the motive.
And they don’t want to talk about it and I still believe that they have got a lot that they are hiding.
</blockquote>
Chief Khulumani Mathema, a prominent traditional leader from Gwanda North, has denounced the government’s efforts to address the Gukurahundi atrocities as fundamentally flawed and inadequate. He told BBC:
<blockquote>
It needs to be a national issue that focuses on international best practices, which is how genocides are addressed in the whole world.
We’ve got countries that went through genocide. We’ve got Rwanda, we’ve got Germany, but we want to create and reinvent the wheel, which I think is not feasible.
There’s no single genocide that has ever been completely solved when the perpetrators are still in charge of the levers of power.
</blockquote>
Gukurahundi refers to a series of massacres of Ndebele people carried out by the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces of Zimbabwe between 1983 and 1987.
It was a violent suppression of perceived “dissidents” and “insurgents” by the government of Robert Mugabe against the Ndebele ethnic minority in the early years of independent Zimbabwe.
Estimates suggest that between 10,000 and 20,000 civilians were killed during the Gukurahundi massacres.
The massacres were carried out by the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade of the ZNA.
The government at the time labelled the victims as “dissidents” and justified the killings as necessary to restore order and unity in the country.
Gukurahundi is widely considered one of the worst episodes of mass violence and human rights abuses in Zimbabwe’s history.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Julia, a 77-year-old lady, still feels the pain of the Gukurahundi attacks that happened in 1983. She saw her family members killed and buried in a pit. She cannot forgive the soldiers who did it. Another man, Thabani, also remembers the horrors of that time. The president of Zimbabwe says the country needs to heal from the past, but some people don't trust him. The Gukurahundi massacres were a terrible event where thousands of people were killed by soldiers. People like Julia and Thabani are still affected by it today.

I Cannot Forgive Gukurahundi Perpetrators, Says 77-Year-Old Survivor

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has accused Zimbabwe’s former colonial powers of instigating divisions in the country, which he claims ultimately led to the Gukurahundi massacres.
The atrocities were carried out by the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade under the then Prime Minister Robert Mugabe’s government, with Mnangagwa serving as the Minister of State Security and overseeing the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) at the time.
Speaking at the launch of the Gukurahundi Community Engagement Outreach Programme in Bulawayo on Sunday, July 14, 2024, Mnangagwa alleged that the country’s detractors were responsible for Zimbabwe’s post-independence conflict.
He claimed that the former colonisers had deliberately pitted different tribes against each other, leading to the Gukurahundi tragedy.
Mnangagwa’s comments come as the government attempts to address the long-standing grievances and trauma experienced by the victims and their families through the Gukurahundi Community Engagement Outreach Programme.
The programme aims to facilitate dialogue and community-led initiatives to promote healing and reconciliation in the affected regions. Said Mnangagwa:
<blockquote>
History records that all internal divisions amongst us as a people have been instigated by our detractors in various guises through generations.
It is our detractors who worked tirelessly to pit one tribe against the other during the colonial era.
These oppressors sought to sow seeds of division amongst liberation struggle fighters and within communities.
Their interference and machinations were designed to divide us and consequently created our post-independence conflicts.
We are aware that the same forces have not abandoned their ultimate goal of thwarting the realisation of our determination to remain as united Zimbabweans.
Our unity must stand as an immovable barrier to prevent their historic goal of subjugating us in numerous ways including in the economic sphere. The interference by our detractors manifests itself in different ways.
They manifest as political parties with a regional agenda which seeks to divide our people and question the unitary nature of our State. We see them!
They manifest as voluntary organisations ostensibly concerned with the people’s plight yet they exaggerate and magnify regional grievances whilst at the same time seeking to belittle our efforts at reconciliation and unity at the behest of their founders. We see them! 
They are present in all forms of the media including social media, propagating statements of hatred, difference and vengeance against specific groupings of our nation. We see them! Let us all say to them you shall not succeed.
</blockquote>
Gukurahundi, a Shona word meaning “the early rain that washes away the chaff”, refers to the killing of an estimated 20,000 people, mostly from the Ndebele ethnic group, in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces between 1983 and 1987.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

President Mnangagwa said former colonizers caused problems in Zimbabwe, leading to Gukurahundi killings blamed on Fifth Brigade. He believes colonizers purposely created conflicts between tribes. Mnangagwa is working on healing and reconciliation with Gukurahundi Community Engagement Outreach Programme. He warned against forces trying to divide Zimbabweans. Gukurahundi refers to tragic killings of around 20,000 people from Ndebele tribe. Mnangagwa wants unity to stop outside interference. This is part of ongoing efforts to address painful past events and bring peace to affected communities.

Mnangagwa Blames Gukurahundi Atrocities On Former Colonisers

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has reiterated Zimbabwe’s status as a unitary state, saying the Gukurahundi episode serves as a stark reminder of the fragility of national unity and the devastating consequences of disunity.
Speaking at the launch of the Gukurahundi Community Engagement Outreach Programme in Bulawayo on Sunday, Mnangagwa acknowledged the critical role played by the late former President Robert Mugabe and Vice President Joshua Nkomo in forging national unity through the Unity Accord.
The Unity Accord was a political agreement signed in 1987 between the ruling ZANU party and the opposition ZAPU party, effectively ending the Gukurahundi massacres.
The Unity Accord merged ZANU and ZAPU into a single political party – the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU PF).
The agreement also established a power-sharing arrangement, with Mugabe becoming the Executive President and Nkomo becoming one of the Vice Presidents. Said Mnangagwa:
<blockquote>
Behind us lies a past etched with both triumph and hardship. The echoes of the liberation struggle still evoke strong emotions and memories, a testament to the unwavering spirit that forged our nation.
Yet, within that history is a chapter which cannot be ignored – the post-independence conflict in this Region.
This chapter serves as a stark reminder of the fragility of unity and the devastating consequences of disunity.
We owe a debt of eternal gratitude to our nation’s founding fathers, the late President Robert Gabriel Mugabe and the late Father Zimbabwe Cde. Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo, for defying seemingly insurmountable obstacles and forging the Unity Accord of 1987.
This Unity Accord shall remain as the foundation of our unity and the emblem of our unitary State. Today, we are building on that foundation and cementing our unity, which we commit to guard jealously as our birthright in this sacred nation.
</blockquote>
Mnangagwa emphasized that the Gukurahundi Community Engagement Outreach Programme will be led by traditional leaders. He said:
<blockquote>
Today we are gathered to officially launch the Gukurahundi Community Outreach Programme. This exercise is not simply a mechanism for revisiting grievances but it is a transformative odyssey, a pilgrimage towards healing and national cohesion.
This initiative is a potent symbol of our collective will to bridge the divides that have separated us for too long. It places the onus of healing squarely on the shoulders of its most capable custodians – our esteemed Chiefs.
With their knowledge of tradition and wisdom, they will guide us through open dialogue, fostering empathy and understanding.
As we share our stories, the wounds of the past will begin to mend, thereby enabling national healing.
</blockquote>
President Mnangagwa accused the country’s former colonial rulers of sowing the seeds of disunity in Zimbabwe by pitting one ethnic group against another.
Mnangagwa’s remarks suggest that the colonial legacy and the divisive policies implemented during that era contributed to the underlying tensions and conflicts that ultimately led to the Gukurahundi atrocities.
This accusation places responsibility for the tragedy on external forces, rather than solely on the actions of the post-independence Zimbabwean government.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Zimbabwe's President Mnangagwa says Gukurahundi serves as a reminder of the need for unity. In 1987, a pact between ZANU and ZAPU parties ended the killings. Traditional leaders will lead a healing program. Colonial rulers are blamed for causing division in Zimbabwe. Mnangagwa wants to heal the wounds of the past for national unity. The post-independence conflict is a sad chapter in Zimbabwe's history. The leaders of the past are praised for their efforts to unify the country. The program aims to mend the wounds of the past through dialogue and understanding.

Gukurahundi A Stark Reminder Of Fragility Of National Unity - Mnangagwa

The opposition ZAPU party has petitioned President Emmerson Mnangagwa to immediately halt the Gukurahundi hearings, arguing that the process is flawed, exclusive, and divisive.
In the petition, ZAPU representatives John Zolani Dlamini and Patron Nketha Kutshwekaya stated that the Gukurahundi Community Outreach Programme, which is scheduled to be launched by President Mnangagwa in Bulawayo this Sunday, is “ill-advised and ill-conceived”.
The petitioners cited several concerns, including the divisive nature of the programme and the exclusion of Midlands chiefs, one of the provinces affected by the Gukurahundi massacres, from the process.
ZAPU has argued that the Gukurahundi hearings, as currently structured, are flawed and do not adequately address the needs and concerns of the affected communities. The party has called for a more inclusive and comprehensive approach to addressing the legacy of the Gukurahundi atrocities. Reads part of the petition:
<blockquote>
Chiefs are not mandated by any legal provision to lead such a political process, indeed your gentleman’s agreement with the traditional leaders derives no force of the law.
The neutrality of the chiefs as a body has been questioned by the stakeholders and as such there is no guarantee that your process will achieve any tangible results.
Our agreement with the Matabeleland Collective has no legal backing and this organisation derives no mandate to negotiate on behalf of the people most affected by the hostilities.
Your initiative leaves out the Midlands area, yet it is a known fact that the province also bore the brunt of the hostilities.
Such an approach does not promote equality and discrimination among those in the same position.
There is presently no assurance that the results from this chiefs-led process will result in action that promotes a healing process and closure.
Such an open-ended process runs the risk of opening up wounds resulting in a cycle of hurt and pain once more.
</blockquote>
The petitioners also said President Mnangagwa’s initiative ignores ZAPU and ZPRA as organisations and entities that were directly affected by Gukurahundi at that pertinent time.
The petitioners urged President Mnangagwa to engage with ZAPU and ZPRA representatives on the “correct” initiative that will involve all stakeholders and allow representatives of the people in the affected areas, including Members of Parliament, to participate.
Meanwhile, President Mnangagwa arrived in Bulawayo earlier on Sunday to officially launch the Gukurahundi Community Outreach Programme, despite the concerns raised by ZAPU.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

ZAPU, an opposition party, asked President Mnangagwa to stop Gukurahundi hearings, saying they are divisive and flawed. They don't include all affected people and are led by chiefs, who may not be neutral. ZAPU wants a more inclusive approach, involving all stakeholders, to properly address the Gukurahundi atrocities. They also feel ignored as an organization affected by Gukurahundi. Despite this, President Mnangagwa still launched the program in Bulawayo.

ZAPU Petitions Mnangagwa To Stop Gukurahundi Hearings

President Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to officially launch the Gukurahundi Community Engagement Outreach Programme this Sunday at State House in Bulawayo.
Ndavaningi “Nick” Mangwana, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, told <a href="https://www.sundaynews.co.zw/all-set-for-launch-of-gukurahundi-hearings/">state media</a> that several Ministers whose portfolios are relevant to the exercise will be in attendance.
Traditional leaders and various other stakeholders are also expected to participate in the event. Said Mangwana:
<blockquote>
His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe Cde Dr ED Mnangagwa is coming to Bulawayo to launch the Gukurahundi community engagement outreach programme.
</blockquote>
This initiative is considered to be of high national importance but His Excellency the President will be launched tomorrow, Sunday the 14th of July 2024 at the State House in Bulawayo.
<blockquote>
A number of key Ministers whose portfolios have a role in the exercise will be in attendance. These include the Minister of Local Government and Public Works Hon Daniel Garwe, the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Hon Kazembe Kazembe, the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Hon Dr Jenfan Muswere, the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Hon July Moyo among others.
The programme will include presentations of reports and manuals by the president of the National Council of Chiefs, Chief Senator Mtshane Khumalo.
</blockquote>
Chief Khumalo said that these hearings being rolled out will be the correct platform to make any submissions. He said:
<blockquote>
I know that a lot of things are being said, which I don’t want to comment on pertaining to this programme. But what we are requesting as traditional leaders is that this is an opportunity for the people to come to the meetings and say whatever they wish to see being done.
It has been dragging on for some time and we hope at the end of the community hearings we will come to a solution. So, we are requesting that they (people) attend community hearings.
</blockquote>
Gukurahundi refers to a series of massacres of Ndebele people carried out by the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces of Zimbabwe between 1983 and 1987.
It was a violent suppression of perceived “dissidents” and “insurgents” by the government of Robert Mugabe against the Ndebele ethnic minority in the early years of independent Zimbabwe.
Estimates suggest that between 10,000 and 20,000 civilians were killed during the Gukurahundi massacres.
The massacres were carried out by the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade of the ZNA.
The government at the time labelled the victims as “dissidents” and justified the killings as necessary to restore order and unity in the country.
Gukurahundi is widely considered one of the worst episodes of mass violence and human rights abuses in Zimbabwe’s history.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

President Mnangagwa will start the Gukurahundi hearings, related to a violent event in the past, in Bulawayo. The event will involve key Ministers, traditional leaders, and other stakeholders. The initiative aims to give people a platform to speak about their experiences and hopes for the future. The Gukurahundi massacres involved the killing of Ndebele people by the government between 1983 and 1987. It is hoped that these hearings will bring closure and justice to those affected. The Gukurahundi events were a dark time in Zimbabwe's history, with thousands of innocent people losing their lives.

Mnangagwa To Launch Gukurahundi Hearings

Unidentified individuals recently attempted to dismantle a memorial plaque commemorating the victims of Gukurahundi at Bhalagwe in Maphisa, Matabeleland South.
Ibhetshu LikaZulu, in collaboration with local community members and traditional leaders, installed the plaque just last month.
In an interview with <a href="https://cite.org.zw/fourth-gukurahundi-plaque-vandalised-in-bhalagwe/">CITE</a>, Mbuso Fuzwayo, Secretary General of Ibhetshu LikaZulu, revealed that this incident marks the fourth instance of vandalism targeting these plaques by unidentified perpetrators.
Fuzwayo described this fourth attempt as a “brazen, illegal and toxic” attempt to undermine their efforts to honour the dead and comfort the victims of Gukurahundi.
In 2022, suspected state agents used explosives to bomb a plaque and vandalised two others erected on separate occasions in 2021. Said Fuzwayo:
<blockquote>
There was an attempt to remove the plaque which was erected on February 21, 2024. The vandals tried to remove it and destroyed some of the crosses that we had laid. We are unsure exactly when this happened, but we received the message yesterday and immediately went there to check.
Undeterred by this vandalism, we call on the authorities to take action. It is saddening that this is the fourth plaque to be destroyed. We previously chose not to report the incidents as the authorities were not forthcoming.
Sadly, this happens at a time when the government promises to address the issue of Gukurahundi, yet some are destroying community programs meant to help people heal.
</blockquote>
Last week, the deposed Ntabazinduna Chief, Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni, condemned the ZANU PF-led government’s hypocrisy.
This came after President Emmerson Mnangagwa inaugurated a monument at the Pupu Battle site in Lupane, while simultaneously denying the people of Matabeleland the right to erect monuments in memory of the Gukurahundi victims.
Ndiweni said it should be noted that the Ndebele people have tried four times “to erect monuments near mass graves resulting from the Ndebele genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.”
Gukurahundi refers to a series of mass killings carried out by the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade, an infantry brigade of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA), between 1982 and 1987.
The term itself is derived from the Shona language and roughly translates to “the early rain which washes away the chaff”.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Fourth Gukurahundi Plaque Vandalised In Bhalagwe

Bulawayo-based pressure group Ibhetshu Likazulu has continued to erect Gukurahundi memorial plaques in Matabeleland South Province to remember thousands of people who were killed during the 1980s disturbances.
Ibhetshu Likazulu recently erected a fourth memorial plaque in Bhalagwe, Matobo, where some of the victims of Gukurahundi were buried in mass graves.
In 2022, the third plaque erected at Bhalagwe was bombed by suspected State agents.
Posting on their X social media account recently, Ibhetshu Likazulu vowed to continue erecting plaques despite the destruction of the plaques erected in the past. It said:
<blockquote>
We were at Bhalagwe putting up plaque number 4, the first 2 were stolen/ destroyed and plaque 3 was bombed. We will never let up.
As part of our memory and memorialization programme, we put 5 crosses to highlight those killed, disappeared, tortured and rapped maimed laying 5 wreathes of flowers in honour of those.
In putting 21 other crosses each representing a thousand killed, we spotlight the genocide We work with communities and traditional leaders under difficult circumstances of fear and apprehension.
But we remain thankful for the resilience of our infrastructure in the villages, partners and traditional leaders.
</blockquote>
Ibhetshu Likazulu also called for a victim-centred and inclusive process that addresses the fundamental need for acknowledgement towards addressing the Gukurahundi legacy.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Ibhetshu Likazulu Vows To Erect More Gukurahundi Memorial Plaques

The opposition Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) party has questioned the ZANU PF-led government’s commitment to a genuine resolution of the Gukurahundi massacres.
This follows the exclusion of key stakeholders from taking part in planned hearings set to be rolled out in affected communities to resolve the Gukurahundi legacy.
Addressing the media on Friday, ZAPU president Sibangalizwe Nkomo said the perpetrator was in charge of the whole process while the primary target of the massacres was excluded. Said Nkomo (<a href="https://www.zimlive.com/zapu-protests-exclusion-from-gukurahundi-hearings-by-government/">via ZimLive</a>):
<blockquote>
Fellow Zimbabweans, we have witnessed an attempt by President Emmerson Mnangagwa to deceive our people into thinking that he sincerely wants to address the Gukurahundi genocide.
Our major discontentment is the fact that the perpetrator is not only in charge of the process but determines the terms of the whole process.
As if that is not enough, ZAPU, the primary target of the Gukurahundi military operation, has not been considered by the government.
We have clearly stated that any process that does not include us as victims is an exercise in futility.
</blockquote>
The Gukurahundi hearings will be led by traditional leaders in communities where the atrocities were committed.
However, little has been mentioned about restorative justice against the perpetrators. Said Nkomo:
<blockquote>
Compatriots, Gukurahundi affected our people in different ways. Those who lost loved ones need healing and closure. Those who were raped deserve healing. Many lost their properties and deserve compensation.
ZAPU and ZPRA also lost properties which are yet to be returned. ZAPU insists that the starting point in addressing Gukurahundi is making public the Chihambakwe report.
It is for this reason that we appeal to President Mnangagwa to halt the process and consult widely so that for once, he can do something that can outlive his chequered legacy.
</blockquote>
Gukurahundi was the code name used during military operation in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces ostensibly to neutralise dissidents in the 1980s.
An estimated 20 000 civilians, according to independent estimates, were killed during the disturbances.
Meanwhile, Nkomo urged survivors to avoid exposing themselves to possible retribution by the state through certain utterances during the hearings.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

ZAPU Demands Inclusion In Gukurahundi Hearings

Bulawayo-based pressure group Ibhetshu LikaZulu has condemned claims by Deputy President of the National Chiefs’ Council, Chief Fortune Charumbira, that Gukurahundi was not genocide.
An estimated 20 000 people mainly from the Ndebele ethnic group were summarily executed by the North Korean Fifth Brigade following its deployment in Matabeleland provinces and Midlands to hunt down former freedom fighters who had allegedly taken up arms against the State (the so-called dissidents).
In a statement, Ibhetshu LikaZulu also criticised the move by chiefs to bar the media from attending the Gukurahundi hearings, which are scheduled to begin soon. Reads the statement:
<blockquote>
The pronouncement by Chief Fortune Charumbira that Gukurahundi is not a genocide is worrying but not surprising since to them it’s an issue.
Shocking is the attempt to muzzle reportage when the powers that be are reporting that journalists will not be allowed to cover hearings.
We have always maintained that the Government is not sincere and has zero commitment to the resolution of the genocide as it has failed on fundamentals of resolving historical injustices which are acknowledgement, truth-telling, justice, reconciliation and healing
The insincerity in the Chief’s initiative is also indicated by the failure to use existing literature such as Dumbutshena, Chihambakwe and CCJP reports as a baseline.
The views of victims and communities are silently being pushed to the periphery in the Chief’s initiative as concerns by some traditional leaders and stakeholders are being ignored in this perpetrator-led initiative even before the process begins.
Loud calls have been made that it be an inclusive and holistic process by extending hearings to all affected including Midlands, urban areas and the diaspora, especially in South Africa and Botswana where most victims and survivors fled.
These calls have roundly been ignored as govt pushes ahead in this smokescreen. We thus condemn Charumbira’s call. He is not a victim and thus his call is insensitive and misplaced.
We call on the affected victims in the Chief’s Council to call him to order if stakeholders and communities are to take the initiative seriously.
We had grudgingly accepted the process amidst the glaring weaknesses but every step of the way it is being proven that it is farce.
We thus implore all stakeholders to closely monitor the process. Tax dollars are being thrown down the drain to whitewash a genocide, absolve perpetrators and buy time.
This is our 20th anniversary year and we are not letting up on our call for justice for Gukurahundi.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Ibhetshu LikaZulu Chides Chief Charumbira Over Gukurahundi Remarks

Ibhetshu LiKazulu, a Bulawayo-based pressure group has castigated the Government’s initiative to address the legacy of Gukurahundi saying the process remains illegal without the active involvement of the international community.
Ibhetshu LiKazulu, which has fronted initiatives to immortalise the Gukurahundi story while calling for restorative justice, says Gukurahundi was a genocide.
Genocide is the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group to destroy that nation or group.
On Friday, 26 January President Emmerson Mnangagwa held a meeting with chiefs from the Matabeleland region at State House in Bulawayo.
It was the fourth interface between Mnangagwa and traditional chiefs over the Gukurahundi issue since 2019.
Mnangagwa said the country was resolving the Gukurahundi issue in its way and will not brook any external interference.
But speaking to <a href="https://www.zimlive.com/mnangagwa-gukurahundi-project-illegal-futile-without-truth-telling-activists/">ZimLive</a>, Ibhetshu LiKazulu coordinator Mbuso Fuzwayo the Government is “trivialising” Gukurahundi as “there is no acknowledgement, no truth telling especially from the side of perpetrators”. He said:
<blockquote>
It is unfortunate to look at how the attempt to deal with Gukurahundi is being trivialised.
There is no clear process to address this issue. There is no acknowledgement, no truth telling especially from the side of perpetrators. The process is not victim-centred; it is perpetrator-led.
This matter can only be resolved by impartial, nonaligned people. Genocide is an international crime.
</blockquote>
Samuekele Hadebe, leader of the small Freedom Alliance party, said that Gukurahundi cannot be fully resolved without truth-telling by the perpetrators. Said Hadebe:
<blockquote>
Those who killed people were the Zimbabwean army on the payroll. The CIO were on the payroll, the police were on the payroll, prisons were on the payroll, and the Fifth Brigade were on the payroll.
Traditional chiefs are unnecessarily burdened with the task.
Every country has archives to refer to when information is required. When people are serious about getting information, they can just refer to those records.
During the atrocities, there was a newspaper blackout, journalists were not allowed to come in, and those who covered it were said to have been writing lies.
Indeed, that may have been true because some of the atrocities were committed in the dead of night and it was difficult for anybody to know about it.
Truthtelling should be the first process. The truth should come out. Only the truth shall free us.
</blockquote>
Gukurahundi refers to the killing of thousands of mainly Ndebele civilians carried out by the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade of the Zimbabwe National Army in the 1980s.
Many were maimed, others lost homes while some were raped. The Fifth Brigade was deployed by the Government ostensibly to hunt down “dissidents”, that is, a handful of army deserters who were sympathetic to former Vice President Joshua Nkomo’s PF ZAPU.
The term Gukurahundi is derived from a ChiShona term which loosely translates to “the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains.”
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Gukurahundi Won't Be Resolved Without Truth Telling; Activists Scoff At Mnangagwa's Chiefs-led Initiative

President Emmerson Mnangagwa said that his administration is committed to addressing the legacy of <a href="https://pindula.co.zw/Gukurahundi">Gukurahundi</a>, with public hearings on the emotive issue expected to start in the first quarter of this year.
The public hearings will be led by chiefs in their communities and are part of the process expected to bring closure to Gukurahundi.
Speaking during the fourth interface with chiefs from the Matabeleland region at State House in Bulawayo on Friday, 26 January, Mnangagwa said:
<blockquote>
I cannot over-emphasise the fact that this initiative is being implemented for the benefit of our people.
Our commitment to a victim-centred approach remains steadfast, ensuring that the process is not just efficient but also emphatic.
</blockquote>
The President said he decided to entrust the National Council of Chiefs, through elected members, to spearhead the initiative to pursue the resolution of the Gukurahundi issue through an internal and home-grown process after extensive consultation with “all” stakeholders. He said:
<blockquote>
This decision was not made without some reflection. The National Council of Chiefs, as the custodians of our culture, traditional practices, and values, are best placed to handle this issue through their intimate and close relationship with the people.
As we embarked on this process, we were not unaware of, nor had we forgotten, the external factors that ignited this conflict in our midst.
The decision to resolve this issue on our own, amongst ourselves, is based on the realisation that none but ourselves can determine our destiny as a nation.
</blockquote>
Mnangagwa also praised the Matabeleland Collective for its active role in the process since its inception four years ago. He said:
<blockquote>
Our journey has been marked by collaboration with various organisations, civic societies, faith-based groups, and Chiefs from Matabeleland North and South.
</blockquote>
The President said the Government has capacitated over 1 008 service providers, including chiefs from the affected regions, and trained them to conduct the Gukurahundi Community Outreach Programme.
He said the budget for the Gukurahundi Community Outreach Programme was in place, adding that the amount set aside will be reviewed before being made public.
Gukurahundi refers to the killing of thousands of mainly Ndebele civilians carried out by the Zimbabwe National Army in the 1980s.
The term Gukurahundi is derived from a ChiShona term which loosely translates to “the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains.”
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

We Will Resolve Gukurahundi On Our Own - Mnangagwa

Former dissidents say the Government should have included them in efforts to solve Gukurahundi alongside chiefs as they were the target of the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade.
This comes as traditional leaders prepare to hold community consultative meetings with Gukurahundi victims beginning this month.
The term “dissident” was used by the State in the 1980s to refer to ZIPRA liberation fighters, and some, who had joined the national army but either had left or deserted it for various reasons.
One of the ZANU founders, Enos Nkala, described dissidents as “Ndebeles who were calling for a second war of liberation and should be shot down.”
Speaking in an interview with <a href="https://cite.org.zw/ex-dissidents-advocate-for-inclusion-in-gukurahundi-hearings/">CITE</a>, a former dissident, Phumuza Ndlovu of Plumtree said those who were labelled dissidents should be included in efforts to solve Gukurahundi. Said Ndlovu:
<blockquote>
The government wants to involve chiefs who were not there. If they wanted chiefs to take a lead role they should also have included other groups such as dissidents as we were the ones who were hunted down when people were killed.
How will the chiefs who were not present during Gukurahundi respond to the people?
</blockquote>
Ndlovu claimed to be a dissident because ZANU leaders who wanted to control the country labelled ZAPU supporters and ZPRA fighters as such. He said:
<blockquote>
When Zimbabwe was liberated in 1980, we expected it to be led by both the structures and principles of ZAPU and ZANU, with the national army governed by ZPRA and ZANLA, but instead, the country adopted the repressive laws of the white colonial system that we had fought.
For example, the White army that we had been fighting was now leading us in the integration process.
</blockquote>
Ndlovu claimed that after independence, he joined the Three Brigade army’s canine section in Mutare.
He said he and other ZPRA members were labelled dissidents before they even deserted. Said Ndlovu:
<blockquote>
The crux of the issue is that what we hoped and expected to happen in the new Zimbabwe did not happen.
The whites’ repressive system was adopted, which caused comrades to desert the rules because ZAPU and ZPRA members were being killed one by one.
Our army commanders, the late Lookout Masuku and Dumiso Dabengwa were arrested, and ZANU went after everyone, looking for weapons allegedly hidden by ZPRA members.
</blockquote>
Ndlovu stated he and other victims were planning to form an organisation called the Matabeleland Tribal War Victims Association (MTWVA).
He said the association will engage communities, as relevant stakeholders in the resolution of Gukurahundi.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Former Dissidents Demand Inclusion In Gukurahundi Hearings

Ibhetshu LikaZulu, a Matabeleland-based human rights watchdog, said it is working with communities to identify unmarked mass graves where Gukurahundi victims are buried.
The pressure group has in the past erected plaques at some of the graves, but these have been vandalised by suspected ZANU PF activists and state security agents.
The <a href="https://newsday.co.zw/southerneye/local/article/200021528/push-to-identify-gukaruhundi-victims-mass-graves">Southern Eye</a> reported that the remains of the Gukurahundi victims continue to be uncovered in some parts of Matabeleland, especially in Lupane and Maphisa where some of the atrocities were committed.
Ibhetshu LikaZulu co-ordinator Mbuso Fuzwayo told the publication that plaques will be erected in different communities that were affected by the 1980s mass killings. He said:
<blockquote>
We plan to go to some communities that were affected by the Gukurahundi killings that need marking and will continue erecting plaques as we have been doing.
</blockquote>
On 28 June 2023, Ibhetshu LikaZulu erected a memorial plaque on a mass grave where six people were allegedly killed by the Zimbabwe National Army’s (ZNA) Fifth Brigade in Salankomo village, Tsholotsho, in 1983.
Fuzwayo revealed that they plan to hold a plaque fundraising campaign in January 2024. He said:
<blockquote>
We have worked with different communities in Matabeleland North, South and Midlands in erecting plaques and we plan to continue erecting them.
We are also having a plaque fundraising campaign in January.
Those who were affected by the genocide are the ones erecting plaques and this will assist in having them feel that someone is listening to their story.
The government must help communities with the resources to build memorial halls and plaques as a healing and memorialisation process.
Perpetrators of the genocide should not also destroy what the communities are trying to build concerning plaques.
</blockquote>
In December 2023, the president of the Council of Chiefs, Chief Mtshane Khumalo said that the Government will roll out community consultative meetings in January 2024 to engage victims of Gukurahundi.
Khumalo added that the Government had provided resources and conducted training for the various people who will be involved in conducting the outreach programmes.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Ibhetshu LikaZulu In Push To Identify Gukaruhundi Victims’ Mass Graves

The Government is set to roll out community consultative meetings in January 2024 to engage victims of Gukurahundi, the president of the Council of Chiefs, Chief Mtshane Khumalo has said.
Addressing the media in Bulawayo on Monday, Chief Khumalo said that the Government has provided resources and conducted training for the various people who will be involved in conducting the outreach programmes. <a href="https://cite.org.zw/gukurahundi-consultations-starting-in-2024/">CITE</a> quoted Chief Khumalo as saying:
<blockquote>
As we go out to the people with our panels as chiefs, we don’t know the perpetrators of Gukurahundi. We can only hear from the people that were affected and who the perpetrators were.
We shall record that and maybe make recommendations to the president as to what we believe should be done to those perpetrators. But as it stands now, we don’t know who the perpetrators were.
</blockquote>
Speaking at the same event, the former president of the National Chiefs Council, Chief Fortune Charumbira, who is now Chief Khumalo’s deputy, said Zimbabweans believe in restorative justice, where someone who was wronged must state how they were wronged and how they want to be compensated. He said:
<blockquote>
The point of departure in this unique way of doing things, you will know from our departure that we are for restorative justice. That is where we differ from the West.
We believe in restoration. If someone loses something, they need to be restored. That is the Zimbabwean way of doing things. To restore the person.
We have dialogues, with the affected people, ask them how they want to be restored and they tell us not the Western system which we say is rich in the procedure, yet very poor in restorative justice.
Our way of doing things is not to make people fight further but to build peace. The government is saying that for those who will submit credible evidence and can state what they want, the government is willing to compensate them.
The reason why we want this to be handled by chiefs is because such issues are culture-sensitive. We want the chiefs to be directly involved so that they can deal with matters because they are culture-specific.
The chiefs will know how to deal with missing persons or those who were affected in any way during Gukurahundi.
We want to deal with this in a way that is peculiar to Zimbabwe. This is why we do not want to nationalise and internationalise this issue. The problem with generalising this is we may lose the cultural aspect of things.
</blockquote>
Gukurahundi is a term used to refer to the killing of an estimated 20 000 Ndebele people by the North Korean-trained 5th Brigade of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) which was deployed ostensibly to deal with “dissidents” in the 1980s.
In 2021, President Emmerson Mnangagwa assigned chiefs the task of resolving Gukurahundi in the affected communities.
However, critics questioned Mnangagwa’s sincerity and demanded that Government officials who facilitated the deployment of the 5th Brigade be held accountable for the atrocities.
Plaques that have been erected in memory of Gukurahundi victims have repeatedly been vandalised and the perpetrators have never been identified.
Since 1980, Zimbabwe has experienced several episodes of State-sponsored violence even during elections.
During the 2000 and 2002 elections, 2008 elections, and 2018 elections, several people were murdered in cold blood allegedly by suspected State agents or party activists who were protected by the State.
In January 2019, several people lost their lives after security forces were deployed to quell countrywide riots triggered by a 150% increase in the price of fuel.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Chiefs To Lead Gukurahundi Consultations Starting In 2024

<a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Promise_Mkwananzi/">Promise Mkwananzi</a>, the spokesperson of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), stated that focusing on tribalism actually reduces the likelihood of having a Ndebele President. He made these comments in response to <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Sengezo_Tshabangu/">Sengezo Tshabangu</a>, who claims to be the interim Secretary-General of the CCC party. Tshabangu had expressed his mission to ensure that Bulawayo, a city where Ndebele is predominantly spoken, is represented in government by individuals who were born and raised in the city.
Commenting on the same matter, Zimbabwe’s former Tourism Minister, Dr <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Walter_Mzembi/">Walter Mzembi</a> attributes the divisions to the split of ZANU and ZAPU. He said Zimbabwean politics started off on a bad note when ZANU and ZAPU, nationalist groups and liberation movements, decided to separate instead of forming the Patriotic Front in 1980. He described the period as a missed opportunity to unite our people from the bottom to the top at the start of our independence led to tribal divisions. He said:
<blockquote>
The departing point was who leads the PF and Government. The decision was settled tribally by a demerger and ethnic demographics reflecting themselves in the 1980 results . Ndebeles for Zapu (20 seats) and Shonas for Zanu( 57seats) , 20 reserved white seats and 3 for <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Abel_Muzorewa/">Bishop Muzorewa</a>‘ s UANC . It was a tribal conquest that haunts us to this day . A cosmetic <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Unity_Accord/">merger in 1987 (Unity Accord)</a> after a very sad chapter in the history of our Country, <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Gukurahundi/">Gukurahundi</a> , the Unity Accord itself was more a conquest &amp; restitution solution for the political actors of the time, the people felt betrayed and sought to find an alternative political home, first in the MDC, now CCC, whilst the shacky Unity Accord continues to hold for no one except the remnants. I give this background in the context of the Tshabangu Recalls, in which he seeks to justify why he is acting like a modern-day Judas Iscariot. Whoever is handling him is also a blunt instrument , in opening tribal and ethnic politics in this Region, and I refer here to his continuous references to “people from Masvingo imposed in Bulawayo” narrative. Matebeleland let alone Zimbabwe is looking for a “<a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Joshua_Nkomo/">Joshua Nkomo</a>” who really should have been the First Prime Minister of Zimbabwe bar tribal politics. He built a Nationalist Party inside which it was difficult to talk tribal politics because of deliberate and careful ethnic balancing in deployments and recruitments.
</blockquote>
Mkwananzi responded to Mzembi’s submission by stating that Bulawayo has become a metropolitan city and should not function based on tribal divisions. He added:
<blockquote>
In Harare, I always feel as though, if one were good at what they so, no matter where they come from, if they were socialized in Harare, speak the language decently, there wouldn’t be any issues as to their tribe or tribal history. Here is a group of people (led by Sengezo Tshabangu) that even exhumes tye history of an individual just to disqualify them on the basis of tribe. Yet the paradox is that, a tribal pursuit further diminishes rather than enhance chances of there ever being a Ndebele President. I thought that the wise thing to do was to de-tribalise politics &amp; ensure that every citizens has an equal chance to the highest office on the land despite their tribe, gender, etc. 
</blockquote>
Mkwananzi emphasized that many elected officials in Bulawayo have been raised and immersed in the city’s culture, adopting its lifestyle and supporting local teams like <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Highlanders_Football_Club/">Highlanders</a>. He said this deep connection to the community is a result of factors such as intermarriages and migration. Mkwananzi questioned why someone who fully embraces the culture and language should be excluded from politics based on their surname. He pointed out that the demographics in Bulawayo show a diverse population and tribalising politics could lead to unintended consequences.
Mkwananzi suggested a diplomatic approach, highlighting that leaders chosen by the people should be embedded in their communities and that tribal contradictions should be diffused. He called for denouncing tribal connotations in modern politics and promoting reconciliation, unity, forgiveness, and restorative justice.
<h3><a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">More Pindula News</a></h3>

Focusing On Tribalism Reduces Likelihood Of Having A Ndebele President - CCC Spokesperson

Former Vice President Kembo Mohadi has announced that the return of properties belonging to ZAU and the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) is imminent. These properties were seized by the government in the early 1980s, alleging the presence of arms caches, which tragically led to the Gukurahundi mass killings.
ZAPU and ZIPRA have persistently demanded the release of their properties, including farms and buildings. Mohadi who is the second secretary of ZANU PF, announced during a campaign rally in Luveve, Bulawayo that the government is currently in the final stages of gathering the necessary information and documentation required for the return of these properties. He said: 
<blockquote>
Government is in the process of finalising some of the information and documentation needed before handing the properties.
</blockquote>
Previously, the government had refused to comply, citing the Unity Accord of November 22, 1987, when PF ZAPU joined ZANU PF. However, in 2008, ZAPU withdrew from the Unity Accord, accusing ZANU PF of insincerity.
Although former Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko had promised to facilitate the return of the seized properties, he left office before fulfilling that commitment. Among the properties listed by ZAPU are farms, hotels, and entertainment facilities.
Mohadi expressed confidence in ZANU PF’s prospects of winning the upcoming August 23 elections, suggesting that Zimbabweans abroad would be enticed to return home once the country has undergone reconstruction.
Exiled former ZANU PF Political Commissar, Saviour Kasukuwere, has asserted that Kembo Mohadi, has been lying to the general populace. Kasukuwere expressed his disapproval, stating:
<blockquote>
Mohadi don’t lie to the people, for how long have you been saying the same promise. because we’re approaching elections now you have started your nonsense.
</blockquote>
Zenzele Ndebele, a journalist based in Bulawayo, reports that in 2000 following the passing of former Vice President Joshua Nkomo, Joseph Musika facilitated the “handover” of ZPRA properties back to ZPRA. However, it was revealed two days later that these properties had been subsequently sold to various individuals.
Given the circumstances described, the specific number of properties that still exist remains uncertain. However, Ndebele suggests that there may be some properties that are still in existence, such as Nijo Farm and a few houses located in Harare.
<h3><a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">More Pindula News</a></h3>

Former VP Mohadi Says Return Of ZAPU And ZIPRA Properties Is Imminent

Mthwakazi Republic Party (MRP) Mqondisi Moyo has criticised former cabinet minister Saviour Kasukuwere following his promise to have a US$1 billion budget for Gukurahundi.
Moyo said Kasukuwere must give that money to people from Mashonaland Province and leave Matabeleland people alone. <a href="https://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-national-byo-233147.html">Bulawayo24</a> quoted Moyo as saying:
<blockquote>
It is disheartening to learn that Mashonaland people think that they can take us for a ride. They reduce us to cry babies who are driven to sleep by a lullaby.
They think we are like stupid fish who can be lured by dangling a lifeless object as bait.
Kasukuwere is typical of Mashonaland folks who daydream of riding on our backs.
He is dangling US$1 billion, dubbing it as Gukurahundi Compensation Fund. Stupid! Who said we want money as compensation?
Did he, through his parents and Shona relatives murder our people so they could make such a foolish monetary promise?
Does he think that the almost 40 000 souls of Mthwakazi people who perished in the hands of the Fifth Brigade can be redeemed by money and the so-called development projects?
</blockquote>
Moyo added that people from Matabeleland are treated as second-class citizens in their own land. He said:
<blockquote>
You cannot talk of monetary compensation when the Genocide is still on. The Shona language that was spoken by the members of the fifth brigade, CIOs, and members of the Police Intelligence Services, continues to be the suppressive and oppressive language against our people.
We are being arrested by Shona police, the magistrate courts and the Bulawayo High Court is presided over by the Shona magistrates and Judges, the prison officers are Shonas.
If to you all this is not Gukurahundi Genocide in another form then I need to be examined mentally.
Remember your rule book which is the Shona Grandplan plan and its review 14-page document clearly states that in all the parts of Mthwakazi and Zimbabwe Shona is to be the official Language.
It clearly states that all government offices and departments in Mthwakazi should be manned by Shona people.
All the 11 Shona presidential Candidates for 23 August 2023 are the result of the Gukurahundi Genocide you claim you want to compensate for.
</blockquote>
Meanwhile, High Court judge Justice David Mangota on Wednesday, 12 July nullified Kasukuwere’s nomination as a presidential candidate.
The court said Kasukuwere was out of the country for over 18 months and therefore ceased to be a registered voter.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Mthwakazi Activist Says Kasukuwere Should Keep "Gukurahundi US$1 Billion Budget" For Shona People

The leader of the United African National Council (UANC), <a href="https://pindula.co.zw/Gwinyai_Henry_Muzorewa">Gwinyai Muzorewa</a>, says he will deliver justice for Gukurahundi victims if he is elected the President of Zimbabwe in upcoming elections.
Gukurahundi is a term used for the killing of an estimated 20 000 people from the Ndebele ethnic group by the North Korean-trained 5th Brigade, an elite regiment of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, in Matabeleland and Midlands in the 1980s.
Addressing members of the media at a press briefing in Bulawayo on Friday, Muzorewa said the government should be able to provide financial compensation to the victims of Gukurahundi. <a href="https://cite.org.zw/aspiring-president-muzorewa-promises-justice-for-gukurahundi-victims/">CITE</a> quoted Muzorewa as saying:
<blockquote>
It is a pity that after 1980, the Zimbabwean government started to victimise its own people.
It pains my heart but that is the reality, that is what happened. It is not a rumor nor is it gossip.
What I believe that our party will do to make a difference is we will not continue to support the perpetrators.
What I would encourage people to do is to continue to look at other types of leadership.
Our party is committed to making a difference, not by bringing decisions from outside but by asking the affected people of Matabeleland to make decisions and recommendations about what they need.
After all, they are the ones who were hurt, you cannot expect the person who slapped you on one cheek to come and make you feel better.
If you are the one who hurt me, leave me alone. I must look for someone who’s going to be able to heal.
We need people in leadership positions from Matabeleland to hold influential offices so that, because they are the ones who were hurt, they can be able to put policies that make sense for the affected people.
The government should be able to compensate these people financially, emotionally and otherwise.
Apologising alone will never be enough. After apologizing, we need to begin the healing process.
The healing process is not forced. What heals is the spirit of humanity among us.
</blockquote>
Muzorewa is a younger brother to the late former Zimbabwe-Rhodesia Prime Minister Bishop Abel Muzorewa who led the country between 1978 and 1979.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Muzorewa Promises To Deliver Justice For Gukurahundi Victims

Norton MP, Temba Mliswa (Independent), was on Tuesday ejected from Parliament after he accused ZANU PF of committing atrocities.
Debating the Patriotic Bill in the National Assembly, Mliswa said ZANU PF killed thousands of people in Midlands and Matabeleland provinces in the 1980s Gukurahundi killings.
He said ZANLA and ZIPRA comrades went to war to liberate the country, therefore no one was qualified to call another a nationalist or a patriot.
Mliswa criticised ZANU PF for pushing for the enactment of the Patriotic Act saying the ruling party was “deranged”. Said Mliswa:
<blockquote>
The only thing ZANU PF is known for is massacre. Gukurahundi, it did it. There must be a Commission of Inquiry to deal with ZANU PF people who led the killings.
</blockquote>
Human rights defenders and opposition political parties have warned that the Patriotic Bill will threaten freedom of speech in Zimbabwe if passed into law. Said Mliswa:
<blockquote>
You cannot kill other people in a country. Did you not hear of Gukurahundi? Where are those people who spearheaded Gukurahundi?
Are they nationalistic, are they patriotic? They went and killed the people who were patriotic and nationalists.
Gukurahundi is a fact. Let it not pain you because you were probably not part of the struggle. This is emotional…
</blockquote>
Acting National Assembly Speaker Tatenda Mavetera accused Mliswa of using offensive language against ZANU PF, and ejected him from the august house. She said:
<blockquote>
Hon. Mliswa, we have got different political parties in this house and for you to come and accuse another political party and be offensive; is very disrespectful. Order, can you leave the House Hon. Mliswa, leave the House!
</blockquote>
Mliswa protested for being forced to leave the house for mentioning the Gukurahundi issue. He said:
<blockquote>
But you cannot kick me out. Did Gukurahundi not happen under Zanu PF? So, why remove me from the house for telling the truth?
You are kicking me out of the house for bringing up the issue of Gukurahundi, are you serious about that?
</blockquote>
Gukurahundi is a term used to refer to disturbances in Matabeleland and Midlands in the 1980s which resulted in the death of an estimated 20 000 Ndebele people.
It was carried out by the North Korean-trained 5th Brigade which was an elite regiment of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.
Gukurahundi is derived from a Shona language term that loosely translates to “the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains”.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Mliswa Ejected From Parliament Over Gukurahundi Remarks

Zimbabwe has committed to cooperating in bringing to justice the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
The Rwandan Genocide is one of the most notorious modern genocides which occurred between April and July 1994.
Almost one million ethnic Tutsi and moderate Hutu were killed as the international community and UN peacekeepers stood by.
Zimbabwe’s acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Amon Murwira, said there cannot be justice and lasting peace without full accountability. <a href="https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/6665/news/kwibuka/zimbabwe-commits-to-bring-perpetrators-of-1994-genocide-against-the-tutsi-to-justice">The New Times</a> quoted Murwira as saying:
<blockquote>
The primary responsibility to prevent and stop genocide lies with all of us.
On that note let me reaffirm Zimbabwe’s commitment to providing support to all international and continental efforts to bring to book those responsible for genocide in Rwanda and elsewhere.
We believe there cannot be justice and lasting peace without full accountability.
</blockquote>
Murwira was addressing Rwandans living in Zimbabwe, diplomats accredited to Zimbabwe, the business community and friends of Rwanda.
Last year, <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/zimbabwe-denies-hiding-rwandese-genocidaire-protais-mpiranya-full-statement/">Zimbabwe denied that it had harboured the most wanted Rwandese fugitive, Protais Mpiranya</a>, whose remains were found in Zimbabwe under the alias Ndume Sambao.
While Murwira committed Zimbabwe to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Rwanda Genocide, the Government of Zimbabwe is yet to bring to justice those responsible for the Gukurahundi killings in the 1980s.
Moreover, the findings of the Chihambakwe Commission of Inquiry, which was set up by the government to investigate Gkurahundi, were never made public.
The Government has also failed to bring to account those responsible for the 01 August 2018 killings as recommended by the Motlanthe Commission.
More: <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Zimbabwe Commits To Bring Perpetrators Of 1994 Rwandan Genocide To Justice

Nelson Chamisa who leads the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party has said there can never be true unity in Zimbabwe without true dialogue.
He made the remarks in commemoration of Unity Day celebrated annually on the 22nd of December.
In a Twitter post seen by Pindula News, Chamisa, a former Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services said Zimbabweans need each other. He said:
<blockquote>
<h2>MAKING ZIMBABWE A WINNING NATION..</h2>
We will unite all Zimbabweans across politics, race &amp;tribe. Unity wins peace &amp;prosperity for nations. Unity thrives nations. There can never be true unity without true dialogue &amp;love. We need each other. Unity is good for us all &amp;for a thriving economy.
</blockquote>
Unity Day is a holiday in Zimbabwe that is celebrated in Zimbabwe on 22 December to mark the anniversary of the <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Unity_Accord" title="Unity Accord">Unity Accord</a>, an agreement signed between <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/index.php?title=Zanu&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1" title="Zanu (page does not exist)">ZANU</a> and <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/index.php?title=Zapu&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1" title="Zapu (page does not exist)">ZAPU</a> in 1987 to officially put an end to <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Gukurahundi">Gukurahundi</a> in <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Matabeleland" title="Matabeleland">Matabeleland</a> and Midlands.
Gukurahundi, as it is commonly known, was an operation that was allegedly carried out by Mugabe’s government to track down former ZIPRA combatants who deserted Zimbabwe’s integrated military with weapons in protest over lack of equal treatment with those who waged the war under Mugabe’s ZANLA.
It is estimated that 20 000 civilians died at the hands of the Zimbabwe military during the dark period.
Civic society groups and political parties Thursday criticised the government for failing to acknowledge post-independence atrocities such as Gukurahundi and election-related killings.
Since 2018, Chamisa has been refusing dialogue with president Emmerson Mnangagwa or to join the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) forum saying there was no genuine dialogue that would come out of the engagements.
Political analysts have been calling for dialogue saying it could help in the resolution of the economic, humanitarian and political crises in the southern African country.
<h2><a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">More Pindula News</a></h2>

"There Can Never Be True Unity Without True Dialogue" - Chamisa

Police in Bulawayo broke a march organised Thursday by local pressure group Ibhetshu Likazulu in memory of <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Gukurahundi">Operation Gukurahundi</a> victims killed in the early 1980s.
According to media reports from Bulawayo, three activists were arrested during the foiled commemorations.
The three are:
<blockquote>
i). Ibhetshu LikaZulu’s vice chairperson, Thamsanqa Ncube 
ii). Ibhetshu LikaZulu member, Melusi ‘Coltart’ Nyathi, and 
iii). Samukeliso Tshuma, leader of The Girls Table organisation.
</blockquote>
Narrating the incident Thursday, Ibhetshu Likazulu secretary-general Mbuso Fuzwayo said some passers-by were also harassed by police during the incident. Fuzwayo said:
<blockquote>
As an organisation, we were intending to march in memory of those who survived and those who were killed, raped but the government of Zimbabwe through the Zimbabwe Republic Police stopped us and sadly a lot of people who were passing by and those within the vicinity of the Joshua Nkomo statue were harassed.
</blockquote>
The pressure group has, in the years, timed its Gukurahundi commemorations for <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Unity_Day">Unity Day</a>, celebrated every December 22.
Unity Day was declared when the late Nkomo and late President Robert Mugabe’s <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Unity_Accord">rival parties merged</a> in what ended the Gukurahundi massacres waged by the country’s security forces against civilians who were presumed to be sympathetic to Nkomo’s PF Zapu.
Gukurahundi, as it is commonly known, was an operation that was allegedly carried out by Mugabe’s government to track down former ZIPRA combatants who deserted Zimbabwe’s integrated military with weapons in protest over lack of equal treatment with those who waged the war under Mugabe’s ZANLA.
It is estimated that 20 000 civilians died at the hands of the Zimbabwe military during the dark period.
<h2><a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">More Pindula News</a></h2>

Police Block March Organised In Memory Of Gukurahundi Victims

Traditional leaders reportedly blocked efforts by a government official to use a “less problematic” name for the 1980s massacres in Matabeleland and Midlands Provinces commonly referred to as <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Gukurahundi">Gukurahundi.</a>
The suggestion was made at the Bulawayo State House handover of a chiefs’ manual on handling the matter, according to Chief Khulumani Mathema of Gwanda.
Mathema made the claims while addressing delegates at the launch of the Centre for Innovation and Technology’s (CITE) “We Will Crush Them,” a documentary on the massacres that claimed some 20 000 mainly Ndebele-speaking people in the southern part of Zimbabwe.
Mathema said a name which he was not at liberty to reveal, was even suggested to replace Gukurahundi. He is quoted by <a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/chiefs-resist-renaming-of-gukurahundi-as-debate-on-mugabe-led-80s-genocide-escalates/">NewZimbabwe</a> as saying:
<blockquote>
There was a situation we had in the meeting, we were told to change the name Gukurahundi.
It was supposed to be given another name. As Matabeleland chiefs we rejected it.
Someone provided another name; this divided the house and the rest of us Chiefs rejected that. It is still Gukurahundi.
</blockquote>
<h2>Some Context:</h2>
In the aftermath of Independence, the late former President Robert Mugabe deployed the North Korean-trained 5th brigade into Midlands and Matabeleland “to deal” with “ZAPU dissidents”.
Approximately 20 000 people were killed in the process.
President <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Emmerson_Mnangagwa">Emmerson Mnangagwa</a> was the Minister of State Security, his deputy <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Constantino_Chiwenga">Constantino Chiwenga</a> was a commander at Bulawayo’s 1 Brigade while the late national hero <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Perrance_Shiri">Perrance Shiri</a> was the commander of the 5th brigade during the period.
Mnangagwa’s new dispensation has considerably opened up space for discussion on the matter, but, the issue is still delicate.
Victims have been demanding compensation and State security agents sometimes harass those doing so while some pressure groups and academics have accused Mnangagwa of being insincere in his approach.
<h2><a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">More Pindula News</a></h2>

Traditional Leaders Block Efforts To Rename Gukurahundi

Human rights law expert, Siphosami Malunga, says chiefs alone cannot resolve the Gukurahundi issue due to its complexity.
This comes after President Emmerson Mnangagwa entrusted chiefs with the responsibility of resolving the issue which has remained unresolved for over 30 years.
Malunga, who is a programmes director for the Open Society Africa (OSA) made the remarks while delivering a public lecture on Gukurahundi in Bulawayo on Wednesday.
The lecture, titled: “Whose Truth, Whose Justice?” was part of the ongoing Asakhe Film Festival organised by the Centre for Innovation and Technology (CITE). Said Malunga:
<blockquote>
My initial criticism when the decision was made to ask the chiefs to deal with it was ‘what are they dealing with?’ ‘What are they being asked to deal with?’.
That was my question. ‘What are they being asked to address, what are they being asked to resolve?
Are we resolving the issue of people who quarrel, which chiefs do all the time in the village?
There are things that chiefs can’t resolve. Criminal cases, chiefs do not have jurisdiction over right?
A chief cannot resolve a murder. He has got no jurisdiction over it because there are laws that say certain things that happen must be processed in a particular way.
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Malunga expressed doubt in the traditional leaders’ capacity to resolve the Gukurahundi issue saying it’s very difficult to deal with atrocities. | <a href="https://cite.org.zw/chiefs-alone-cannot-resolve-gukurahundi%ef%bf%bc/">CITE</a>

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