MATABELELAND-BASED human rights watchdog Ibhetshu LikaZulu has refused to endorse President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Gukurahundi resolution programme.“Even though the resolution programme is there we don’t endorse it, we don’t stop or fight the programme, it’s not the standards we had thought the programme was going to be conducted,” said Ibhetshu LikaZulu co-ordinator Mbuso Fuzwayo during a memorial service to remember the first day the infamous 5th Brigade soldiers were deployed to the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces.
“We still have to process how this issue will be handled, but we are not stopping the President’s programme.”The memorial, held in Bulawayo on Saturday last week, was attended by various leaders, among them Zipra ex-combatants and some Citizens Coalition for Change legislators and councillors.
Fuzwayo said the memorial was a reminder of the first day the soldiers were deployed, culminating in the massacre of thousands of civilians in the region.“On January 20, 1983 is the day when the 5th Brigade was deployed in Matabeleland North and it marked the first day of the massacre,” Fuzwayo said.
The 5th Brigade was deployed in Matabeleland North, starting in Lupane, before invading nearby Tsholotsho, Nkayi and other surrounding districts.Fuzwayo said youths were also victims of the genocide after inheriting the hatred stirred by Gukurahundi.“Youths are victims of the genocide, they have inherited this hatred between the two (Ndebele and Shona) tribes and are they going to be included in this programme as they are victims?”
Many youths in Matabeleland currently face such challenges as lack of documentation and access to educational opportunities due to the genocide.Fuzwayo demanded that the genocide perpetrators should acknowledge what they did before a truth resolution programme is started.
“The government has not acknowledged what they did during the Gukurahundi genocide. The perpetrator is the one leading this programme and he should first acknowledge what they did before the programme starts. What are they fixing, they should first acknowledge what they are fixing,” he said.
He said traditional leaders were not qualified to represent them during the programme because they were also victims.“Village heads are victims just like us, they are not qualified to represent us, how are they going to handle this issue and it’s not the way that we wanted this programme to be conducted?”
Meanwhile, Nkayi South legislator Jabulani Mntinkulu Hadebe also weighed in accusing President Mnangagwa and members of his government of perpetrating the genocide.“What makes me sad is that President Mnangagwa and the government are perpetrators of this genocide and they are the ones who take lead in this upcoming Gukurahundi resolution programme,” Hadebe said.
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The late former President Robert Mugabe, then prime minister, unleashed the North Korea-trained Fifth Brigade on suspected dissidents in Midlands and Matabeleland, resulting in the death of an estimated 20 000 civilians.
The majority of the victims were Zapu supporters and Zipra ex-combatants.
