THE PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa-initiated Gukurahundi public hearings start tomorrow amid calls on traditional leaders overseeing the process to avoid opening old wounds inflicted more than 40 years ago.
Government insisted that the hearings that will culminate in the closure of the emotive Gukurahundi issue must be led by traditional leaders.
The traditional leaders appointed to spearhead the public hearings have revealed that government is ready to
compensate victims.
According to the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe, more than 20 000 were killed by the North Korea-trained 5 Brigade military unit deployed by the late former President Robert Mugabe to track alleged dissidents, although critics say the move was meant to create a one-party State.
A victim who declined to be identified told NewsDay yesterday that there was no price for a dead person according to culture, following reports that government will compensate the victims.
“The government is offside, omitting the initial stages of the whole process. First of all, we must establish what transpired that led to the massacres, who did it and for what reason? How can one talk about the compensation of a dead person? We do not have a price tag for a dead person, just like in other cultures.
“They should not mix politics with tradition. Someone is trying to gain political mileage over this Gukurahundi issue while people are mourning the loss of their relatives. The 5 Brigade was acting under instructions from its commander; someone is now hiding behind the finger.
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“We had two parties, PF Zapu and Zanu PF, both existing under the same banner, Zimbabwe as a country, but it appears the other party was attacked and made to suffer serious losses even after the struggle for independence. For one to seek peace, the offender must come down and ask for forgiveness, not to dictate to victims what needs to be done to console them, yet he is the perpetrator.”
He flagged barring of the media from covering the hearings, adding that it raises eyebrows and people will be scared to participate in the hearings.
Meanwhile, Ibhetshu LikaZulu secretary-general Mbuso Fuzwayo accused government of trying to downplay the atrocities.
“Government should listen to what the survivors are saying, this is an issue of public interest, it must not be done secretly,” he said.
Political analyst, Ruben Mbofana, yesterday expressed doubt over government’s bid to heal the wounds of the Gukurahundi victims and assist them.
“For someone who's reading or hearing about these Gukurahundi hearings in Zimbabwe, they will be excused for thinking that government is now serious about addressing this nearly 40-year genocide.
“But that is not what is happening. We can never compare what is happening in Zimbabwe with what we witnessed in Rwanda post the 1994 genocide or even the Nuremberg trials after the Second World War which tried Nazi leaders over the Holocaust.
“What is happening in Zimbabwe is different. For starters, how do you try to heal wounds of such a grave injustice when you were the perpetrator? Let us start there. Imagine even in post-apartheid South Africa, we saw the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and so forth.”
He said the Zanu PF government had to be held accountable for the atrocities.
“Are we seriously saying, after this whole process of the Gukurahundi hearings and everything, those who were behind those atrocities, who are still alive today, will be held to account? They should be arrested,” he said.
“They should be brought before the courts of law and be tried. I do not think so. So, already that is off the table. Holding those accountable, the perpetrator to account, is already off the table with these hearings.
“This is a charade because as long as holding to account the perpetrator is not on the table in addressing something as horrendous as an atrocity, what you are doing is child's play. They might try to work around things like restitution or compensation and so forth.”
