ZAPU stalwart, Jini Ntutha, who was shot to death by government forces near his Nyamandlovu home during the Gukurahundi era in 1984, was a vigilant cadre who stood for the truth, qualities that led to his assassination by those who feared him, Masakhaneni Trust executive director Paul Themba Nyathi has said.
He was speaking on Monday this week at the memorial service of the late liberation war icon in Bulawayo.
This month marks 40 years since Ntutha was killed.
Matabeleland-based pressure group Ibhetshu LikaZulu organised the memorial service.
In his speech, Themba - Nyathi, who was the guest of honour, said Ntutha was a victim of the Gukurahundi massacres that affected people of Matabeleland and Midlands.
“Gukurahundi did not only kill people, it also aimed at killing ideas in Matabeleland and instilling fear,” he said.
Ntutha was appointed deputy minister of mines in the Zimbabwean Cabinet soon after independence.
“Ntutha stood for the fact that this country is for all of us and not only for those who hold positions like what seems to be happening now,” Themba Nyathi said.
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“Ntutha stood for the truth and we must as well stand for the truth. Gukurahundi did a lot of damage, especially in the education sector.”
He also lamented the deployment of the non-Ndebele speaking teachers in the region saying it was affecting many schools in Matabeleland.
“Ntutha was a strong believer of his values that led the liberation movement (Zapu) to stand against colonial oppression. It is now the duty of young people today to create the Zimbabwe that people like Ntutha envisaged and thought of,” Themba Nyathi said.
Human rights activist, Effie Ncube, who directed the ceremony, said each time a Gukurahundi victim is remembered, people must also remember all those who fell to the scourge.
“As we remember one of the Gukurahundi victims and liberation icons, let us also remember all those who fell to this evil. Let's also note that the Gukurahundi issue has not yet been resolved, the shallow graves are still out there some not yet identified, some people who fled are still out of the country," Ncube said.
Ntutha, who was Zapu’s secretary for defence, died at the age of 60 after government forces tracked him for about 4km before shooting him with automatic rifles.
Approximately 20 000 people were reportedly killed during the Gukurahundi genocide that happened in Matabeleland and parts of Midlands in the early 1980s.
