By Bevan Musoko
The Gukurahundi issue has been emotive ever since the disturbances led to deaths of former liberation war combatants and civilians in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces. The previous ZANU PF-led Governments led by former President Robert Mugabe never seriously tackled the issue despite a lot of outstanding concerns by people in the affected regions.
Issues to do with certification of deaths, accounting for what really transpired, birth certificates for children for victims, identification of the dead and injured and exhumations and re-burials of victims remained outstanding during Mugabe’s long tenure in office. The nearest Mugabe came to confronting the reality of the disturbances was to admit that they were “a moment of madness.” This statement remained vague as it was not clear whether he was admitting liability for the disturbances, or he was just deflecting growing pressure from various civil society organisations (CSOs) to address the issue.
Due to Mugabe’s inaction, a lot of organisations and individuals have taken it upon themselves to champion the issue and concerns from various groups and individuals affected by the disturbances. This led to the emergence of a band of activists whose pre-occupation was to keep the issue alive in the public domain.
To keep the issue alive, this band of anti-ZANU PF activists sought to put Government in a corner through exaggerated alleged atrocities by the 5th Brigade and the resultant suffering of people in the affected regions. This strategy coincided with and was hijacked by a growing international movement that was also despising ZANU PF for championing the land reclamation exercise in Zimbabwe. Here was a case now of two groups of activists who were conveniently opposed to ZANU PF. On one hand were the international activists who were lobbying to punish the ZANU PF-led Government for dispossessing settler whites of stolen land, while on the other, were the Gukurahundi activists who had somehow made it their work to demand accountability and compensation over the disturbances. This confluence of interests resulted in the free flow of funding to the Gukurahundi activists to keep the issue alive on the public domain. Herein was born a band of Gukurahundi entrepreneurs who capitalised on the unresolved concerns to make a living for themselves. Zenzele Ndebele of the Centre for Innovation and Technology has taken it upon himself to research and lobby for various interventions by the international community, while in the process, attacking Government for alleged inaction on the matter. Some people in the region went as far as forming political parties, Mthwakazi Republican Party, Mthwakazi Liberation Front, and Alliance for National Salvation, to garner support riding on the back of the issue.
These activists would appeal for and receive massive funding from gullible international donors who had a bone to chew with ZANU PF over alleged democratic deficiencies, the land reform programme and its popular natural resource nationalism strategy.
Today Mthwakazi Republican Party and Mthwakazi Liberation Front have gone a step further to demand secession from the unitary State of Zimbabwe, citing alleged marginalization of the Matabeleland region and other outstanding concerns from the Gukurahundi disturbances. They have gone to the extent of threatening war over the issue.
The advent of the new dispensation led by President Mnangagwa has opened up the democratic discourse in the country, with the President categorically urging the nation to discuss the issue freely. He has gone further to meet over 60 CSOs grouped under the banner of Matabeleland Collective to discuss the outstanding issues. President Mnangagwa has gone further to direct the Registrar-General’s Department to expedite the issuance of death certificates and identity documents to people in in need of the documents in the region. The President has also authorised the systematic exhumation and re-burial of Gukurahundi victims to bring closure to the issue.
These measures, among others still in the pipeline, have sent shivers among these Gukurahundi entrepreneurs to the extent that they have started attacking the integrity of members of the Matabeleland Collective. They (MC members) are being accused of aligning themselves with ZANU PF and President Mnangagwa to silence public discourse on the disturbances. This is surprising, given that President Mnangagwa has categorically urged the nation to discuss the issue freely with a view to offer solutions. MC members are being accused of selfish ambitions.
To those with discerning eyes, it is apparent that the reform agenda being pursued by President Mnangagwa has angered these cashvists/entrepreneurs as their sources of dirty funds are being threatened. These exposes these activists as motivated by financial incentives they were receiving to demonise ZANU PF and Government. This funding is now threatened as President Mnangagwa has boldly initiated moves to address the decades-old concerns.
The President has, however, remained steadfast in his resolve to address head-on the various issues. He has stated that he will not be distracted by these selfish activists who are prepared to sacrifice the national interest for parochial interests.
