Thread by @NomaDzino

The most significant act of violence against innocent unarmed Civilians in Zimbabwe was #Gukurahundi. It was motivated by Robert Mugabe’s desire for a 1 party state. It was genocide. @SiphoMalunga

Widespread attacks against civilians in an effort to quell the dissident threat. The dissident threat was a result of disgruntlement with the demobilization process. Both Zanla & Zipra buried weapons after the liberation war.

2000 people killed in the 1st 2 weeks by the 5th Brigade. Systematic terror & mass murder. Villagers were rounded up, made to sing songs all night, dig mass graves, then shot the men & raped the women. Tsholotsho got the worst of the 1st wave. Such trauma cannot be forgotten.

It was had an ethnic dimension, the villagers were Ndebele-speaking supporters of ZAPU & the 5th brigade was formed by the firmer Zanla forces at Tongogoara who were Shona speaking. There were fervent denials by the ZANU-PF government.

A commission of inquiry was appointed by the Prime Minister Robert Mugabe led by Simplicious Chihambakwe, a leading black lawyer. Mugabe refused to release the report. The killings continued unabated after a brief withdrawal due to international attention.

There were concentration camps like at Bhalagwe. The conditions were horrific. Food was scarce, it was unsanitary. Even the Rhodesians didn’t do that. People were beaten, raped, tortured & the dead were thrown into mine shafts & grenades were detonated to destroy the evidence.

The ZAPU leaders were mostly in jail. Joshua Nkomo negotiated for peace and agreed to a merger between ZAPU & ZANU. The violence stopped thereafter. There was amnesty for the people who committed the atrocities. It mostly benefitted the 5th Brigade.

The Zipra dissidents also committed atrocities though not on the same scale. Super ZAPU was sponsored by the apartheid govt to destabilize Zimbabwe. The Unity Accord was signed in 1987. Robert Mugabe called it a moment of madness after Joshua Nkomo died.

Ndebele society in Matebeleland North & South was shattered. Men wouldn’t take their wives back who had been raped. Many women didn’t tell their husbands they had been raped & had to live with those scars. People were expected to carry on.

There was a curfew so the news couldn’t be spread because of a media blackout. Most people had no idea until the Catholic Commission for Justice & Peace that complied a report and the Catholic Church confronted Mugabe.

Thousands of women and girls were raped. People were beaten, injured & disabled to this day. People have no idea where their relatives’ remains are. It left the country divided & people traumatized. Gukurahundi represents one of the greatest threats to peace.

Mnangagwa is trying to fix it, because he was a part of it. However the govt must acknowledge that innocent civilians were brutalized & massacred. The president must acknowledge on behalf of the govt. Ethnic tensions between Ndebele & Shona people persist because of Gukurahundi.

Govt must acknowledge what happened & apologise to the victims but also to the people of Zimbabwe. It was a crime against humanity. This is how genocide is handled worldwide. An independent commission must investigate what happened & recommend solutions.

There must be a process of accountability & justice. The perpetrator must account for his crime to the victim. Societies find a way of dealing with it. You cannot commit atrocities & get away with it. Reburials are necessary for families lay their loved ones to rest.

Community leaders were targeted. The socio-economic impact was massive. Schools were closed after teachers & girls were raped. The intelligentsia were killed or left, many for South Africa. There was no development plan for Matebeleland from 1983 until 1990.

There was no infrastructure development or investment in Matebeleland. The only budget for 7 years was for the genocide. Even afterwards, Matebeleland remained marginalized & underdevelopment. A plan to rebuild is required like in Germany after WWII with the Marshall Plan

People need their lives and dignity back. They need access to resources. Matebeleland is the richest province in the country. Mining licenses & hunting concessions are being given to other people. The government needs to implement development programmes for equity for the people.

A database of the victims should be compiled. People want answers. Find out what justice means for victims. You can’t decide what justice is for them as a perpetrator. Humility & repentance are required. Most importantly Gukurahundi should never happen again.

Government officials must separate themselves from their role in Gukurahundi & act as government officials in resolving the conflict. They need to be independent of the process & implement the recommendations in full. This is important to help victims & the country move forward.

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