On questions as to why @ProfJNMoyo didn’t speak out while he was in ZANU PF, these are sensitive issues about the state like #GUKURAHUNDI are not discussed in the politburo or in parliament. It’s considered a closed issue & raising it means you’re opening old wounds.
Coming from Tsholotsho, you’re confronted with the evidence of #GUKURAHUNDI. We didn’t stop talking about it, only we did it in whispers. In 1983, his father died, he was studying abroad in California. He was a ZANU commissar in California. He didn’t join after #GUKURAHUNDI
He deactivated his membership after his father died. During his work in the constitutional commission, he was shocked by the marginalization of the area. Tsholotsho had 1 high school in 2000. There was little difference between Matebeleland of Lobengula’s time - underdevelopment.
He was now prominent as an academic no longer an ordinary member. He understood the inner workings of the party. The draft constitution was rejected by the people but ZANU PF didn’t want it. Working with the party he decided to make a change for Tsholotsho.
On being asked why he doesn’t blame Mugabe, yet Mnangagwa was enforcing orders from Mugabe. The buck stopped with Mugabe as CIC. Mugabe & Nkomo had sone kind of meeting minds on this issue & it was the reason behind the Unity Accord. The most important paragraph was the last one.
The axiomatic blame is that everyone in ZANU PF who attended the central committee meeting of Dec 82 that debated #GUKURAHUNDI including army commanders & those of the 5th Brigade are culpable. They decided to “massacre the Ndebele.”
They said why because in their view they thought the Ndebeles had refused to be ruled by a Shona. They only recognized Joshua Nkomo so the political brigade was sent to make the people submit to Shona rule. To exterminate or bring them into submission, a crime against humanity.
Mnangagwa & army commanders travelled to Bulawayo to start the process. The state unleashed violence using the ruling party machinery. These are facts that must be independent of who is speaking. The solution to #Gukurahundi must be in accordance of the due process of the law.
Contrary to popular opinion, he did not draft the infamous bills like AIPPA, etc. The only legislation he drafted was the Gukurahundi Memorial Bill, after 17 drafts, it never saw the light of day. He naively believed that Mnangagwa had a sense of guilt & would champion the Bill.
When he campaigned on an independent ticket, he openly campaigned using the bill. Former ZANU PF members ask why he didn’t bring the bill to Parliament when he was Minister of information because he couldn’t bring a member’s bill to Parliament.
The purpose of the memorial bill is to ensure that the genocide is not forgotten. The society is bound to repeat the genocide if the memory is swept away with time. Resolving this issue cleanses the society & raises the individual consciousness & to promote national cohesion.
The bill is intended to heal the open wounds that divide Zimbabwean society. This was the darkest period of the nation’s history. Ironically it is seen as a golden era by those outside Matebeleland. Zimpapers applauded the 5th Brigade & covered up the genocide.
We had 2 societies, Matebeleland & the rest of the country. They fought for 1 man 1 vote then when they won, they immediately insisted on legislating for a 1 party state. Only 1 country was independent, Matebeleland wasn’t. People would ask when independence was coming.
The Gukurahundi National Memorial Board formed under the Bill, would promote national cohesion. The preamble makes the case for the Bill. The board would be a juristic person, able to carry our activities in line with this purpose. The board would report to Parliament.
Follow @likazulu a non- profit organization that works with victims of post-independence genocide.
The Bill was not passed because it was not out on the Order Paper by the Speaker John Nkomo & the Clerk Austin Zvoma. It never made it to the floor of Parliament. Both MDC & ZANU PF opposed it. @ProfJNMoyo thinks sponsoring it as Tsholotsho MP was a tactical error on his part.
In retrospect it was a lack of Parliamentary wisdom on his part & that of the MDC. Successful passing of a bill requires crossing of the floor in Parliament. ZANU PF senior politicians like John Nkomo publicly fought against the Bill saying it would reopen old wounds.
ZANU PF, accused @ProfJNMoyo of being sponsored by the CIA in proposing the Bill. Dumiso Dabengwa dismissed the bill saying the Unity Accord had provided for amnesty of the perpetrators. As a former ZAPU politician, this was a gift for ZANU PF & buried the Bill.
The Unity Accord failed to address issues of #GUKURAHUNDI specifically. In May 1990 Mnangagwa as Minister of Justice. drafted an order of clemency for #GUKURAHUNDI perpetrators including army personnel & politicians like him. They are still covered today. It must be challenged.
An appropriate legal strategy is required at national level is required for a national solution over & above current efforts at community level. Mnangagwa & the NPRC which should’ve provided a national legal solution, are playing for time until elections in 2023.
Mnangwagwa who drafted the clemency order is now the President of the country. Zimbabwe is a military state & is a manifestation of the #Gukurahundi state. Even the Chief Justice was a magistrate in the #Gukurahundi era & declared that any legal challenge will be dismissed.
Chimonyo, now late, last commander of 5th Brigade used to perform rituals before the bloodshed to prevent retribution by the spirits of the dead. He was recalled during the coup after 10 years in the diplomatic corps to be in standby in case there was bloodshed.
#GUKURAHUNDI effect. Only in Zimbabwe, the loser of the election is declared the winner & the winner is told to go to court to correct the mistake by a constitutional body. Can you present a bill like this in Parliament? Justice is impossible.
Men of God say leave it to us. We are not saying anything publicly because we are working behind the scenes privately. If you have a public post, how can you work privately on a public issue? The security apparatchiks are involved in the community engagement to silence them.
By isolating #Gukurahundi issue to Matebeleland they are tribalising it, divorcing the affected communities from the rest of the nation to avoid dealing with it under due process of the law & leaving it without a national legal framework acknowledging the genocide.
The Bill has been overtaken by events including the new 2013 constitution. All efforts to resolve #Gukurahunndi issue nationally have come to grief. Zimbabweans have failed to deal with it & continue to experience mini genocides ordered by Gukurahundists to exterminate opponents.
It cannot be solved nationally with the current crop of politicians. A genocide has no statute of limitations, but it’s best to tackle these crimes while survivors are alive. ZANU PF are playing for time in order to escape culpability through death.
When national efforts to find a solution fail because of govt tribalising a genocide, it means those working on the #Gukurahundi need to go international with their campaign. Just raise awareness with the UNHCR for them to establish a mixed UN Zimbabwe tribunal.
The government has failed to deal honestly & in good faith to resolve the issue at national level.
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