Amongst all the painful incidents that have ever happened to the people of Matebeleland, it is clear there is non that can be closely compared to the 1980-88 Gukurahundi killings. Twenty thousand people according to the number the Zimbabwean government agrees it killed, were killed although survivors are adamant that the number of people who were killed is almost four times that and despite all attempts by the Zimbabwean government fighting to see the matter shelved, civil organizations are continuing to press hard, calling for the redress and retribution of Gukurahundi. We witnessed the honouring of the late Vice President of Zimbabwe, Dr. Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo on the 22nd of December 2013, yet his followers who were killed following have not been honoured. Will Zanu Pf ever admit and make right the wrongs done in the 1980's. The bodies of the victims are lying there in bushes being washed away by the rains every year yet nothing is being done about it. Yes, Nkomo was honoured and the people of Matebeleland witnessed this grand occasion but the question is, "who will honour the victims of these atricities and will there be honoured the way their leader was?".
Zimbaweans must not ignore the fact that the killings really took place and people were killed. Zimbabwe knows for a fact that Gukurahundi happened and as long as this is not spoken about openly and redressed, Gukurahundi will forever haunt Zimbabwe. The perpetrators of Gukurahundi whom most of them are claimed to be high ranking officials in the Zimbabwean government are afraid of the damage that may happen to their careers and personal images if the issue of Gukurahundi is brought to light. This is why they go out of their way to crush all efforts being done to speak out about Gukurahundi. Citizens must not back down till justice has been attained. Nothing whatsoever must stop the will of the people to get justice over this atrocity. This genocide really violated the people's rights and the human rights being talked about on a daily basis.
As of late, the Matabeleland South branches of Zimbabwe's main opposition parties have called for a full probe into the Gukurahundi atrocities and prosecution of the perpetrators. These atrocities need to be tackled head on and resolved if the country hopes for any reconciliation until then we will continue to fight within ourselves, Ndebeles and Shonas, superiority and inferiority will forever prevail in Zimbabwe.Contributing in a public debate forum on National Healing and Reconciliation organised by the National Youth Development Trust in Gwanda yesterday representatives of the four main opposition parties all agreed that the atrocities need to be tackled head on and resolved if the country hopes for any reconciliation.
The four parties, Mthwakazi Republic Party (MRP) represented by Mbonisi Gumbo who is also the national spokesperson, MDC T represented by former parliamentarian Thandeko Zinti Mkandla, MDC represented by former Gwanda Mayor Lionel De Necker and ZAPU represented by Mncedisi Tshabalala all agreed that urgent action must be taken to deal with the people responsible for the atrocities. In an article by the Southern Eye staff reporter on the 14th of February a number of issues were raised in this debate carried out. It asserts that: "The forum held at the Gwanda Red Cross Hall was convened to look particularly into the operations of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission as set up in Part 6 of Chapter 12 of the new constitution of Zimbabwe. The constitution states that the commission must exist for a ten year period from the effective date of the new constitution in which time total reconciliation of the warring Zimbabwean tribes must have been sorted. The commission is expected in the period to have managed to seek truth on all past atrocities the country has experienced and pave a way for no further such atrocities happening in future.
The Gukurahundi atrocities of the early 80s in Matabeleland is the immediate example of issues that need to be attended to. Other such issues that come to mind are the political violence of the 2005 and 2008 general elections and the Murambatsvina operations that left thousands homeless. Contributing to debate, Mr Mkandla of the MDC T queried government's commitment to the commission seeing that its almost a year since the constitution was effected and already time is being lost before the commission has even been set up. Mkandla doubted ruling ZANU PF's commitment to the commission as it is likely to touch mostly on their senior members most of who are directly linked to the Gukurahundi atrocity if reports from enquiries on Gukurahundi are anything to go by.
It is said that ZANU PF has the majority in Parliament and if they are serious about the commission they would have set it up already and aligned all the required legislation as a matter of urgency seeing that the commission is time framed. Gumbo of MRP stated that his party as believers of Matabeleland cessation from Zimbabwe to revive the Mthwakazi Nation does not believe that reconciliation in Zimbabwe is a possibility and the separation of the country into two states is the only way out." Representing the Welshman Ncube led MDC, De Necker echoed Mkandla's sentiments calling upon ZANU PF as the parliamentary majority to take the lead in ensuring the setting up of the commission and its total functionality. "Our party as a very small minority in parliament can do very little to push for the speedy set up and operational of the commission but ZANU PF must take it upon themselves as bound by the constitution to set up the commission and urgently."
We as the citizens of Zimbabwe call upon the government through the Ministry of Youth to urgently facilitate psychological counselling of several young man from Matabeleland who are still suffering from traumas of seeing their parents butchered in front of them. A lot of young people in Matabeleland are still having traumas of seeing their parents killed in front of them, their sisters and mothers being raped and pregnant mothers' stomachs being ripped open and no help has ever been accorded to these young people. And for various reasons it is very difficult if not impossible for the two parts of Zimbabwe to unite and the only way that can bring a peaceful solution is to allow the country to break into two and bring back the Mthwakazi Nation and there is need for the government to speed up the probe into Gukurahundi as the country remains divided with a lot of questions unanswered around the issue.
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