When the government announced in July that it would begin hearings on Gukurahundi massacres, the darkest chapter in Zimbabwe’s history, we cautioned against rushing the process to get the buy-in required for it to succeed.
We argued then that the process was being rushed to the extent that it was being equated to a delayed football match.
But we gave the government the benefit of doubt on the grounds that the President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration wanted to bring closure to Gukurahundi considering that his predecessors had not attempted to address the emotive issue other than referring to the darkest chapter as a “moment of madness”.
However, three months after the launch of the programme, our initial fears have now been confirmed as it appears the issue has been consigned to the back-burner.
There is very little that is being said about the programme. The Matabeleland and Midlands regions have waited for years amid indications that there was no budget to fund the outreach programme.
Critics say this signals the government's half-hearted approach despite Mnangagwa’s assurances in July that Gukurahundi must not be a footnote of history.
He equated the hearings to a “transformative odyssey, a pilgrimage towards healing and national cohesion” rather than being a mechanism for “revisiting grievances”.
However, chiefs this week expressed their frustrations over the snail’s pace that the programme was taking.
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President of the Chiefs’ Council Chief Lucas Mtshane Khumalo told NewsDay this week that the hearings were yet to begin due to unresolved logistical issues.
“We have not started and we do not know when we will start. There are still some logistics that have not been concluded,” Khumalo said.
Chief Khulumani Mathema from Matabeleland South said the organisers had not heeded his call for a budget to fund the programme.
“It is like trying to start a car without petrol. There must be a budget for the programme to be successful. Even a small event like a wedding needs a budget. What more this big programme cannot succeed without a budget,” he said.
We implore the government to take the issue to finality. The scars will heal when perpetrators are brought to book for that “moment of madness”.
This is the only opportunity for us to correct the wrongs of the past and it is incumbent upon the drivers of this programme to ensure that it dots the i's and crosses the t's.
It is the only way the government can “shame” the critics that have dismissed the programme as flawed.
This must be accompanied by the protection of Gukurahundi plaques, which have over the years been vandalised by suspected State security agents.
The world over, memorialisation has been used for national healing and is a constant reminder of the dark past that never again will the nation walk the same path.
The ball is in the government's court to expedite the Gukurahundi hearings. We do not believe the government wants to use Gukurahundi for politicking like what they have been doing over the years with the stop-go Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project. That would be akin to political hara-kiri.
Mnangagwa said in July that people should not “dwell on the shadows of yesterday”, but focus on the future of the country, adding that, “let us turn our attention to a new dawn, a brighter future”.
Mr President, the scars of the past will fester if it appears your administration does not want to bring closure to the darkest chapter in Zimbabwe’s history.
