There is disgruntlement and mistrust among traditional leaders in Midlands and Matabeleland amid claims that some were receiving secret payments to sway their thinking on resolving Gukurahundi.

Some chiefs claimed that authorities have been paying their colleagues to support a government initiated process.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently met chiefs in Bulawayo where he launched a Gukurahundi manual to initiate the healing process, saying the exercise will be led by traditional leaders.

Former Ntabazinduna chief Nhlanhlayamangwe Felix Ndiweni said the process has never been genuine.

“I have attended two of those consultations where the president would come with the president of Chiefs Council Fortune Charumbira and read out what they have written without discussion,” Ndiweni said.

“Some chiefs have been paid.

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“It's common knowledge amongst chiefs that some chiefs have been privately invited to the state house excluding other chiefs in the view they would convince their colleagues to toe the line.”

Ndiweni said there would be no closure to Gukurahundi until there is a victim-centred approach.

“The first part of dealing with Gukurahundi is the judicial one, which is a common practice in the entire world,” he said.

“It is then you begin the process of peace building, reconciliation and reaching out to communities’ especially when you have established who the actual criminals are.”

Chief Khulumani Mathema of Gwanda said: “I am not happy with the approach.

“It was done in a top down approach, which makes the document a bit complex. It seems there was no engagement at all.”

Chief Ngangazonke Ndiweni of Kezi in Matabeleland South confirmed that the way Gukurahundi was being handled had driven a wedge between chiefs.

“The approach should not affect Chiefs. Let’s unite and come up with one voice,” he said.

“Let us not point fingers because we were all affected differently by Gukurahundi.

“I was displaced by Gukurahundi, but this is an opportunity to address the issue and develop our communities.”

Mnangagwa’s predecessor the late Robert Mugabe established the Chihambakwe Commission of Inquiry to investigate the massacres, but the findings were never made public.

Mnangagwa has also resisted releasing the report.

But analyst Rejoice Ngwenya said addressing Gukurahundi must start with acknowledging the killings.

“If he (Mnangagwa) truly wants to bring closure, he should call all victims, survivors, dependents, their relatives and tell them that he is sorry,” Ngwenya said.

“He should ask them what they want and compensate them and the case will be closed.

“Running to chiefs is not going to help his case.”

Gukurahundi refers to a period during the early years of Zimbabwe’s independence where thousands of people were massacred by the army’s 5th Brigade in Matabeleland and the Midlands.

The victims were mainly supporters of the Joshua Nkomo-led Zapu.