By Bulawayo Correspondent
GUKURAHUNDI pressure group, Ibhetshu LikaZulu has urged the government to assist the families of 12 Silobela villagers who were killed in 1985 during the government sanctioned Gukurahundi atrocities.
Ibhetshu likazulu wants the government to provide healing services and compensation to the families following the loss of their bread winner.
“I was recently in Silobela and met some of the families of Gukurahundi victims. The families are living abnormal lives because they grew up without anyone to look after them. Some of the family members failed to go to school while others did not attend school because they did not have national documents like national identity cards and birth certificate,” Ibhetshu likazulu coordinator Mbuso Fuzwayo said in an interview.
The firebrand activist also accused the government of deceiving Zimbabweans that it is doing something to address the emotive Gukurahundi issue.
Following its ascendency to power in 2017 albeit a military coup, Presidents Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government has pledged to once and for all address the Gukurahundi issue which saw more than 20 000 people in the Midlands and Matebeleland regions being killed by the North Korean fifth brigade.
“It is sad because it appears victims will die without knowing the truth or getting justice. We are disappointed because of false hopes that have been given to the victims of Gukurahundi, the nation and the international community,” said Fuzwayo.
He called upon the international community to put pressure on the government not to politicize the genocide.
“The National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) must be allowed to discharge its constitutional duty without the influence from the government. State house grandstanding can never solve the Gukurahundi issue,” he said.
Mnangagwa has held several Gukurahundi “resolution” meetings at Bulawayo State house with various stake holders including chiefs and civic society organizations but the engagements have not yielded much.
Mnangagwa who was State Security minister during the atrocities has been accused of being an accomplice to the mass killings.
The President has however denied the allegations.
