Sipepa Nkomo to head ZimPF peace, reconciliation portfolio

OPPOSITION Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF) interim leader, Joice Mujuru, has appointed former Water minister Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, to head her party's newly-created truth, peace and reconciliation portfolio, to bring the emotive Gukurahundi issue to rest.

Mujuru announced the decision during a ZimPF Matabeleland North provincial executive council meeting held in Umguza district on Friday.

"I am glad my team has agreed to Sipepa Nkomo's appointment into the interim national executive. His wisdom will be key in our quest to build a fair, just and peaceful Zimbabwe," she said.

"That is a very critical job, which touches on inclusivity, which is our core value. There are some in our party, who did not understand that like the two elders, who are no longer with us. This is a new party for all of us."

Mujuru said issues about human rights abuses, particularly the issue of Gukurahundi "pierces my heart".

"I want myself and my party to be the bridge to the Zimbabwe we yearn for. ZimPF is a unique party. I have seen the young, the energetic, the educated, the simple, the old, men and women. This is very different from Egypt, where we were," she said in reference to her former party, Zanu-PF, where she was ejected in 2015 on allegations of plotting President Robert Mugabe's downfall.

"Peace, truth and reconciliation is needed, not only in Matabeleland, but everywhere. People lost relatives even after Gukurahundi. Some disappeared and have not been seen. That is not taboo in our party, we must address it."

"Saying things were just a moment if madness will not solve it. That will not heal the wound."

President Robert Mugabe, who has largely been blamed for the Gukurahundi atrocities, which claimed over 20 000 lives in Matabeleland and Midlands regions, is on record describing the massacres as "a moment of madness".