News / National
'Mutsvangwa must respect gukurahundi genocide victims'
12 Dec 2017 at 03:48hrs | Views
THE only way to deal with the emotive Gukurahundi issue is to facilitate a healing process, instead of senior government officials dismissing the tragedy as a non-event, activists have said.
According to NewZimbabwe.com, the 1980s atrocities which accounted for the lives of more than 20,000 innocent lives at the instigation of former President Robert Mugabe, have remained a sore point in the country's history, with the previous administration refusing to publicly deal with the issue.
New president Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was state security minister during the atrocities and is believed to have played some role, has also distanced himself from the killings.
His newly appointed special advisor Christopher Mutsvangwa says such events must be relegated to the history books and have no place in the current political discourse.
"To continuously re-dig its past, to settle scores from the past as if it cannot grasp the future … It diverts energy away from what should be done.
"Every country followed a tortured history … You make mistakes. You make false starts," Mutsvangwa, told a foreign news outlet.
However, human rights activists believe Mnangagwa's government must address the issue.
"Mutsvangwa must respect victims of a genocide; they want healing and there is no way they can move on without redress," said Ibhetshu Lika Zulu secretary general, Mbuso Fuzwayo.
Ibhetshu LikaZulu, a pressure group, has been in the forefront for petitioning the government to deal with the Gukurahundi atrocities.
Fuzwayo added: "It is sad to hear someone who is said to be the advisor of the president, say such irresponsible statements.
"The president must facilitate the process of national healing and create an environment where victims can mourn and share their pains."
Opposition National People's Party (NPP) spokesperson Methuseli Moyo said Mutsvangwa was not fit to hold the position of presidential advisor.
"Christopher Mutsvangwa's attitude towards the subject and victims of Gukurahundi makes him unsuitable for his role as special advisor to the president," said Moyo.
"We implore President Mnangagwa to drop him urgently and if need be, replace him with a sober and right-thinking person.
"Mutsvangwa has a dilapidated, outdated mind still fixed in the brutal past, at a time when the country needs loving and flexible minds to move it to a real new Zimbabwe."
Moyo added that Mutsvangwa's "irresponsible and unhelpful comments" on Gukurahundi show he needs healing himself after "being over-fed with Mugabe's politics of hatred".
Zapu spokesperson Iphithule Maphosa said Mutsvangwa's utterances were unfortunate and could taint Mnangagwa's presidency.
"Mutsvangwa must not hide behind verbosity; his role needs brains and the ability to listen to what the masses are saying," said Maphosa.
"He must be the president's ears and it is incumbent on him to listen to what the people are saying, that the government should first apologise for the genocide on ZAPU supporters and members, before leading a comprehensive process to close the darkest era of our history under Zanu PF rule."
According to NewZimbabwe.com, the 1980s atrocities which accounted for the lives of more than 20,000 innocent lives at the instigation of former President Robert Mugabe, have remained a sore point in the country's history, with the previous administration refusing to publicly deal with the issue.
New president Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was state security minister during the atrocities and is believed to have played some role, has also distanced himself from the killings.
His newly appointed special advisor Christopher Mutsvangwa says such events must be relegated to the history books and have no place in the current political discourse.
"To continuously re-dig its past, to settle scores from the past as if it cannot grasp the future … It diverts energy away from what should be done.
"Every country followed a tortured history … You make mistakes. You make false starts," Mutsvangwa, told a foreign news outlet.
However, human rights activists believe Mnangagwa's government must address the issue.
"Mutsvangwa must respect victims of a genocide; they want healing and there is no way they can move on without redress," said Ibhetshu Lika Zulu secretary general, Mbuso Fuzwayo.
Ibhetshu LikaZulu, a pressure group, has been in the forefront for petitioning the government to deal with the Gukurahundi atrocities.
"The president must facilitate the process of national healing and create an environment where victims can mourn and share their pains."
Opposition National People's Party (NPP) spokesperson Methuseli Moyo said Mutsvangwa was not fit to hold the position of presidential advisor.
"Christopher Mutsvangwa's attitude towards the subject and victims of Gukurahundi makes him unsuitable for his role as special advisor to the president," said Moyo.
"We implore President Mnangagwa to drop him urgently and if need be, replace him with a sober and right-thinking person.
"Mutsvangwa has a dilapidated, outdated mind still fixed in the brutal past, at a time when the country needs loving and flexible minds to move it to a real new Zimbabwe."
Moyo added that Mutsvangwa's "irresponsible and unhelpful comments" on Gukurahundi show he needs healing himself after "being over-fed with Mugabe's politics of hatred".
Zapu spokesperson Iphithule Maphosa said Mutsvangwa's utterances were unfortunate and could taint Mnangagwa's presidency.
"Mutsvangwa must not hide behind verbosity; his role needs brains and the ability to listen to what the masses are saying," said Maphosa.
"He must be the president's ears and it is incumbent on him to listen to what the people are saying, that the government should first apologise for the genocide on ZAPU supporters and members, before leading a comprehensive process to close the darkest era of our history under Zanu PF rule."
Source - newzimbabwe
