News / National
Mnangagwa denies 20,000 civilians killed during Zimbabwe genocide
25 Jan 2018 at 04:38hrs | Views
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has finally admitted to government transgressions in the killing of innocent civilians in Matebeleland and Midlands provinces between 1980 and 1987 but denies the widely stated figure of 20,000 deaths, NewZimbabwe.com reported.
He was speaking in a wide-ranging, televised interview in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday.
"I was minister for national security, that is national intelligence; that is correct. We are not saying the past must be thrown away from history. It has happened…," he said when asked to acknowledge the Gukurahundi atrocities.
Asked how he felt as President of a government that is responsible for the killing of 20,000 civilians, Mnangagwa denied the figure was correct.
"I understand that those are the figures that are being flighted but, on the ground, I don't think that is the correct figure," Mnangagwa said without giving his own statistics.
The 20,000 figure comes from a 1997 report by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace on the disturbances that saw the deployment of the notorious 5 Brigade in the affected provinces.
No other figure has been proffered as an alternative estimate for the killings.
He was speaking in a wide-ranging, televised interview in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday.
"I was minister for national security, that is national intelligence; that is correct. We are not saying the past must be thrown away from history. It has happened…," he said when asked to acknowledge the Gukurahundi atrocities.
"I understand that those are the figures that are being flighted but, on the ground, I don't think that is the correct figure," Mnangagwa said without giving his own statistics.
The 20,000 figure comes from a 1997 report by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace on the disturbances that saw the deployment of the notorious 5 Brigade in the affected provinces.
No other figure has been proffered as an alternative estimate for the killings.
Source - newzimbabwe
