News / National
Five Brigade commander brags about Gukurahundi
02 Mar 2012 at 18:50hrs | Views
The Zimbabwe Community Radio on Friday reported that the newly-appointed Five Brigade commander Brigadier-General Justin Itayi Mujaji, has bragged about being part of the notorious army unit which was responsible for the Gukurahundi massacres in the 1980s.
In a speech after taking over from Brigadier-General Kasirai Tazira, Mujaji said he was elated that he was excited to rejoin the dreaded brigade which shaped his controversial military career in the 1980s.
"Let me hasten to remind my counterparts here present that my military career in the 1980s was shaped by this brigade when in early 1981, I commanded the first battalion of the Leopard Brigade," he said.
Airforce boss Perence Shiri led the army which caused untold suffering of thousands of civilians in Matabeleland, which forced PF-Zapu to merge with ZANU-PF on December 22, 1987 to avoid further loss of innocent lives.
Human rights activists have called for the Gukurahundi perpetrators to face crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court.
Mujaji said the army would fight to protect the country's sovereignty, in an apparent reference that he was also a die-hard Mugabe, 88, supporter like the rest of the service chiefs.
National Healing minister Moses Mzila-Ndlovu has said Gukurahundi perpetrators should be punished while victims get compensation.
President Robert Mugabe unleashed a North Korean army which killed innocent Ndebele-speaking people in Matabeleland.
Genocide Watch has classed as genocide the merciless and mass killings, whose effect is still traumatizing the survivors of the horror attacks. Several mass graves have been discovered in recent years around Matabeleland where even pregnant women who were bayoneted with blunt knives were buried.
In a speech after taking over from Brigadier-General Kasirai Tazira, Mujaji said he was elated that he was excited to rejoin the dreaded brigade which shaped his controversial military career in the 1980s.
"Let me hasten to remind my counterparts here present that my military career in the 1980s was shaped by this brigade when in early 1981, I commanded the first battalion of the Leopard Brigade," he said.
Airforce boss Perence Shiri led the army which caused untold suffering of thousands of civilians in Matabeleland, which forced PF-Zapu to merge with ZANU-PF on December 22, 1987 to avoid further loss of innocent lives.
Mujaji said the army would fight to protect the country's sovereignty, in an apparent reference that he was also a die-hard Mugabe, 88, supporter like the rest of the service chiefs.
National Healing minister Moses Mzila-Ndlovu has said Gukurahundi perpetrators should be punished while victims get compensation.
President Robert Mugabe unleashed a North Korean army which killed innocent Ndebele-speaking people in Matabeleland.
Genocide Watch has classed as genocide the merciless and mass killings, whose effect is still traumatizing the survivors of the horror attacks. Several mass graves have been discovered in recent years around Matabeleland where even pregnant women who were bayoneted with blunt knives were buried.
Source - ZCR
