News / National
Exhumation set to destroy Gukurahundi evidence
18 Mar 2011 at 18:10hrs | Views
Bulilima West MP, Moses Mzila Ndlovu who is also co-minister in the Organ of National Healing, was outraged over alleged lack of transparency in the exhumation and reburial of hundreds of victims of the war of liberation. He said the manner it was being carried out was suspicious as only ZANU PF was taking part.
Ndlovu said the people of Matabeleland were suspicious that the exhumation project was to eventually go to Matabeleland and the Midlands provinces. They fear that this is an excuse to tamper with mass graves of Gukurahundi victims and destroy crucial evidence of the atrocities.
"This issue of exhumations directly falls within the purview of the Organ of National Healing and since they are claiming that they are carrying out a national exercise, we cannot be quiet about it," said Mzila Ndlovu.
"We have witnessed people like the late Rashiwe Guzha whose remains are still a mystery and suspicion is that they were dissolved in acid and how can we be sure that in the process, if Matabeleland graves and others in Midlands were exhumed, a lot of evidence of Fifth Brigade atrocities might be destroyed?
"There would be no way to clear the suspicion because what they are doing now is that soon after exhumation of those graves, reburial takes place without specialists giving scientific evidence that these victims were really of people killed before 1980." He said it was improper for the exhumations to be done without including the relevant ministry, which is supposed to help the victims recover from the trauma.
"The truth must be told during this exercise, but how do you tell the truth when evidence has been exhumed and reburied without involving organisations like churches, the Organ of National Healing, civic society and other groups?
"They (Zanu PF) are talking of people who disappeared during the liberation struggle and have not been accounted for, yet there are more people who disappeared after the liberation struggle and have not been accounted for," Mzila Ndlovu said.
"It is Zanu PF that knows where they buried the remains of the victims of the Fifth Brigade massacres and we are very suspicious why they are doing those exhumations."
Commenting on the same issue, Deputy Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs Obert Gutu said while it was true that the Ian Smith regime was brutal and callous, Zanu PF has not done better than Smith and there was a deafening silence about the Gukurahundi massacres.
"Whilst I admit that the racist, illegal and renegade Ian Smith regime was guilty of committing heinous crimes against humanity such as the Chimioio and Nyadzonia massacres in Mozambique in the late 1970s, we should adopt a more holistic and scientific approach towards handling some of these emotionally sensitive cases like the exhumation of the remains of victims of war.
"Zanu PF should not use such a solemn exercise as an excuse for politicking and spreading hateful and divisive propaganda," said Gutu.
He said there was need for confession and repentance on the Gukurahundi genocide in which more than 20 000 people were massacred.
Ndlovu said the people of Matabeleland were suspicious that the exhumation project was to eventually go to Matabeleland and the Midlands provinces. They fear that this is an excuse to tamper with mass graves of Gukurahundi victims and destroy crucial evidence of the atrocities.
"This issue of exhumations directly falls within the purview of the Organ of National Healing and since they are claiming that they are carrying out a national exercise, we cannot be quiet about it," said Mzila Ndlovu.
"We have witnessed people like the late Rashiwe Guzha whose remains are still a mystery and suspicion is that they were dissolved in acid and how can we be sure that in the process, if Matabeleland graves and others in Midlands were exhumed, a lot of evidence of Fifth Brigade atrocities might be destroyed?
"There would be no way to clear the suspicion because what they are doing now is that soon after exhumation of those graves, reburial takes place without specialists giving scientific evidence that these victims were really of people killed before 1980." He said it was improper for the exhumations to be done without including the relevant ministry, which is supposed to help the victims recover from the trauma.
"The truth must be told during this exercise, but how do you tell the truth when evidence has been exhumed and reburied without involving organisations like churches, the Organ of National Healing, civic society and other groups?
"It is Zanu PF that knows where they buried the remains of the victims of the Fifth Brigade massacres and we are very suspicious why they are doing those exhumations."
Commenting on the same issue, Deputy Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs Obert Gutu said while it was true that the Ian Smith regime was brutal and callous, Zanu PF has not done better than Smith and there was a deafening silence about the Gukurahundi massacres.
"Whilst I admit that the racist, illegal and renegade Ian Smith regime was guilty of committing heinous crimes against humanity such as the Chimioio and Nyadzonia massacres in Mozambique in the late 1970s, we should adopt a more holistic and scientific approach towards handling some of these emotionally sensitive cases like the exhumation of the remains of victims of war.
"Zanu PF should not use such a solemn exercise as an excuse for politicking and spreading hateful and divisive propaganda," said Gutu.
He said there was need for confession and repentance on the Gukurahundi genocide in which more than 20 000 people were massacred.
Source - Byo24NEWS
