Opinion / Columnist
Mr Mphoko blames Gukurahundi on the West Not ZANU PF
20 Dec 2014 at 09:12hrs | Views
In 1978 and 1979 the ZANU PF party in Mozambique and London produced a document now known as the Grand Plan; this document was to map out the future of Independent Zimbabwe, it was about how Zimbabwe would be ruled if ZANU PF subsequently took over from the Rhodesians. The thrust of the document was solely on dealing with the Ndebele ethnic group, which was seen as a threat to their power base. This is the genesis of the genocide which Mr Mphoko is not happy to reveal.
When Zanu pf eventually took over power, they mercilessly implemented their plan of totally annihilating the Ndebele people, culminating in the now infamous gukurahundi genocide.
In 2009 in Botswana, when Mphoko was the ambassador there, he termed the genocide the conspiracy by the Western nations. Yesterday he went on to try and expand on what he meant when he raised the conspiracy argument.
Mr Mphoko attempted to explain his theory as follows "When Zimbabwe became independent in 1980, Apartheid South Africa was under threat from the ANC through Zimbabwe. Western intelligence together with the South African intelligence BOSS and the out-going Rhodesian Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) designed a strategy to destroy the lines of military supply of the ANC and MK under the pretext that the newly independent Zimbabwe was under threat of being attacked by former ZAPU/ZPRA in Matebeleland. That falsehood was intended to create a military force to deal with the perceived threat. That is how Gukurahundi was formed and that is how it became a Western conspiracy"
To an extent Mr Mphoko is correct on what he is postulating here, however, where his explanation becomes thread-bare is the omission of the ZANU pf grand plan and its ethnic cleansing agenda. One would now view Mphoko in the same category with ZANU pf murders, because he does not like telling the whole truth.
To all discerning people what Mphoko is trying to do is to absolve zanu pf of its cruel and dirty chapter in the history of the nation. ZANU PF was not made up of polls or stones, but was a group of counter-revolutionaries; they knew that ZAPU did not intend to usurp power by unconstitutional means as was alleged by Mugabe and his people. Therefore even though the Western powers may have wanted to portray ZAPU as such, zanu knew the truth and Mr Mphoko has to explain why the genocide concentrated on two regions of the country, that is, the Midlands and Matebeleland?
It is public knowledge that ZAPU/ZIPRA operated everywhere in the country, if ZAPU had intended to usurp power it could have used its strongholds throughout the country and one would have expected to witness the genocide throughout the country.
Could it be that Mr Mphoko is singing for his supper? Could it be that Mr Mphoko does not realise that his Vice Presidents will be short-lived and he would have soiled his legacy if ever he had one?
Some people are beginning to think that Mr Mphoko was part of the gukurahundi genocide perpetrators; he does not want to come clean on his CIO involvement. It is public knowledge that the CIO played a nefarious role during the genocide, abducting, torturing and killing ZAPU leaders and ordinary people. Unless and until Mr Mphoko explains his activities between the years 1981 and 1987, people will never take him seriously as he will be viewed as part of the establishment.
Mr Mphoko has to answer the following questions, truthfully, when did he defect to ZANU PF? Was it when he was arrested by ZANU in Mozambique? We know ZANU always tried to convert people when they were arrested, the good case is the Dabengwa one, but we all know that Dabengwa refused to join ZANU PF and opted to die in prison than to join a group of murderous sycophants. Was Mphoko strong enough to resist ZANU? What is interesting is that he joined the CIOs outside the official ZAPU channels. This may settle the argument of his alleged selling-out character.
If Mphoko defected to ZANU in the late 1970s, this settles the argument of the Unity Accord. Mugabe has promoted his Vice Presidents from his ZANU PF party. Some of us knew all along that the Unity Accord ceased to exist in 2009 or there about when Dr Dumiso Dabengwa served ZANU PF with divorce papers.
The questions which remain unanswered are, who is Mphoko? What did he do between 1981 and 1987?
Source - Thulani Nkala
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