News / Local
Jonathan Moyo rues lost opportunity to grab Gukurahundi dossier
20 Apr 2021 at 07:33hrs | Views
FORMER cabinet minister Jonathan Moyo says he regrets failing to get hold of the Chihambakwe Report during his period as government minister.
Moyo says he would have used the document to forestall a coup that eventually deposed long-serving President Robert Mugabe 2017.
The Chihambakwe Commission of Inquiry was established by late former President Robert Mugabe in 1983 to investigate the massacre of an estimated 20 000 innocent civilians by the military in the Matabeleland and part of Midlands provinces.
It was chaired by Judge Simplisius Chihambakwe.
The Zanu-PF led administration has kept the document under lock and key amid fears its publication could also spark ethnic violence in the country.
"I must say as an individual, one of my objectives when I was in government was to find that report," Moyo said during a Zoom discussion on the topic, Zimbabwe At 41 years: Finding a Lasting Solution to the Gukurahundi Genocide'.
The discussion was organised by CITE.
Said the now exiled former legislator, "Actually, I measure my powerlessness by my failure to find that report, I tried every trick in the book, even in 2017 I was still looking for that report.
"In fact, in 2017, I doubled my efforts to find it because I could now see that the key enforcers of the Gukurahundi were looming on the horizon employing the same old Gukurahundi tactics to grab State power.
"And that was a very scary prospect; it was very clear to me especially as I prepared the so-called Blue Ocean document that the Gukurahundi guys were once again busy and if there was going to be a transition in Zimbabwe, the last option that I even thought was possible, the option of the Gukurahundi architects and key enforcers grabbing state power."
Moyo added, "In my wildest dream, I didn't think that would be possible, but when I saw the possibility and I could see that this possibility had very serious chances of being successful, I started looking for that report in the hope to get my hands on it and publish it to stop them.
"Can you imagine what could have happened instead of the Blue Ocean, I had actually gotten the Chihambakwe Report on my hands and published that.
"Instead of running into town with the tanks, they would have run out of town without the tanks but alas, l believe I came very close but did not succeed."
Moyo says he would have used the document to forestall a coup that eventually deposed long-serving President Robert Mugabe 2017.
The Chihambakwe Commission of Inquiry was established by late former President Robert Mugabe in 1983 to investigate the massacre of an estimated 20 000 innocent civilians by the military in the Matabeleland and part of Midlands provinces.
It was chaired by Judge Simplisius Chihambakwe.
The Zanu-PF led administration has kept the document under lock and key amid fears its publication could also spark ethnic violence in the country.
"I must say as an individual, one of my objectives when I was in government was to find that report," Moyo said during a Zoom discussion on the topic, Zimbabwe At 41 years: Finding a Lasting Solution to the Gukurahundi Genocide'.
Said the now exiled former legislator, "Actually, I measure my powerlessness by my failure to find that report, I tried every trick in the book, even in 2017 I was still looking for that report.
"In fact, in 2017, I doubled my efforts to find it because I could now see that the key enforcers of the Gukurahundi were looming on the horizon employing the same old Gukurahundi tactics to grab State power.
"And that was a very scary prospect; it was very clear to me especially as I prepared the so-called Blue Ocean document that the Gukurahundi guys were once again busy and if there was going to be a transition in Zimbabwe, the last option that I even thought was possible, the option of the Gukurahundi architects and key enforcers grabbing state power."
Moyo added, "In my wildest dream, I didn't think that would be possible, but when I saw the possibility and I could see that this possibility had very serious chances of being successful, I started looking for that report in the hope to get my hands on it and publish it to stop them.
"Can you imagine what could have happened instead of the Blue Ocean, I had actually gotten the Chihambakwe Report on my hands and published that.
"Instead of running into town with the tanks, they would have run out of town without the tanks but alas, l believe I came very close but did not succeed."
Source - newzimbabwe
