News / National
Zhuwao's statements on gukurahundi reckless
04 Jul 2018 at 15:12hrs | Views
Former National Healing minister Moses Mzila-Ndlovu has come out guns blazing against former president Robert Mugabe's nephew, Patrick Zhuwao, over what he termed misguided statements on the Gukurahundi atrocities.
In a letter to British Prime Minister Theresa May, which he reproduced on his weekly blog last week, Zhuwao - who was among alleged kingpins of the vanquished Generation 40 (G40) faction - "recklessly" touched on the post-independence political disturbances which, according to Ndlovu, sought to absolve Mugabe.
In his letter, the former Labour and Public Service minister, on numerous occasions kept on referring to the Gukurahundi atrocities.
"The British government, and I dare say various British institutions, are colluding with Mnangagwa in his despicable subterfuge that has the hallmark of the 1980s Gukurahundi massacres that saw the loss of thousands of lives.
Zhuwao also noted; "The northern half of the country has witnessed 78,4 percent of the political violence in Zimbabwe over the past two decades. That spatial approach to repression is reminiscent of the engineered Gukurahundi massacres of the early 1980s.
"Honourable prime minister, I am sure that you are aware that one of the incidents that allegedly sparked the Gukurahundi Massacres was the abduction and subsequent brutal murder of Western tourists, who included British citizens, in Matabeleland in July 1982."
This, however, did not go down well with Mzila Ndlovu, an outspoken "Gukurahundi activist".
"It is not my obligation to speak for the late British Conservative Prime Minister Mrs Margaret Thatcher and her government on the matter of their complicit in the Matabeleland genocide of the eighties which you rightly refer to as Gukurahundi though you have such an appallingly convoluted view of events around this crime," Mzila-Ndlovu reacted in a two-page letter to Zhuwao.
"Neither is it my intention to defend the current British Conservative Prime Minister, Mrs Theresa May over her government's condonation of the November . . . (2017) in Zimbabwe because the events which preceded and followed the change of power shed enough light on that too.
"However, to suggest that British involvement in the internal affairs of Zimbabwe has only been through Chiwenga and Mnangagwa is as mischievous as it is criminal.
"You are a relative of the ‘deposed' despot Robert Mugabe, the person who was prime minister of Zimbabwe when the atrocities committed against innocent and unarmed civilians of Matabeleland and the Midlands took place," he said.
"It is preposterous for you to try to cleanse Mugabe's involvement and do an out-of-court unilateral acquittal from any wrong doing through an act of deliberate omission of his name from your twisted list of mass murderers."
Mzila-Ndlovu appealed to Zhuwao to apologise over his statement which he deemed reckless.
"Please, apologise to the people of this country for insulting their intelligence. The Gukurahundi genocide was planned and orchestrated under the cruel leadership of your uncle and most of you got where you were in life stations because of the ethnic exclusion agenda of the people of Matabeleland from the privileges brought by independence to black people," Mzila-Ndlovu said.
He added that Mugabe and his henchman, including Zhuwao's former comrades-turned-enemies, are collectively guilty of the crime of genocide in Zimbabwe.
Mzila-Ndlovu also accused Zhuwao of lying about how Gukurahundi started.
"You lie that the Gukurahundi massacres were triggered by the abduction of foreign tourists. Those who care to know will be aware that the preparations for the training of the 5th Brigade started sometime in 1980 or early in 1981 such that by August 1981 a group of 106 North Korean Military Advisers had arrived in the capital, Harare and stayed at (a Harare hotel) incurring a whopping bill of $12 983.00, settled by Mugabe's government."
"Their purpose was to help set up the 5th Brigade that would be unleashed upon innocent people by your uncle. The six tourists were only abducted on July 23, 1982. Please learn to respect sequence, especially that of political events so vulnerable to distortions by crooks like yourself for their selfish ends," said Mzila-Ndlovu.
In a letter to British Prime Minister Theresa May, which he reproduced on his weekly blog last week, Zhuwao - who was among alleged kingpins of the vanquished Generation 40 (G40) faction - "recklessly" touched on the post-independence political disturbances which, according to Ndlovu, sought to absolve Mugabe.
In his letter, the former Labour and Public Service minister, on numerous occasions kept on referring to the Gukurahundi atrocities.
"The British government, and I dare say various British institutions, are colluding with Mnangagwa in his despicable subterfuge that has the hallmark of the 1980s Gukurahundi massacres that saw the loss of thousands of lives.
Zhuwao also noted; "The northern half of the country has witnessed 78,4 percent of the political violence in Zimbabwe over the past two decades. That spatial approach to repression is reminiscent of the engineered Gukurahundi massacres of the early 1980s.
"Honourable prime minister, I am sure that you are aware that one of the incidents that allegedly sparked the Gukurahundi Massacres was the abduction and subsequent brutal murder of Western tourists, who included British citizens, in Matabeleland in July 1982."
This, however, did not go down well with Mzila Ndlovu, an outspoken "Gukurahundi activist".
"It is not my obligation to speak for the late British Conservative Prime Minister Mrs Margaret Thatcher and her government on the matter of their complicit in the Matabeleland genocide of the eighties which you rightly refer to as Gukurahundi though you have such an appallingly convoluted view of events around this crime," Mzila-Ndlovu reacted in a two-page letter to Zhuwao.
"However, to suggest that British involvement in the internal affairs of Zimbabwe has only been through Chiwenga and Mnangagwa is as mischievous as it is criminal.
"You are a relative of the ‘deposed' despot Robert Mugabe, the person who was prime minister of Zimbabwe when the atrocities committed against innocent and unarmed civilians of Matabeleland and the Midlands took place," he said.
"It is preposterous for you to try to cleanse Mugabe's involvement and do an out-of-court unilateral acquittal from any wrong doing through an act of deliberate omission of his name from your twisted list of mass murderers."
Mzila-Ndlovu appealed to Zhuwao to apologise over his statement which he deemed reckless.
"Please, apologise to the people of this country for insulting their intelligence. The Gukurahundi genocide was planned and orchestrated under the cruel leadership of your uncle and most of you got where you were in life stations because of the ethnic exclusion agenda of the people of Matabeleland from the privileges brought by independence to black people," Mzila-Ndlovu said.
He added that Mugabe and his henchman, including Zhuwao's former comrades-turned-enemies, are collectively guilty of the crime of genocide in Zimbabwe.
Mzila-Ndlovu also accused Zhuwao of lying about how Gukurahundi started.
"You lie that the Gukurahundi massacres were triggered by the abduction of foreign tourists. Those who care to know will be aware that the preparations for the training of the 5th Brigade started sometime in 1980 or early in 1981 such that by August 1981 a group of 106 North Korean Military Advisers had arrived in the capital, Harare and stayed at (a Harare hotel) incurring a whopping bill of $12 983.00, settled by Mugabe's government."
"Their purpose was to help set up the 5th Brigade that would be unleashed upon innocent people by your uncle. The six tourists were only abducted on July 23, 1982. Please learn to respect sequence, especially that of political events so vulnerable to distortions by crooks like yourself for their selfish ends," said Mzila-Ndlovu.
Source - dailynews
