News / National
George Charamba gets baptism of fire
21 Apr 2019 at 09:13hrs | Views
Matebeleland Collective (MC) has cautioned Presidential Spokesperson George Charamba to desist from uttering words that seek to undermine the effects of the Gukurahundi genocide.
Charamba recently told private media that, "There was conflict, which claimed lives and you noticed I never used words such as atrocities because if you are true to history, you will know that in a conflict situation atrocities do happen on both sides of the conflict. We do have quite a number of people who died or suffered at the hands of the dissidents. We also have quite a number of people who are said to have suffered at the hands of security forces then."
MC responded to Charamba saying, "While we welcome dialogue it is important to create a truthful shared history that will assist in healing - our primary concern. MC is concerned to hear government leaders trivialising the issue. Such talk does not heal but is to rub salt in wounds of hurting communities."
MC added that the statements by Charamba were inconsistent with the matrix points delivered by government regarding Gukurahundi and that he was bound to intimidate victims who want speak openly about Gukurahundi.
"Mr Charamba remember 20000 innocent souls died -a high percentage still lying on unmarked graves. Your attempt to explain this away as a 'conflict' questions the sincerity on Government implementation matrix point 4, your allegation also dis-empowers victims from speaking openly.
"Gukurahundi concerns people's lives and is not an issue to politic or trifle with. Let's treat all discussions with sensitivity and respect. Let's not use it to score cheap political points.
"Regarding recent pronouncements Charamba MC wishes to remind Mr Charamba of item 4, especially the implementation modalities: devise protections mechanisms for those affected by Gukurahundi to be free to discuss their experiences."
Charamba recently told private media that, "There was conflict, which claimed lives and you noticed I never used words such as atrocities because if you are true to history, you will know that in a conflict situation atrocities do happen on both sides of the conflict. We do have quite a number of people who died or suffered at the hands of the dissidents. We also have quite a number of people who are said to have suffered at the hands of security forces then."
MC responded to Charamba saying, "While we welcome dialogue it is important to create a truthful shared history that will assist in healing - our primary concern. MC is concerned to hear government leaders trivialising the issue. Such talk does not heal but is to rub salt in wounds of hurting communities."
MC added that the statements by Charamba were inconsistent with the matrix points delivered by government regarding Gukurahundi and that he was bound to intimidate victims who want speak openly about Gukurahundi.
"Mr Charamba remember 20000 innocent souls died -a high percentage still lying on unmarked graves. Your attempt to explain this away as a 'conflict' questions the sincerity on Government implementation matrix point 4, your allegation also dis-empowers victims from speaking openly.
"Gukurahundi concerns people's lives and is not an issue to politic or trifle with. Let's treat all discussions with sensitivity and respect. Let's not use it to score cheap political points.
"Regarding recent pronouncements Charamba MC wishes to remind Mr Charamba of item 4, especially the implementation modalities: devise protections mechanisms for those affected by Gukurahundi to be free to discuss their experiences."
Source - Byo24News
