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ZAPU to establish Gukurahundi genocide museum, expose ZANU-PF
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Preparations are at an advanced stage for the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) to establish a Gukurahundi Genocide Museum in Bulawayo and all people should [instead] wear black in remembrance of hapless citizens harmed by marauding Fifth Brigade army.
In a statement shared by Richard Gandari who is the ZAPU national spokesperson, the political formation announced that to them, Unity Day is a self-serving ploy by ZANU-PF-led government to cow victims of Gukurahundi into lifelong silence and resignation.
"For the avoidance of doubt, know it all men and women that ZAPU is no longer party to the one-sided Unity Accord of 22 December 1987. We pulled out of the Unity Accord in 2008 and since then, we have been working on rebuilding our party and opening our doors to new members," Gandari said.
"It therefore becomes clear that Unity Day is only valuable to ZANU PF, the divorce partner who got to keep the matrimonial property. For ZAPU and other patriotic Zimbabweans, this day is Gukurahundi Remembrance Day. Our ZAPU-led government will make it official and we will also establish a Gukurahundi Genocide museum in Bulawayo for the nation and world to see the horrors of Gukurahundi," Gandari added.
"On this day marking the darkest chapter of our tortured history, we urge all our members and solidarity partners to wear black. Share pictures of your black attire and use black profile pictures on your social media handles. Refrain from any forms of entertainment and take time to reflect on the horrors of Gukurahundi," he added.
"Think about the hapless citizens harmed by a marauding army of heartless men called the Fifth Brigade. It is unsettling that many of them are roaming freely in our midst. Some could even be pastors at your local church, rapists and murderers who have never accounted for their dark past. Sadly, only the victims of Gukurahundi have been told to forgive and forget even where no formal apology has been issued by the government of Zimbabwe," Gandari said.
"Unity Day is a self-serving ploy by the ZANU PF-led government to cow victims of Gukurahundi into lifelong silence and resignation. As ZAPU we encourage Zimbabweans to unite daily against crime, corruption, oppression and tribalism," Gandari said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Gandari said unity is required in communities to ward off hunger and for the protection of environments.
The party also claimed that Unity Day as prescribed by the government is nothing short of a criminal scheme to destroy evidence and delay justice for victims of Gukurahundi.
"References to the Unity Accord of 1987 are desperate attempts by the rogue regime in Harare to hide behind the human shield of our disciplined party. ZANU PF is determined to sanitize its soiled image by aligning itself with our clean image as ZAPU," Gandari said.
"Political posturing and shedding of crocodile tears remains the government’s default strategy to buy time, hoping that the issue of Gukurahundi will eventually disappear as its victims die. No one outside the highest level of government has ever seen the report from the Dumbutshena Commision of Inquiry, established to investigate the Entumbane skirmishes between November 1980 and March 1981," Gandari said.
Similarly, ZAPU said the Chihambakwe Commission of Inquiry established by President Mugabe in 1983 to investigate the massacres of civilians in Matabeleland by the Fifth Brigade issued a report that remains hidden from the public domain.
In 2019, the Chairperson of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC), the late Retired High Court judge Selo Nare told the media that the Dumbutshena and Chihambakwe reports had been lost.
"Nothing could be further from the truth and someone somewhere knows of the whereabouts of the 'lost' reports. Perpetrators of Gukurahundi by commission are also officially known. The Zimbabwe National Army holds complete records of the list of soldiers deployed as members of the Fifth Brigade under the command of one Colonel ‘Black Jesus’ Perrance Shiri," Gandari said.
"The perpetrators of Gukurahundi are known and their trail of destruction remains evident in the parts of Matabeleland and Midlands they ravaged. Some victims of Gukurahundi can point at their rapists and torturers now decorated civil servants, diplomats or army top brass," Gandari said.
ZAPU said it marks the so-called Unity Day as a day of remembering the victims of the Ndebele Genocide (1983-1987) commonly known as Gukurahundi.
They added in a statement that the Ndebele Genocide is a microcosm of the Jewish Holocaust (1933-1945) and stands a stark reminder of the futility of having independence without freedom.
"The horrors of Gukurahundi have been documented in various ways but a platform for survivors to speak out openly remains a fleeting mirage. A chief-led Gukurahundi dialogue programme launched by President Mnangagwa in July this year remains on ice, clearly facing the stillbirth that similar window-dressing efforts have faced in the past," Gandari said in a statement.
In a statement shared by Richard Gandari who is the ZAPU national spokesperson, the political formation announced that to them, Unity Day is a self-serving ploy by ZANU-PF-led government to cow victims of Gukurahundi into lifelong silence and resignation.
"For the avoidance of doubt, know it all men and women that ZAPU is no longer party to the one-sided Unity Accord of 22 December 1987. We pulled out of the Unity Accord in 2008 and since then, we have been working on rebuilding our party and opening our doors to new members," Gandari said.
"It therefore becomes clear that Unity Day is only valuable to ZANU PF, the divorce partner who got to keep the matrimonial property. For ZAPU and other patriotic Zimbabweans, this day is Gukurahundi Remembrance Day. Our ZAPU-led government will make it official and we will also establish a Gukurahundi Genocide museum in Bulawayo for the nation and world to see the horrors of Gukurahundi," Gandari added.
"On this day marking the darkest chapter of our tortured history, we urge all our members and solidarity partners to wear black. Share pictures of your black attire and use black profile pictures on your social media handles. Refrain from any forms of entertainment and take time to reflect on the horrors of Gukurahundi," he added.
"Think about the hapless citizens harmed by a marauding army of heartless men called the Fifth Brigade. It is unsettling that many of them are roaming freely in our midst. Some could even be pastors at your local church, rapists and murderers who have never accounted for their dark past. Sadly, only the victims of Gukurahundi have been told to forgive and forget even where no formal apology has been issued by the government of Zimbabwe," Gandari said.
"Unity Day is a self-serving ploy by the ZANU PF-led government to cow victims of Gukurahundi into lifelong silence and resignation. As ZAPU we encourage Zimbabweans to unite daily against crime, corruption, oppression and tribalism," Gandari said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Gandari said unity is required in communities to ward off hunger and for the protection of environments.
The party also claimed that Unity Day as prescribed by the government is nothing short of a criminal scheme to destroy evidence and delay justice for victims of Gukurahundi.
"Political posturing and shedding of crocodile tears remains the government’s default strategy to buy time, hoping that the issue of Gukurahundi will eventually disappear as its victims die. No one outside the highest level of government has ever seen the report from the Dumbutshena Commision of Inquiry, established to investigate the Entumbane skirmishes between November 1980 and March 1981," Gandari said.
Similarly, ZAPU said the Chihambakwe Commission of Inquiry established by President Mugabe in 1983 to investigate the massacres of civilians in Matabeleland by the Fifth Brigade issued a report that remains hidden from the public domain.
In 2019, the Chairperson of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC), the late Retired High Court judge Selo Nare told the media that the Dumbutshena and Chihambakwe reports had been lost.
"Nothing could be further from the truth and someone somewhere knows of the whereabouts of the 'lost' reports. Perpetrators of Gukurahundi by commission are also officially known. The Zimbabwe National Army holds complete records of the list of soldiers deployed as members of the Fifth Brigade under the command of one Colonel ‘Black Jesus’ Perrance Shiri," Gandari said.
"The perpetrators of Gukurahundi are known and their trail of destruction remains evident in the parts of Matabeleland and Midlands they ravaged. Some victims of Gukurahundi can point at their rapists and torturers now decorated civil servants, diplomats or army top brass," Gandari said.
ZAPU said it marks the so-called Unity Day as a day of remembering the victims of the Ndebele Genocide (1983-1987) commonly known as Gukurahundi.
They added in a statement that the Ndebele Genocide is a microcosm of the Jewish Holocaust (1933-1945) and stands a stark reminder of the futility of having independence without freedom.
"The horrors of Gukurahundi have been documented in various ways but a platform for survivors to speak out openly remains a fleeting mirage. A chief-led Gukurahundi dialogue programme launched by President Mnangagwa in July this year remains on ice, clearly facing the stillbirth that similar window-dressing efforts have faced in the past," Gandari said in a statement.
Source - Byo24News
