Gukurahundi hearings constitutionality questioned

The Mthwakazi Republic Party (MRP) has challenged the legality and execution of the government-led public hearings into the 1980s Gukurahundi atrocities, raising constitutional concerns and demanding clarity on the exclusion of the Midlands province from the process.

In a strongly worded letter dated June 4, addressed to Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe, MRP leader Mqondisi Moyo criticised the hearings, which are set to commence this month, for what he described as procedural flaws and lack of inclusivity. The party questioned the constitutional basis for assigning traditional chiefs to chair the hearings and demanded explanations on why communities in the Midlands — one of the regions heavily affected by the massacres — have been sidelined.

"We are especially concerned about the role the government has given to chiefs, to chair the hearing meetings in their respective communities," read the letter. "We know that the presence of chiefs is constitutional, but we want to know according to what constitutional provision has the government assigned the chiefs to chair such sensitive hearings."

MRP argued that the chiefs, who are seen as closely aligned with the government, may lack the impartiality required to preside over a process investigating state-sponsored violence. "Our concern derives from our fear of the obvious incredibility of the outcomes of the hearings, given that government was the perpetrator of Gukurahundi and the chiefs are chief among those loyal to government than they are to the actual responsibilities of chieftainship," Moyo added.

The party also raised alarm over the exclusion of the Midlands province, demanding that the Ministry provide "a comprehensive reason why communities in the Midlands province have been left out of the hearings, yet they were equally affected by the Gukurahundi genocide."

The letter was copied to several high-ranking officials, including Deputy Minister Benjamin Kabikira, Permanent Secretary John Basera, Chiefs Council President Chief Mtshane Khumalo, and acting provincial directors from Matabeleland South and North.

The hearings are part of a national outreach programme announced by President Emmerson Mnangagwa at State House in Bulawayo last year. The initiative, which aims to promote truth-telling, reconciliation, and healing, has been repeatedly delayed due to budgetary constraints.

Gukurahundi remains one of Zimbabwe's darkest chapters. According to the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe, over 20,000 civilians were killed by the North Korea-trained 5 Brigade deployed by the late former President Robert Mugabe to suppress alleged dissident activities in Matabeleland and the Midlands.

While the government has taken steps to address the long-standing issue, critics like MRP argue that any process lacking transparency, legal grounding, and community trust risks being perceived as an extension of impunity rather than a path toward justice and national healing.