Midlands Gukurahundi victims fear being forgotten

Ward 20 Councillor Ganagana Moyo has called for communities in Midlands Province affected by Gukurahundi to be included in ongoing efforts to document victims, preserve historical records and support national healing.

Moyo said communities in Lower Gwelo, Zhombe and Silobela continued to grapple with unanswered questions about relatives who disappeared, were tortured or were killed during the Gukurahundi period.

He was speaking on Monday during commemorations of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, hosted by Ibhetshu Likazulu under the theme "Remembering the disappeared: Truth telling, justice and healing."

The event was held in line with this year's global theme, "Victims first. Action now."

Moyo said the experiences of Midlands communities required greater attention as Zimbabwe pursued efforts towards healing and reconciliation.

He pointed to the recent discovery of human remains at a mine in Silobela, saying it had renewed the urgency of establishing the identities and circumstances surrounding people who disappeared during Gukurahundi.

"Recently we discovered bones in a mine in Silobela. I approached all offices which I thought would help, also approached the resident Minister, DISPOL, and told them that these might be Gukurahundi victims," he said.

Moyo said mining operations were temporarily halted after he raised concerns that the remains could be linked to victims of the massacres.

He said the remains were subsequently taken to a police station before being transferred to a museum, but he was still seeking clarity on their status.

"I made a follow-up looking for them at the museum. Unfortunately, I found the senior officers not there. I am still yet to go there to make a follow-up," he said.

The councillor said the lack of sustained documentation of Gukurahundi in Midlands was particularly concerning as survivors and witnesses continued to age.

He warned that failing to record their experiences could result in younger generations losing access to important historical information.

"I am afraid that if we all die, the younger generation will just sit and do nothing. They don't have enough information," Moyo said.

He called for community-based initiatives aimed at reaching young people in rural areas and preserving the history of Gukurahundi.

"If resources permit, we should go down into deep rural areas and engage young people through soccer, tell them the history," he said.

Moyo said residents of Lower Gwelo, Zhombe and Silobela should be given opportunities to tell their stories and have their experiences formally documented as part of the broader national healing process.

"My plea is that Midlands, Lower Gwelo, Zhombe, Silobela, we have people in the bush asking what they died for. We are not in the consultation programme so that they also can speak their stories," he said.

Meanwhile, Ibhetshu Likazulu secretary-general Mbuso Fuzwayo said establishing the identities of victims was essential to determining the scale of enforced disappearances and helping families obtain answers.

Fuzwayo said many families could remember the circumstances in which their relatives were abducted but had little information about what happened afterwards.

He said traditional leaders had begun consultations with communities, but argued that simply recording people's experiences was not enough without identifying those who disappeared.

"The chiefs started their programme last year of going to the people to ask people what they experienced, but daily our question has been, if you ask people what they experienced, those who have relatives who were abducted only remember the day they were abducted. They don't know what happened afterwards," he said.

Fuzwayo said Ibhetshu Likazulu had been collecting the names of people who disappeared during the Smith-era period and in the years preceding Gukurahundi, but more work was required to establish a comprehensive record.

"What we did as an organisation is to record the names of those who were abducted during the Smith regime around 1982 before Gukurahundi. We are still trying to collect names," he said.

He urged communities to develop a culture of identifying victims by name, arguing that this would help ensure they were not erased from Zimbabwe's history.

"Let us develop the culture of naming the victims. If we are able to do that it will be easy," Fuzwayo said.

Fuzwayo also criticised the continued use of abductions and intimidation as tools of political control, saying Zimbabwe needed to confront a broader culture of political intolerance regardless of which party was in power.

"If I as Fuzwayo do wrong, there is nothing stopping the government from arresting me and taking me to court," he said.

He said the issue of enforced disappearances should not be viewed solely through the lens of Gukurahundi, but required a broader national commitment to accountability, justice and respect for human rights.

"What's scaring me is that when I look at the opposition party, when they also get into power they will also abduct people because we have an intolerance which is demonic," Fuzwayo said.