News / Press Release
1893MRM condemns the government's treatment of Chief Vezi Maduna Mafu
25 Nov 2018 at 07:20hrs | Views
Recent reports about the treatment of Chief Maduna by Zimbabwe's government through the country's secret security services are greatly condemned by our Movement for human and peoples' rights. Chief Maduna had done what every Zimbabwean has a constitutional right to do, which is to express his opinions freely within a democratic country and society.
The move by Chief Maduna to write a petition to Zimbabwe's President, Emmerson Mnangagwa should not have been or be taken as a national security risk, a fact of which it certainly was not. Why would a respected cultural leader of the stature and an elderly as Chief Maduna want to take time writing to the President of Zimbabwe a letter or petition intended to destabilize the country? 1893MRM has had the honor of reading the open petition written by chief Maduna to President Emmerson Mnangagwa and our analysis of Chief Maduna's petition is that he certainly wrote the petition out of an intent and a spirit of despair, discontent and frustrations over the state ignored suffering of his local populace of Filabusi and the region of Matebeleland in general. Chief Maduna's petition cites many issues that are real and genuine matters of concern affecting the people of Mthwakazi todate.
In the petition to President Mnangagwa, Chief Maduna states the following: "The issues that I want to discuss with you are: the secret issuance of 17 Mining Executive Prospecting Orders (EPO) which costs $20 per ha/year in Matabeleland South e.g. the EPO for Lithium which covers Shapi-Mashongola-Gwatemba in Guyu-Ntepe-crossing Tuli rivers, this means we have no land as chiefs for economic devolution which you proclaimed since all mining EPOs were given to Harare guys and considering precedence mining EPOs have over any activity in that area or land."
Chief Maduna also goes on to relate to local agricultural interests of land that has been misappropriated from local indigenous citizens of his community, who have then been displaced with disregard to their well being and indigenous property rights and cultural heritage.
The summoning of Chief Maduna by the country's Central Intelligence Office through the official of District Intelligence Officer of Filabusi, Mr. Mlotshwa is yet another piece of evidence that people of Mthwakazi nation (Matebeleland and Midlands) do not matter in Zimbabwe's tribal and ethnic biased government politics. We have noted on numerous instances that when concerns are brought forth by residents of Mthwakazi over targeted abuses, displacements and other forms of systematic discrimination and subjugation, such reports by abaThwakazi are immediately written off as tribalistic reports and 'unwarranted' reactions by Ndebele people. Since independence the trend has been that a good Mthwakazi national is one that knows his place in Zimbabwe – which is to only be seen but never be heard and to always remember to remain silent, no matter what abuse they face or feel. This is certainly not a sustainable system of eliminating the significance of our very respectful multi tribal Mthwakazi Ndebele nation. The government of Zimbabwe ought to know that Zimbabwe is indeed a shared territory between two pre-colonial sovereignties whose share of control and power should have been administered equally at the Lancaster House Agreement and beyond, leading to the independence of Zimbabwe after which Mthwakazi was cast to the gallows of Gukurahundi as unwanted "chaff" and human "cockroaches".
If the real agenda of President Mnangagwa and his government are that of a renewed dispensation being sold as having the interests of all Zimbabweans at heart, then such welcome commitment should be announced in the truest of the meaning of its statement, without hidden agendas and prosecutions contrary.
We would have expected that the response by Mnangagwa and his government to Chief Maduna would have been indeed a meeting accepted by the President himself or in the least of responses a letter from the President himself or his office stating their position as a government, to the concerns expressed by Chief Maduna. For the government to respond to Chief Maduna by summoning his presence to the offices of District Intelligence Officer, Mr. Mlotshwa so that Chief Maduna is then subjected to colonial style regional arrest (targerted politically motivated movement restrictions) is indeed contrary to the marketed patriotic spirit of freedom and democracy to the people by our 'democratic' government.
1893 Mthwakazi Restoration Movement would like the government of Zimbabwe to be ashamed at the ironic treatment of Chief Maduna who has now been instructed to report to the country's Central Intelligence Offices in the event that he desires to travel outside his community of Filabusi. We would like the government o Zimbabwe to immediately retract such instruction against Chief Maduna so that the elderly father remains a free man to travel the world and most importantly Zimbabwe wherever and to whenever he desires.
1893mrm has also learnt that Chief Maduna, upon being ignored by the Zimbabwean President - on November 13th 2018 wrote a letter to the Unite Nations seeking international intervention into the cover-up or belittling of the Gukurahundi genocide by the Zimbabwe government. While all efforts to have an independent commission of inquiry into the atrocities have been ignored by both Mnangagwa's government as well as Mugabe's government, Mnangagwa's government has paid over a million United States dollars towards hiring an international commission of expert from the United Nations, SADC, other African States and Zimbabwean human rights experts to investigate the military killings of six civilians in the post election violence of the July 30 2018 elections in Harare on August 1st 2018 - a clear hypocrisy in relation to the government's treatment of the Gukurahundi genocide where hundreds of thousands civilians were massacred and millions left permanently traumatized or disabled and displaced by the Zimbabwean military between 1980 and 1987.
1893 Mthwakazi Restoration Movement (1893mrm) is a registered Movement Trust in Zimbabwe. We are a non-profit, non-political, non-governmental human rights and Restoration Movement. We believe in peace, justice and equality to all, irregardless of tribe, race, sex, nationality or other social and human differences that make Mthwakazi the rainbow nation that it is. We also believe in Self-determination and sovereignty rights to every nation.
The move by Chief Maduna to write a petition to Zimbabwe's President, Emmerson Mnangagwa should not have been or be taken as a national security risk, a fact of which it certainly was not. Why would a respected cultural leader of the stature and an elderly as Chief Maduna want to take time writing to the President of Zimbabwe a letter or petition intended to destabilize the country? 1893MRM has had the honor of reading the open petition written by chief Maduna to President Emmerson Mnangagwa and our analysis of Chief Maduna's petition is that he certainly wrote the petition out of an intent and a spirit of despair, discontent and frustrations over the state ignored suffering of his local populace of Filabusi and the region of Matebeleland in general. Chief Maduna's petition cites many issues that are real and genuine matters of concern affecting the people of Mthwakazi todate.
In the petition to President Mnangagwa, Chief Maduna states the following: "The issues that I want to discuss with you are: the secret issuance of 17 Mining Executive Prospecting Orders (EPO) which costs $20 per ha/year in Matabeleland South e.g. the EPO for Lithium which covers Shapi-Mashongola-Gwatemba in Guyu-Ntepe-crossing Tuli rivers, this means we have no land as chiefs for economic devolution which you proclaimed since all mining EPOs were given to Harare guys and considering precedence mining EPOs have over any activity in that area or land."
Chief Maduna also goes on to relate to local agricultural interests of land that has been misappropriated from local indigenous citizens of his community, who have then been displaced with disregard to their well being and indigenous property rights and cultural heritage.
The summoning of Chief Maduna by the country's Central Intelligence Office through the official of District Intelligence Officer of Filabusi, Mr. Mlotshwa is yet another piece of evidence that people of Mthwakazi nation (Matebeleland and Midlands) do not matter in Zimbabwe's tribal and ethnic biased government politics. We have noted on numerous instances that when concerns are brought forth by residents of Mthwakazi over targeted abuses, displacements and other forms of systematic discrimination and subjugation, such reports by abaThwakazi are immediately written off as tribalistic reports and 'unwarranted' reactions by Ndebele people. Since independence the trend has been that a good Mthwakazi national is one that knows his place in Zimbabwe – which is to only be seen but never be heard and to always remember to remain silent, no matter what abuse they face or feel. This is certainly not a sustainable system of eliminating the significance of our very respectful multi tribal Mthwakazi Ndebele nation. The government of Zimbabwe ought to know that Zimbabwe is indeed a shared territory between two pre-colonial sovereignties whose share of control and power should have been administered equally at the Lancaster House Agreement and beyond, leading to the independence of Zimbabwe after which Mthwakazi was cast to the gallows of Gukurahundi as unwanted "chaff" and human "cockroaches".
If the real agenda of President Mnangagwa and his government are that of a renewed dispensation being sold as having the interests of all Zimbabweans at heart, then such welcome commitment should be announced in the truest of the meaning of its statement, without hidden agendas and prosecutions contrary.
We would have expected that the response by Mnangagwa and his government to Chief Maduna would have been indeed a meeting accepted by the President himself or in the least of responses a letter from the President himself or his office stating their position as a government, to the concerns expressed by Chief Maduna. For the government to respond to Chief Maduna by summoning his presence to the offices of District Intelligence Officer, Mr. Mlotshwa so that Chief Maduna is then subjected to colonial style regional arrest (targerted politically motivated movement restrictions) is indeed contrary to the marketed patriotic spirit of freedom and democracy to the people by our 'democratic' government.
1893 Mthwakazi Restoration Movement would like the government of Zimbabwe to be ashamed at the ironic treatment of Chief Maduna who has now been instructed to report to the country's Central Intelligence Offices in the event that he desires to travel outside his community of Filabusi. We would like the government o Zimbabwe to immediately retract such instruction against Chief Maduna so that the elderly father remains a free man to travel the world and most importantly Zimbabwe wherever and to whenever he desires.
1893mrm has also learnt that Chief Maduna, upon being ignored by the Zimbabwean President - on November 13th 2018 wrote a letter to the Unite Nations seeking international intervention into the cover-up or belittling of the Gukurahundi genocide by the Zimbabwe government. While all efforts to have an independent commission of inquiry into the atrocities have been ignored by both Mnangagwa's government as well as Mugabe's government, Mnangagwa's government has paid over a million United States dollars towards hiring an international commission of expert from the United Nations, SADC, other African States and Zimbabwean human rights experts to investigate the military killings of six civilians in the post election violence of the July 30 2018 elections in Harare on August 1st 2018 - a clear hypocrisy in relation to the government's treatment of the Gukurahundi genocide where hundreds of thousands civilians were massacred and millions left permanently traumatized or disabled and displaced by the Zimbabwean military between 1980 and 1987.
1893 Mthwakazi Restoration Movement (1893mrm) is a registered Movement Trust in Zimbabwe. We are a non-profit, non-political, non-governmental human rights and Restoration Movement. We believe in peace, justice and equality to all, irregardless of tribe, race, sex, nationality or other social and human differences that make Mthwakazi the rainbow nation that it is. We also believe in Self-determination and sovereignty rights to every nation.
Source - 1893MRM
