Gukurahundi victims and other political violence victims

must go to Hell according to Patrick Chinamasa


It is one thing for people to talk about forgiveness and unity governments in future and it is another to ignore human rights abuses.

I say so because there seems to be a cunning act by people in Zanu PF to ignore human rights abuses by trying to use the law to urge Zimbabweans to forget about the gross human rights violations they committed. A heated debate took place on Tuesday in Parliament where the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Bill was discussed.

Section 9 (4) of the Bill drafted by Minister Patrick Chinamasa stipulates that the commission shall not investigate a complaint relating to an action or omission that occurred earlier than February 13, 2009. This was heavily rejected by some MDC MPs some of whom said they lost friends and relatives due to violence predating 2009.

I think this is an insult to Zimbabweans, who for many years have suffered abuse including the brutal deaths of the Gukurahundi era and other violent acts that followed â€" including those during and after the 2008 elections.

This is a move by people who continue to murder innocent civilians with impunity. I suspect that members of Mugabe's Zanu PF know very well that they may be hunted and prosecuted when their rule finally collapses.  

They are going around under the name of "land to the people" and "indigenisation" breaking laws, looting property and violating human rights in the process. By proposing the Bill with 2009 as a cut-off date, it is clear they are trying to exempt themselves from prosecution where they look forward to starting with a clean slate.

They have accumulated wealth illegally and caused great suffering amongst people over the years and now they want order. As new owners of property, they seem to be suggesting a return to rule of law because they don't want their own business to be affected by the same tactics they used to acquire it.

This unfolding pattern is dangerous to human development in Zimbabwe and a warning should be given to whoever will take over after Zanu PF that people will not be silenced by perpetrators of violence. We must lobby our Members of Parliament to reject Chinamasa's machinations.

Strong on laws that protect themselves and weak on laws that improve lives

One of the difficulties that the current government inherited from the former Zanu PF ruling party is the rot within government parastatals. Last month I wrote about how government was employing thousands of ghost workers who are probably still continuing to suck government resources which could otherwise be used to improve people's lives.

Now, we are told the rot is even worse in government parastatals. The Minister of State Parastatals, Gorden Moyo, recently said the National Railways of Zimbabwe is in a big mess and there is not yet a clear government response. This is a company that should be generating money for the country but today has a huge debt and has been operating without a properly constituted Board.

If that's the case, who are the people running NRZ and who appointed them? The Minister also raised concerns about the fact that there is no synchronisation between company activities and the number of workers employed. As citizens, we have entrusted government to run our affairs and the reality we are facing is that they are either not capable â€" or possibly not honest enough â€" to do so.