Opinion / Columnist
Cain Mathema becoming more extreme than his masters
05 Apr 2012 at 10:39hrs | Views
THE Bulawayo Governor and Zanu-PF deputy national spokesperson Cain Mathema appear to have become more extreme than his masters, thus according to what he said recently at Midlands State University in regard to the increasing calls for Gukurahundi justice.
Since the publication of the story, by Newsday social networking sites have been buzzing with shock over what could have compelled the former PF-ZAPU cadre to turn his back on the same people he was persecuted with by the notorious 5th Brigade in the 1980s. Some have even posited that Mathema is selling out his kith and kin with three pieces of silver in a desperate bid to be as fat-rich as his counterparts. Mathema's statements have not only appalled victims of Gukurahundi, it has also stunned those who were not affected.
In a story first printed by the Newsday on the 2 April 2012, entitled No Gukurahundi payouts â€" Zanu-PF Mathema allegedly described those calling for compensation for the Gukurahundi massacres as "daft and stupid".
In this article, my aim is to explore the implications of the governor's rhetorical blunder in the wider literature of countries with similar atrocious past. Further, I propose a progressive model that can be restorative and forward-looking. The emphasis is on the importance of victims and survivors, and arguably perpetrators as well because I believe that even those who harm others require some kind of healing. Moreover, the most important aspect is acknowledgement as part of the truth aspect in an event like Gukurahundi. Once acknowledgement has been done, there should be reparations.
First, according to the Newsday, Governor Mathema said, "All those people who are saying Gukurahundi victims should be compensated are stupid and daft," Mathema …. Why should they be compensated when we had the 1987 Unity Accord? That unity was enough and there is no need for compensation… Those that talk about Gukurahundi want to act as if there were Shonas butchering the Ndebeles when it was the Britons who were butchering the people of Matabeleland and Midlands to create disharmony."
This statement is unfortunate and catastrophic, or perhaps the governor suffers from an extreme short memory. He forget two aspects, first, that Joshua Nkomo escaped to London, where he gave interview to BBC's Jeremy Paxman in tears over what Gukurahundi did to people of Matabeleland. The governor can check the Nkomo/Paxman interview on Youtube when Father Zimbabwe himself broke down in tears in the middle of an interview describing how callous the 5th Brigade was.
Secondly, President Mugabe himself has not denied that Gukurahundi operations were retrogressive particularly for a transitional nation like Zimbabwe which had just emerged from along and strenuous struggle for the liberation. Further, in a total state of admission, in 1999, President Mugabe described the Gukurahundi era as a "moment of madness" but stopped short from apologising for suffering and calamities caused the 5th Brigade in Matabeleland and Midlands areas in the 1980s.
So where does Governor Mathema's Midlands State University rhetoric fit in here? Is it lack of knowledge? or was he intoxicated when he delivered his said speech? All I can say is that, ZANU-PF will one day go, what will never go is his insult to Gukurahundi victims. I shudder to contemplate how will his children's children defend what he has said in our midst?
What is shocking me mostly is the claim by thick-headed governor that it was the British who killed Ndebeles, not Gukurahundi, what a shame! As a journalist from Matabeleland myself, I have conducted interviews with victims of Gukurahundi. I also caught up with one woman who was raped by six different soldiers while five months pregnant. The woman from Lupane, claims that up to this day she still remembers the faces of members of the 5th Brigade, in camouflage and red berets gang raping her despite profuse bleeding from her private parts. It was common by that era to use rape as torture which is a crime against humanity moreso a serious violation. The woman, now aged 56 says on her fateful day, up 15 villagers were also buried alive in a mass grave in Lupanda, a spot she is still able to identify.
There is a young man in Tsholotsho nicknamed Gukuragundi now in his 20s. He has no birth certificate and has never been to school. He born after his mother was gang-raped by members of the 5th Brigade. The boy is there in Tsholotsho, he has a Gukurahundi stigma in him because he is so much hated. His mother later committed suicide. With these live examples of crimes committed against people of Matabeleland and Midlands areas, where is the leadership in Governor Mathema? Who is he standing for in politics? I suggest the Governor must only feed his family with Zanu-PF money and shut-up.
These examples of gross human rights violations experienced during the Gukurahundi era are a challenge to the governor's speech which was heard by more than 1000 students and lecturers. The governor is either mischievous or has been forced to utter such notorious statements that risks inflicting more pain to the survivors who are still haunted by that era of barbarism.
The past can never pass until it is clarified and redressed. If we don't do that, what kind of Zimbabwe are we going to handover to our great grand children?
No country in the world has ever moved on when gross human rights violations such as torture, rape, senseless killings have not been properly addressed. On this pretext, all known transitional justice experts agree with me. For instance, Pricilla Hayner who has conducted a seminal study on all troubled societies in this world including Zimbabwe, South Africa, Rwanda etc and countries in Latin America argues that no society can move on when the very social evils that caused trauma in the society had not been directly confronted.
Further, Michael Scharf, a respected transitional justice scholar and Professor of Law and Director of the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center at Case Western Reserve University School of Law who has also presided over the U.N Cambodia Genocide Tribunal, argues that the focus on historical grievances is one aspect of truth that is important for nations with a troubled past. This entails establishing causes human rights violations that occurred and who was responsible? The endgame is redress, reparations and compensation for victims and survivors. There is no any other way of doing it in a civilised world and in a country that genuinely wants to move forward.
Contra to Governor Mathema, I propose a reparations programme for Gukurahundi victims. This should be executed through a Truth and Reconciliation Commission being run by church leaders and non-partisan academics who will properly document their operations for the sake of our history. That way, Zimbabwe will be able to avoid perpetuating the legacy of awful history transmitted to the next generation on either side. I fear, if we follow the governor's no-compensation for wrongs policy, Zimbabwe might breed the psycho-social dynamics of tribal antagonism and contempt of citizenship.
In Cambodia, Rwanda and East Timor, details of the massacres were officially documented, but the continuing denial of culpability and defence of their actions by those accused of mass human rights violations has led Cambodians, Rwandans and East Timorese to increase calls for social justice and in particular acknowledgement as part of peace-building.
These arguments are imperative in the midst of our age, not because of tribal sentiments as claimed by the governor but for the future generations of my beloved country.
-------------------
Admore Tshuma is a former journalist now an expert in social justice and is based in England.
Since the publication of the story, by Newsday social networking sites have been buzzing with shock over what could have compelled the former PF-ZAPU cadre to turn his back on the same people he was persecuted with by the notorious 5th Brigade in the 1980s. Some have even posited that Mathema is selling out his kith and kin with three pieces of silver in a desperate bid to be as fat-rich as his counterparts. Mathema's statements have not only appalled victims of Gukurahundi, it has also stunned those who were not affected.
In a story first printed by the Newsday on the 2 April 2012, entitled No Gukurahundi payouts â€" Zanu-PF Mathema allegedly described those calling for compensation for the Gukurahundi massacres as "daft and stupid".
In this article, my aim is to explore the implications of the governor's rhetorical blunder in the wider literature of countries with similar atrocious past. Further, I propose a progressive model that can be restorative and forward-looking. The emphasis is on the importance of victims and survivors, and arguably perpetrators as well because I believe that even those who harm others require some kind of healing. Moreover, the most important aspect is acknowledgement as part of the truth aspect in an event like Gukurahundi. Once acknowledgement has been done, there should be reparations.
First, according to the Newsday, Governor Mathema said, "All those people who are saying Gukurahundi victims should be compensated are stupid and daft," Mathema …. Why should they be compensated when we had the 1987 Unity Accord? That unity was enough and there is no need for compensation… Those that talk about Gukurahundi want to act as if there were Shonas butchering the Ndebeles when it was the Britons who were butchering the people of Matabeleland and Midlands to create disharmony."
This statement is unfortunate and catastrophic, or perhaps the governor suffers from an extreme short memory. He forget two aspects, first, that Joshua Nkomo escaped to London, where he gave interview to BBC's Jeremy Paxman in tears over what Gukurahundi did to people of Matabeleland. The governor can check the Nkomo/Paxman interview on Youtube when Father Zimbabwe himself broke down in tears in the middle of an interview describing how callous the 5th Brigade was.
Secondly, President Mugabe himself has not denied that Gukurahundi operations were retrogressive particularly for a transitional nation like Zimbabwe which had just emerged from along and strenuous struggle for the liberation. Further, in a total state of admission, in 1999, President Mugabe described the Gukurahundi era as a "moment of madness" but stopped short from apologising for suffering and calamities caused the 5th Brigade in Matabeleland and Midlands areas in the 1980s.
So where does Governor Mathema's Midlands State University rhetoric fit in here? Is it lack of knowledge? or was he intoxicated when he delivered his said speech? All I can say is that, ZANU-PF will one day go, what will never go is his insult to Gukurahundi victims. I shudder to contemplate how will his children's children defend what he has said in our midst?
What is shocking me mostly is the claim by thick-headed governor that it was the British who killed Ndebeles, not Gukurahundi, what a shame! As a journalist from Matabeleland myself, I have conducted interviews with victims of Gukurahundi. I also caught up with one woman who was raped by six different soldiers while five months pregnant. The woman from Lupane, claims that up to this day she still remembers the faces of members of the 5th Brigade, in camouflage and red berets gang raping her despite profuse bleeding from her private parts. It was common by that era to use rape as torture which is a crime against humanity moreso a serious violation. The woman, now aged 56 says on her fateful day, up 15 villagers were also buried alive in a mass grave in Lupanda, a spot she is still able to identify.
There is a young man in Tsholotsho nicknamed Gukuragundi now in his 20s. He has no birth certificate and has never been to school. He born after his mother was gang-raped by members of the 5th Brigade. The boy is there in Tsholotsho, he has a Gukurahundi stigma in him because he is so much hated. His mother later committed suicide. With these live examples of crimes committed against people of Matabeleland and Midlands areas, where is the leadership in Governor Mathema? Who is he standing for in politics? I suggest the Governor must only feed his family with Zanu-PF money and shut-up.
These examples of gross human rights violations experienced during the Gukurahundi era are a challenge to the governor's speech which was heard by more than 1000 students and lecturers. The governor is either mischievous or has been forced to utter such notorious statements that risks inflicting more pain to the survivors who are still haunted by that era of barbarism.
The past can never pass until it is clarified and redressed. If we don't do that, what kind of Zimbabwe are we going to handover to our great grand children?
No country in the world has ever moved on when gross human rights violations such as torture, rape, senseless killings have not been properly addressed. On this pretext, all known transitional justice experts agree with me. For instance, Pricilla Hayner who has conducted a seminal study on all troubled societies in this world including Zimbabwe, South Africa, Rwanda etc and countries in Latin America argues that no society can move on when the very social evils that caused trauma in the society had not been directly confronted.
Further, Michael Scharf, a respected transitional justice scholar and Professor of Law and Director of the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center at Case Western Reserve University School of Law who has also presided over the U.N Cambodia Genocide Tribunal, argues that the focus on historical grievances is one aspect of truth that is important for nations with a troubled past. This entails establishing causes human rights violations that occurred and who was responsible? The endgame is redress, reparations and compensation for victims and survivors. There is no any other way of doing it in a civilised world and in a country that genuinely wants to move forward.
Contra to Governor Mathema, I propose a reparations programme for Gukurahundi victims. This should be executed through a Truth and Reconciliation Commission being run by church leaders and non-partisan academics who will properly document their operations for the sake of our history. That way, Zimbabwe will be able to avoid perpetuating the legacy of awful history transmitted to the next generation on either side. I fear, if we follow the governor's no-compensation for wrongs policy, Zimbabwe might breed the psycho-social dynamics of tribal antagonism and contempt of citizenship.
In Cambodia, Rwanda and East Timor, details of the massacres were officially documented, but the continuing denial of culpability and defence of their actions by those accused of mass human rights violations has led Cambodians, Rwandans and East Timorese to increase calls for social justice and in particular acknowledgement as part of peace-building.
These arguments are imperative in the midst of our age, not because of tribal sentiments as claimed by the governor but for the future generations of my beloved country.
-------------------
Admore Tshuma is a former journalist now an expert in social justice and is based in England.
Source - Admore Tshuma
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