The Unity Accord and Gukurahundi

The Unity Accord signed between Zanu-PF and Zapu on December 22, 1987, is widely celebrated as a historic milestone in Zimbabwe's post-independence history. For the first time since the deployment of the 5th Brigade in Matabeleland in 1983, marked by the brutal Gukurahundi campaign, communities in the region experienced a cessation of direct violence. Curfews were lifted, roadblocks removed, and daily life, including access to schools, clinics, and markets, returned to some semblance of normalcy.

Yet, beneath this veneer of "national unity" lies a legacy of unaddressed trauma and injustice. The Unity Accord, while halting physical violence, was fundamentally a top-down agreement engineered by political elites, predominantly Zanu-PF, the architects of the Gukurahundi atrocities. As Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni aptly described in 2009, the Accord amounted to "a surrender pact," where Zapu, the victim, was effectively absorbed by its oppressor. The peace it promised was procedural, not restorative.

The negotiation process itself was exclusionary, elite-driven, and deeply flawed. Zanu-PF could not, and would not, hold itself accountable for crimes committed under its watch. Victims of Gukurahundi were largely absent from the discussions, their suffering swept aside. Clause 8 of the Accord, which required Zapu to take measures to end insecurity in Matabeleland, perversely placed the burden on the victim rather than addressing the culpability of the perpetrators.

Truth-seeking, trauma healing, remorse, accountability, compensation, and genuine reconciliation were glaringly absent. Robert Mugabe's later characterization of Gukurahundi as "a moment of madness" remains an ambiguous and hollow acknowledgment, failing to provide clarity or justice. The Accord succeeded primarily in consolidating elite power: Joshua Nkomo became vice-president, and a few Zapu officials were given cabinet posts, while ordinary citizens were left with unresolved grief and unanswered questions.

Thirty years later, President Emmerson Mnangagwa's promises to address past human rights violations, including through the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC), have largely amounted to performative gestures. From 2018 to the termination of its term in 2023, the NPRC failed to take substantive action on Gukurahundi, revealing that the initiative was more of a public relations exercise than a meaningful pursuit of justice. Mnangagwa's personal involvement in the 1980s as State Security Minister complicates any genuine truth-telling, as accountability would inevitably implicate him and his close associates.

The structural imbalance of power remains the greatest obstacle to justice. Traumatized victims face a political elite that continues to dominate the state, with little incentive to admit guilt or offer redress. Contemporary initiatives, such as the Gukurahundi community outreach program, rely exclusively on traditional leaders who are widely perceived as partisan and co-opted by Zanu-PF. This top-down approach mirrors the Unity Accord itself, leaving communities skeptical and alienated, with the outcomes predetermined and the process lacking legitimacy.

In essence, the Unity Accord and its contemporary echoes reveal a pattern in Zimbabwean politics: peace and reconciliation are defined and administered by perpetrators rather than inclusive, participatory processes. True justice remains elusive for the victims of Gukurahundi, and the political elite's insistence on controlling the narrative ensures that the wounds of the past continue to fester. Until acknowledgment, accountability, and genuine reconciliation are prioritized over political expediency, the promise of unity remains incomplete, and the people of Matabeleland continue to bear the cost.