Mujuru's misplaced priorities about gukurahundi

In this article I will write from the premise that Joice Mujuru made a genuine mistake by wanting to go to Bhalagwe, therefore instead of criticising her misjudgement I will be suggesting solutions, the way she should have gone about it and the way she should go about it in the future.

For those who do not know any thing about gukurahundi, it is the genocide which was perpetrated against the people of Matebeleland by the government of Robert Mugabe, which Joice Mujuru served in from 1980 to 2014. Mainly we refer to the years 1983 to 1987, this period however represent the military and physical extermination of the Matebele, in actual fact the genocide never stopped till this day. During the gukurahundi genocide era Mujuru's husband Solomon Mujuru was the Minister of Defence responsible for all military, quasi-military operations in and outside the country. So far there is no direct evidence linking him to the genocide, however we all know that he knew about the genocide and he never condemned it. What we know for sure without any shadow of doubt is that he was guilty of the genocide on collective responsibility terms, which in turn makes Joice Mujuru equally responsible.

Working from this premise of Joice Mujuru being guilty of the genocide, it is understandable the uproar which she met when she promised that she wanted to go to Bhalagwe. As I said I will assume that she genuinely made a mistake or she was mid-advised, maybe by her Matebele lackeys who are now defending her mistake.

Mujuru having been part of the system that decimated the Matebeles and continues to do so she should have followed proper protocols. Mujuru should have first acknowledged the genocide publicly, secondly she should have apologised for her husband and her own involvement, whether the involvement was direct or not. These two are not enough, she should have gone ahead and disclosed what happened to the Chihambagwe Commission report and also to the Dumbutshena Report, but above all she should have revealed the names of those who were directly involved, of course we know Mugabe, Perence Shiri, Sydney Sekeramai and others, what people need is the list of everybody who was directly involved including the names of gukurahundi soldiers.

Once she does this she then needs to apologise again and only after that she can go ahead and consult with everyone who was affected on whether they can authorise her journey to the shrine where thousands perished for being Ndebele.

Political grandstanding does not work anymore, the people of Matebeleland are angry and they are right to be angry. The people of Matebeleland deserve respect. It is a shame that those who hail from the region are the ones defending Mujuru's stunt. The people of Matebeleland should stop singing out of tune for their meal, gukurahundi genocide is one thing which should unite the whole of Matebeleland, nobody from other regions should come and divide them on this important issue.

I hope I did not insult Joice Mujuru for I really tried to tone down my writing and I am hoping that my advice will be considered seriously.