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High Court dismisses ZAPU bid to halt Gukurahundi hearings
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The Bulawayo High Court has dismissed an urgent application by the opposition party ZAPU seeking to stop the government-led Gukurahundi Outreach Programme, ruling that the matter did not meet the threshold for urgency.
The outreach hearings, scheduled to begin on 26 June 2025, form part of a long-awaited national initiative to address the 1980s Gukurahundi atrocities, during which an estimated 20,000 people were killed in Matabeleland and parts of the Midlands.
ZAPU had challenged the legality of the process, arguing that it lacked legitimacy and independence, particularly because it is being led by traditional chiefs under the National Council of Chiefs - a move they claim compromises impartiality. The party named President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Minister of Local Government, and the National Council of Chiefs as respondents in the application.
However, Justice Munamato Mutevedzi dismissed the case, stating it was not urgent.
"The judge said the matter was not urgent. He pointed out that we had known about this process since 2019 and yet took no action until now," said ZAPU legal advisor Vuyo Mpofu, speaking to journalists after the ruling.
ZAPU president Sibangilizwe Nkomo, in his affidavit, argued that the chiefs could not be trusted to lead a sensitive national healing process, citing a lack of legal basis for the arrangement between President Mnangagwa and the Matabeleland Collective, a grouping of civic leaders and traditional authorities.
"The Chiefs are unlikely to be impartial and unbiased in the conduct of the process," Nkomo stated.
"We believe the agreement between the President and the Matabeleland Collective has no legal foundation and does not represent the victims of Gukurahundi."
Outside court, a visibly disappointed Nkomo vowed that ZAPU would continue pushing for justice.
"It did not matter that we didn't get what we set out to achieve - stopping the hearings - but we will continue finding other ways to bring this matter to closure. We want justice for people who were killed, women who were raped. As a peace-loving organisation, we seek an amicable resolution," he said.
There was a heavy police presence around the court during the hearing. Nkomo was at one point briefly stopped from addressing reporters near the court premises.
The hearings themselves have already experienced setbacks. They were delayed from their original 26 June start date due to logistical challenges and a clash with President Mnangagwa's official visit to Bulawayo on the same day. According to Chief Mtshane Khumalo, President of the National Council of Chiefs, some local traditional leaders also had not received the necessary materials to proceed with the outreach.
Despite the court setback, civil society groups and victims' families say they remain determined to pursue genuine truth-telling, justice, and reconciliation in the aftermath of one of Zimbabwe's darkest chapters.
The outreach hearings, scheduled to begin on 26 June 2025, form part of a long-awaited national initiative to address the 1980s Gukurahundi atrocities, during which an estimated 20,000 people were killed in Matabeleland and parts of the Midlands.
ZAPU had challenged the legality of the process, arguing that it lacked legitimacy and independence, particularly because it is being led by traditional chiefs under the National Council of Chiefs - a move they claim compromises impartiality. The party named President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Minister of Local Government, and the National Council of Chiefs as respondents in the application.
However, Justice Munamato Mutevedzi dismissed the case, stating it was not urgent.
"The judge said the matter was not urgent. He pointed out that we had known about this process since 2019 and yet took no action until now," said ZAPU legal advisor Vuyo Mpofu, speaking to journalists after the ruling.
ZAPU president Sibangilizwe Nkomo, in his affidavit, argued that the chiefs could not be trusted to lead a sensitive national healing process, citing a lack of legal basis for the arrangement between President Mnangagwa and the Matabeleland Collective, a grouping of civic leaders and traditional authorities.
"The Chiefs are unlikely to be impartial and unbiased in the conduct of the process," Nkomo stated.
"We believe the agreement between the President and the Matabeleland Collective has no legal foundation and does not represent the victims of Gukurahundi."
Outside court, a visibly disappointed Nkomo vowed that ZAPU would continue pushing for justice.
"It did not matter that we didn't get what we set out to achieve - stopping the hearings - but we will continue finding other ways to bring this matter to closure. We want justice for people who were killed, women who were raped. As a peace-loving organisation, we seek an amicable resolution," he said.
There was a heavy police presence around the court during the hearing. Nkomo was at one point briefly stopped from addressing reporters near the court premises.
The hearings themselves have already experienced setbacks. They were delayed from their original 26 June start date due to logistical challenges and a clash with President Mnangagwa's official visit to Bulawayo on the same day. According to Chief Mtshane Khumalo, President of the National Council of Chiefs, some local traditional leaders also had not received the necessary materials to proceed with the outreach.
Despite the court setback, civil society groups and victims' families say they remain determined to pursue genuine truth-telling, justice, and reconciliation in the aftermath of one of Zimbabwe's darkest chapters.
Source - Cite
