Mnangagwa dismisses Coltart’s claims | The Herald March 22, 2016
Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa has dismissed as false and malicious, claims by former Education Minister Mr David Coltart that he had made inflammatory statements that could have fomented Gukurahundi killings in the 1980s.
Mr Coltart’s sentiments were published in Alpha Media Holdings’ Southern Eye edition last week.
In a statement yesterday, VP Mnangagwa said: “The Vice President and Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Honourable E.D Mnangagwa, has noted with concern the contents of an article entitled ‘Coltart Shines Light on VP’s Gukurahundi Role’ which appeared in the Southern Eye section of the NewsDay edition of 17th March 2016.
“The article purports to be quoting extracts from Mr David Coltart’s recent autobiography. The NewsDay article reports that Mr David Coltart alleges in his autobiography that the Honourable Vice President E.D Mnangagwa addressed a rally in Lupane on a date that is not specified, but sometime in the 1980s and said that the Government had the option of ‘burning down…all villages infested with dissidents’ amongst others statements inciting violence against civilians.
“The Vice President E.D Mnangagwa wishes to communicate that all the statements attributed to him in this article are a total fabrication and that at no stage during the 1980s did he address a rally in Lupane nor did he at any other venue utter those words in the article in question.
“The Vice President’s legal practitioners are currently perusing Mr David Coltart’s autobiography to ascertain the accuracy of the report in the NewsDay newspaper before considering appropriate action to be taken to address these false and malicious statements.”
The article further quoted Mr Coltart as stating that VP Mnangagwa addressing the same Lupane rally said: “The campaign against dissidents can only succeed if the infrastructure which nurtures them is destroyed.”
It goes on to say the VP described dissidents as “cockroaches” and the Fifth Brigade as “DDT”, a deadly pesticide used to exterminate vermin. The NewsDay article further quoted Mr Coltart saying the VP had said: “Blessed are they who will follow the path of the government laws, for their days on earth will be increased. But woe unto those who will choose the path of collaboration with dissidents for we will certainly shorten their stay on earth.”
COMMENTS
Did David Coltart in his story also write about the atrocities he himself and his mates (E. Maigurira, Gunda) committed in the late 1970s when he was in the Rhodesian security forces? He may have forgotten because he was the killer and maimer, but we don’t forget, because we are the victims.
The allegations by David Coltart can not be anything new. I grew up in the 80’s myself and Mnangagwa was the responsible minister for unleashing Gukurahundi onto Matebeleland. I always had a feeling that now that Mnangagwa is eyeing the Presidency, he would try by all means to launder his image and to distance himself as far as possible from the Gukurahundi debacle. I do not believe that Coltart is dreaming up these allegations.
Mnangagwa, be gentleman enough and own up to your past. You guys never thought we would come to a point where you atrocities and misdeeds would be questioned. the time should come for you to face the music in a real court of law
Dear machakachaka,
You have been reading too much “History according to ZPF”. Did you know that the bulk of the 30,000 black people killed in the war, most were killed by ZANLA and also some by ZIPRA?
I am not saying that some of the Rhodesian forces did not do unacceptable things but the amnesty in 1980 was mainly because Zanu were frightened of being held accountable. And gukrahunda was just the war re-enacted