via ‘Political violence healing needs closure as nightmares continue’ – The Standard January 31, 2016
DAVY NDLOVU says he will never forget the ghastly sight he beheld in 1983 — that of dead bodies piled up in a street — the day his brother was shot nine times along with many other people in his village.
MOSES MATENGA
This was during the dark period of the Gukurahundi massacres when thousands of civilians were murdered by government soldiers in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces.
Ndlovu says he does not think he will ever be able to heal from the emotional wound inflicted on him by that horrible experience.
Freddy Matonhodze too, says he has failed to recover from the trauma he suffered in 2002 when he was brutally assaulted and his tractor was burnt by Zanu PF activists in Muzarabani.
Matonhodze’s house was also destroyed in 2008 ahead of the June 27 presidential election run-off, leaving his family homeless.
Ndlovu and Matonhodze are among hundreds of victims of politically-motivated violence that has pervaded Zimbabwe since soon after Independence in 1980.
As the country awaits the drafting of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) Bill, victims say the nightmares they experienced at the hands of Zanu PF were still haunting them.
Others said the only way the horrors could perhaps go away would be for perpetrators to be brought to justice and/or when victims were compensated.
“We prefer public hearings where perpetrators will come and explain why they did what they did,” one victim of the June 27 2008 election run-off violence said.
“We have seen this working in other countries and if they can come to speak out and be open, we can have a starting point.”
Lawrence Zanga, who survived the June 27 election campaign violence, which left two MDC-T supporters dead, while several others were seriously injured in Zaka, said what was particularly painful in his case was that one of the perpetrators was a close relative and a member of the Zimbabwe National Army.
The soldier remained a free man and continued to roam the area.
Zanga said there was need for a minister, not from Zanu PF, to spearhead the process and said Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko — whose office was tasked to head the national healing process — was too compromised for the job.
“It is regrettable. As citizens and victims, we don’t want him [Mphoko] to have anything to do with that. He has shut out Gukurahundi debate and we can’t have him standing as facilitating such a process,” Zanga said.
Some of the victims of the Zaka violence had their faces disfigured and are living in agony as they can no longer fend for themselves and their families, while others were orphaned in the process.
Eddison Gwenhure, Isaac Mbanje and Kudakwashe Tsumele had their faces badly disfigured, while Washington Nyamwa from Ward 19 and Chrison Mbano from Ward 18, died after they were burnt beyond recognition when the MDC-T office they were manning was torched by Zanu PF militia and State security agents.
The victims said the stance taken by Mphoko on Gukurahundi disqualified him as the proper person to spearhead the reconciliation process.
They said Zanu PF must first accept responsibility for the murders and torture brought upon the people of Zimbabwe, then “we start talking”.
“The State must acknowledge that it was State-sponsored violence and should pay damages,” one of the victims said while contributing during the discussion.
Heal Zimbabwe Trust director Rashid Mahiya said the issue of trust was key in the matter and a minister would compromise the independence of the commission.
Political analyst Takura Zhangazha said the NPRC should be independent from government interference.
“In the first place, the proposed Bill has to be reviewed and amended to guarantee the independence of the commission from ministerial interference. As stated by Heal Zimbabwe in their recent statements, it also needs to be clear on past atrocities and the remedial action that the commission must undertake,” Zhangazha said.
“But above all, the national healing and reconciliation process should not be legalistic beyond the political understanding of victims and survivors. It must be undertaken in an inclusive and public fashion that speaks to the generality of the Zimbabwean people and builds their confidence that once the healing process has been undertaken, there shall never be a recurrence of such violent acts again.”
The main opposition party, MDC-T, says it lost hundreds of supporters through politically-motivated violence and said the reconciliation process should ensure those sad chapters were closed and justice takes its course.
MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu said Zimbabweans badly needed closure.
“There are some aspects we are not happy about. We know the commission will start looking from February 2009 going forward,” he said.
“We should put a closure to all these issues. Mugabe only said Gukurahundi was a moment of madness and ended there.
“People are traumatised; people have emotional and physical scars. In 2008, people were massacred, people were killed and those who committed offences are known and are walking free. Let’s address these things.”
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