Mnangagwa Accuses Politicians For Using Gukurahundi For Political Mileage

President Munangagwa says politicians are using Gukurahundi to gain political mileage and allowing external forces to incite citizens to engage in divisive conduct.

Speaking at the launch of the Gukurahundi community engagement programme at Bulawayo State House this Monda, President said his government wants peace, accusing “external forces” of working with opposition parties in weaponising the atrocities that claimed an estimated 20 000 people in Midlands and Matabeleland provinces. He claimed:

“Despite our determination to achieve unity, our nation has not been spared of the divisive machinations of our detractors who seek to drive a wedge between our people, and generally destabilise our country,”

“The Gukurahundi issue has provided fertile ground for those who seek to retain us in a locked position of perpetual conflict and acrimony. Some political formations have sought to use the Gukurahundi issue as a political weapon which they deploy in the regions of Matabeleland and Midlands to gain political mileage for selfish political ends,”

He also blamed the external forces for using political parties to incite citizens to engage in divisive conduct.

You will have noted that whenever we approach elections, external forces using political parties which they control, make a concerted effort to incite citizens to engage in divisive conduct, ostensibly all under the quest of achieving what they term justice for the region.

Gukurahundi, which refers to the massacres by the army in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces in the early years of independence, remains unresolved several decades on.