Gukurahundi Tops Agenda as Mnangagwa Meets Matabeleland Chiefs

President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Vice President Constantino Chiwenga are expected to attend a high-powered meeting with chiefs from the Matabeleland region in Bulawayo on Saturday. The meeting is intended to, among other things, review progress in addressing issues related to Gukurahundi.

Traditional leaders from Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South will today and tomorrow hold meetings to deliberate on the subject ahead of the meeting with Mnangagwa on Saturday.

The Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and Local Government and Public Works officials are expected to send dignitaries and representations.

Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi on Wednesday confirmed the development, saying the chiefs are expected to add flesh on the agenda of the meeting.

“Ask the chiefs, we are just facilitators, we have been invited as well. I’m sure they will be happy to tell you because we don’t want it to appear as if it’s our meeting when it’s their meeting,” Said Ziyambi.

President of the National Council of Chiefs, Chief Charumbira who is expected to be part of the meeting said he could not comment over the phone.

But sources close to the developments told the Chronicle that the Gukurahundi issue is expected to top the agenda.

Gukurahundi refers to the 1980s massacre of an estimated 20,000 people mainly from the Ndebele ethnic group by the Zimbabwe National Army’s 5th brigade, trained by North Koreans.

Gukurahundi is derived from a Shona language term that loosely translates to “the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains”.