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37 Years Ago - The Unity Accord
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- Written by: AI and Cannicious Nkala ZAPU Europe Province Secretary for Administration
- Category: Human Rights Violations
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Question META AI - after some probing, compiled this article from all available web sources {including ZAPU's own material}
The Gukurahundi Genocide was a series of massacres and forced disappearances that occurred in Zimbabwe, particularly in the Matabeleland region, between 1982 and 1987. The term "Gukurahundi" is derived from the Shona language and means "the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains".
Where:
The Gukurahundi Genocide primarily took place in the Matabeleland region of Zimbabwe, which is predominantly inhabited by the Ndebele people. The massacres and forced disappearances occurred in rural areas, towns, and cities, including Bulawayo, the second-largest city in Zimbabwe.
What Was Gukurahundi?
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- Written by: Mashama Petronella Mazise - Mama Petra and others
- Category: Human Rights Violations
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The term Gukurahundi {GENOCIDE} is derived from the Shona language, meaning "the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains." But, that description tries to mask the reality. It became a euphemism for the brutal military operation carried out by Zimbabwe's government in the early 1980s. The operation targeted primarily the Ndebele people, whom the ruling party, ZANU-PF, viewed as aligned with political opposition. More information {HERE on Zapu Platform, HERE on the new Gukurahundi Platform and HERE on the ZHRO Platform} in addition in 2018 another Gukurahundi Petiton was organised by the same group as this year {CLICK HERE to VIEW}
Timeline and Events
Background
Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980, with Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF forming the government.
Rivalry emerged between ZANU-PF (primarily supported by the Shona ethnic group) and PF-ZAPU, led by Joshua Nkomo and supported mainly by the Ndebele ethnic group.
Tensions escalated after PF-ZAPU members were accused of plotting against the government and of harboring dissidents.
5th December 2024 Genocide Petition
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- Written by: Team effort - ZAPU, MR2V, CCC, ROHR and ZHRO
- Category: Diaspora
- Hits: 885
Another great day to deliver a petition to the Prime Minister!
We congregated outside the newly "secured" Zimbabwe Embassy - they have got some grim looking metal security gated fabrications at the side and front entrances - to make the Embassy even less friendly or appealing to the Zimbabwean Diaspora - security concerns or Guilt? - we have to ask why these new gates - {photo on Flickr - click to see for yourself SIDE DOOR - 429 CORNER DOOR }.
True to form the guilty inside locked their doors - simply as we were there. Indeed they sent out a CIO to sit in his new BMW X6 to "observe us" - so we took their photos too - again on our Flickr Album of the day. {CLICK HERE TO SEE THE DAYS PHOTO ALBUM} Please note that due to technical constraints, the videos recorded today will take some considerable time to be 'compressed' in order to be displayed upon our Flickr Platform - so expect videos to be appearing by the weekend please.
We took some more photos with our "Zanu PF Must Go" banner and by 13:30 we sidled off towards Trafalgar Square and onto Whitehall. by 13:45 we were arranged opposite Downing Street - under the gaze of "Monty" at his commemorative statue. By the time we have said our hellos to the new supporters opposite Downing Street it was time to present our band of 6 petitioners to the Diplomatic Police Unit in control of Downing Street. Ronald T Mutumbi, was due to be the Organiser of the 6 of us today - but had 'last minute' problems which prevented him from travelling.
So we 6 lined up at the solid security gates {making the Zimbabwean Embassy gates looking a little flimsy!} at the entrance to Downing Street. Our Police Diplomatic Unit Escort - was a friendly as any tourist guide - calling us in by our first names! As some may know within those gates we have to go through Air Port Quality X-Ray machines to check all our bags, mobile phones or any metal objects.
Gukurahundi Genocide
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- Written by: Tendai Christian Mapfumo and others
- Category: Zimbabwe
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The Gukurahundi Genocide of 1983 to 1987 in Zimbabwe began with a desire and also a design by Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF political party for one-party state rule and life presidency. For all that to be achieved Joshua Nkomo and ZAPU had to be eliminated.
“ Nkomo and his guerillas are germs in the country’s wounds and they have to be cleaned up with iodine” - Edgar Tekere ( ZANU PF stalwart)
Following Zimbabwe’s independence from British rule in 1980, political tension increased between two political groups in Zimbabwe, namely the ruling African National Union (ZANU), led by Robert Mugabe, and the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU), led by Joshua Nkomo. Violence unleashed on the Ndebele people by the Mugabe-led government was a direct result of government efforts to silence the voices of minority groups and growing political critique from ZAPU.
In January 1983, the ZANU PF government of Robert Mugabe, in the newly independent Zimbabwe, launched a massive security clampdown on the Ndebele. This was both politically and ethnically motivated. At the heart of the operation was a strategy of state-ordered terror. It was perpetrated by a 4,000-strong all-Shona Fifth Brigade of the Zimbabwean National Army led by Perrance Shiri.
Although they both fought against white rule, and although Nkomo was minister of Home Affairs under Mugabe, both men distrusted each other. In 1982, Mugabe fired Nkomo, accusing him of plotting a coup to overthrow the newly independent country’s government, and promised to root out his supporters from positions of influence.
ZANU PF decided to say there were 'no go' areas, there were certain areas in the country where they would not allow a political party to participate in… These areas were where ZANLA forces had had a strong presence. ZAPU believed that would not be allowed. Nkomo actually made a very strong protest to Lord Staines to say that we can’t call that a free and fair election where you have one party refusing people to come and campaign in the areas where their forces are.
Liberation was Hijacked
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- Written by: TENDAI RUBEN MBOFANA
- Category: Zimbabwe
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The greatest tragedy to Zimbabwe was the hijacking of its liberation struggle
Yesterday, I received a heart-wrenching message from a former combatant of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle, now residing in South Africa. His words, laced with pain and disillusionment, will forever resonate with me. In his message, he recounted the harrowing experiences he and his fellow freedom fighters endured during the war, a period marked by immense trauma and sacrifice. Yet, despite the bloodshed, the suffering, and the unyielding hope for a better future, the independence that came in 1980 did not deliver the freedom or the prosperity he and so many others had envisioned.
Instead, it brought an economic and political system that seemed to intensify their hardships. For millions of Zimbabweans, including this former combatant, the post-independence era only marked a deepening of poverty and despair, culminating in his decision to leave the country in search of a better life abroad. In his final words, he asked a question that brought tears to my eyes: “Why did we go to war, and why did thousands lose their lives?”
His message struck at the heart of Zimbabwe’s greatest tragedy—one that has yet to be adequately addressed in our national discourse. Another painful reminder of this betrayal comes from the account of a different war veteran whose life I am currently documenting in a book. His story, which spans from his early years before the war, through his experiences during the liberation struggle, and into the harsh realities of post-independence Zimbabwe, paints the same tragic picture. Like many others, he joined the fight with hopes of a new, just society—one where the fruits of independence would be shared by all.
Yet, upon returning to Zimbabwe after the war, he found himself trapped in a system that prioritized the enrichment of a small political elite while the vast majority, including veterans like himself, were left to struggle. His dreams, like those of so many others, were crushed by the very government he helped to bring to power, leaving him with a deep sense of betrayal. He, too, ended up leaving the country he fought for in search of a better life.
The liberation struggle was hijacked by those who were supposed to lead the country towards a more just and equitable society.
Instead of empowering the masses, the independence movement was usurped by a small, self-interested elite whose primary goal was not freedom for all, but power and control over the nation’s wealth. This elite, driven by personal ambition rather than a genuine desire for social transformation, has systematically enriched themselves at the expense of the very people who fought to secure the country’s freedom. The liberation struggle, which should have been about the collective liberation of all Zimbabweans, has instead become a bitter reminder of the betrayal of the ideals it was meant to represent.
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