However,
questions
over
the
credibility
of
the
national
healing
process
continue
to
linger
after
the
government
has
indicated
the
hearing
phase
could
conclude
within
months.
This
has
led
to
growing
calls
for
clarity
on
whether
the
testimonies
will
be
made
public
or
a
transparent
compensation
framework
would
be
established
and
if
those
responsible
for
the
abuses
will
face
prosecution.
This
week,
Attorney-General
Virginia
Mabiza,
who
heads
the
secretariat
of
the
Matabeleland
Peacebuilding
Outreach
Programme,
revealed
to
state
controlled
media
that
the
cumulative
number
of
documented
testimonies
had
now
surpassed
25
000.
Mabiza
indicated
the
community
consultative
programme,
launched
by
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa
in
July
2024
yet
officially
started
last
year
in
June
could
move
towards
conclusion
within
the
next
four
months.
The
hearings,
spearheaded
by
traditional
leaders
across
Matabeleland
North
and
South,
are
part
of
what
the
government
describes
as
a
“home-grown
solution”
to
solve
the
1980s
genocide.
However,
for
observers,
the
sheer
number
of
testimonies
collected
four
decades
after
the
violence
underscores
the
magnitude
of
the
atrocities
and
raises
urgent
questions
about
truth-telling,
accountability
and
compensation.
Bulawayo
mayor
and
human
rights
lawyer
David
Coltart
said
the
figure
itself
is
telling.
“The
fact
that
25
000
people
gave
testimony
regarding
Gukurahundi
human
rights
abuses
over
40
years
since
they
happened
in
itself
demonstrates
Gukurahundi’s
horrendous
scale,”
he
said.
Coltart
was
one
of
the
contributors
to
the
1997
landmark
report,
Breaking
the
Silence,
Building
True
Peace,
compiled
by
the
Catholic
Commission
for
Justice
and
Peace
(CCJP)
and
the
Legal
Resources
Foundation.
The
report
documented
widespread
killings,
torture
and
sexual
violence
in
Matabeleland
and
parts
of
the
Midlands
during
the
early
years
of
independence.
“When
we
published
‘Breaking
the
Silence’
in
1997
we
said
it
was
written
conservatively
to
make
sure
that
its
findings
could
never
be
challenged
or
disputed,
which
they
haven’t
ever
been,”
Coltart
said.
“These
testimonies
show
that
the
murders,
rapes,
torture
and
other
abuses
documented
in
‘Breaking
the
Silence’
were
just
the
tip
of
the
iceberg.”
Between
1983
and
1987,
the
North
Korea-trained
Fifth
Brigade
carried
out
operations
in
Matabeleland
provinces
and
parts
of
Midlands
following
allegations
of
dissident
activity.
The
crackdown
left
thousands
of
civilians
dead
and
many
more
traumatised,
according
to
civic
groups.
Coltart
said
the
next
phase
of
the
process
would
be
crucial.
“The
first
question
we
now
face
is
whether
the
testimony
of
these
25
000
witnesses
is
ever
going
to
be
published
so
that
the
public
knows
the
truth,”
he
said.
“Secondly,
what
is
the
government
going
to
do
to
compensate
those
who
have
suffered
so
much?
Thirdly,
what
is
the
government
going
to
do
to
bring
the
perpetrators
of
such
abuse
to
justice?
Finally,
what
is
the
government
going
to
do
to
ensure
that
Zimbabweans
are
never
again
subjected
to
such
crimes
against
humanity?”
These
questions
were
echoed
by
political
analyst
Mxolisi
Ncube,
who
expressed
scepticism
about
the
structure
and
intent
of
the
current
process.
“What
should
worry
people
most
is
that,
if
the
government
were
this
genuine
about
the
process,
why
conduct
a
separate
after-the-fact,
closed-door
hearing
process
instead
of
just
using
the
already
existing
literature
from
the
Chihambakwe
and
Dumbutshena
reports,
and
civic
group
reports
by
the
likes
of
the
CCJP
report?”
he
said.
Ncube
noted
some
of
those
currently
in
government
were
part
of
the
political
establishment
during
the
period
under
review.
“Some
of
the
people
who
are
in
charge
of
the
government
right
now
are
those
who
were
directly
involved
in
the
atrocities,
they
know
the
reasons
and
impact
of
Gukurahundi
in
Matabeleland
as
well
as
the
after-effects
on
the
country’s
social
fabric,”
he
said,
arguing
the
initiative
risks
being
reduced
to
a
symbolic
exercise.
“I
think
this
whole
process
lacks
the
genuine
spirit
of
seeking
to
resolve
the
atrocities
and
is
only
meant
to
lead
to
a
pre-planned
‘case-closed’
declaration
of
peace
with
neither
reconciliation
nor
justice.
“It’s
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa
desperately
trying
to
give
credence
and
substance
to
his
‘let
bygones
be
bygones’
declaration,
this
time
claiming
it’s
from
the
victims
themselves.”
Ngqabutho
Nicholas
Mabhena,
leader
of
the
Zimbabwe
Communist
Party
(ZCP),
also
raised
concerns
about
transparency
and
questioned
the
reliability
of
the
25
000
figure
in
the
absence
of
independent
oversight.
“We
do
not
have
evidence
that
what
the
government
is
saying
is
accurate
but
we
rely
on
the
media
to
report.
So
if
the
government
says
it
has
received
or
collected
25
000
testimonials
we
do
not
know,”
Mabhena
said.
He
pointed
out
that
victims
in
the
Diaspora
may
have
been
excluded
and
that
the
closed
nature
of
the
hearings,
from
which
the
media
was
barred,
makes
verification
difficult.
“Because
of
the
media
blackout,
we
do
not
know
if
victims
were
able
to
present
the
testimonies
without
any
fear
or
intimidation.
Since
this
was
a
closed
testimony,
we
suspect,
given
the
nature
of
our
body
politics
in
Zimbabwe,
that
victims
may
have
been
intimidated
to
give
testimonies,”
he
claimed.
Mabhena
noted
that
compensation
should
not
precede
a
full,
independent
investigation.
“In
our
view,
when
we
talk
of
compensation
it
must
be
the
last
to
be
done
after
an
international
body
has
investigated
the
circumstances
that
led
to
Gukurahundi
and
the
genocide’s
modus
operandi,”
he
said.
He
questioned
whether
traditional
leaders
have
the
institutional
capacity
to
handle
such
a
complex
and
politically
sensitive
matter,
arguing
that
the
historical
context
involves
international
dimensions
that
require
scrutiny.
Mabhena
referenced
the
role
of
former
Prime
Minister,
the
late
Robert
Mugabe,
during
that
time,
who
travelled
to
North
Korea
soon
after
independence
to
sign
a
military
pact
that
led
to
the
training
of
the
Fifth
Brigade.
“An
international
investigating
body
must
be
established
to
know
what
that
agreement
entailed,
and
how
the
training
was
conducted,”
he
said.
He
added
that
Britain,
which
played
a
role
in
integrating
the
former
liberation
armies,
ZPRA,
ZANLA
and
the
Rhodesian
forces
at
independence,
should
also
account
for
what
it
knew
about
developments
at
the
time.

Kathryn



