Zim GBC News | Political Correspondent
BULAWAYO – For the second time in a month, the government has halted a public meeting to discuss the Gukurahundi massacres, invoking the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act (MOPA) despite President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s previous assurances that the subject could be publicly debated.
The scheduled October 5 gathering at Stanley Square, organized by a coalition of political parties and civil society groups, was prohibited by the Bulawayo West District police command.
In a letter to the organizers, Chief Superintendent K Nyaumwe accused the coalition of disregarding the law.
“I have noted with dismay that following a meeting I held with Samukele Hadebe on August 30, and my subsequent reply, you disregarded [the law] and submitted a notice which does not meet its provisions,” Nyaumwe stated.
This action directly contradicts President Mnangagwa’s statement at a Bulawayo State House gathering, where he said people could publicly discuss the historical atrocities without hindrance.
Coalition members strongly refuted the police’s claims of non-compliance. Cosmas Ncube of the Progressive Alliance Unions (PAMU) argued that the government is using the law to conceal past actions.
“We complied with the law by notifying the police in writing and on time. The government is so desperate to conceal their own criminal behaviour,” Ncube told Zim GBC News.
Ncube accused the state of denying victims a genuine platform while advancing a parallel, state-sanctioned process led by traditional leaders.
“It is them who are not complying with the law. They are ignoring their duties of defending land, culture, heritage, and human rights. State institutions must not be used to silence us for demanding justice and accountability,” he said.
The development comes as Gukurahundi community hearings, led by traditional leaders and a 14-member panel, have commenced in parts of Matabeleland under criticism for their secrecy and lack of accountability for perpetrators.
The Gukurahundi conflict of the 1980s, during which an estimated 20,000 Ndebele-speaking people were killed by the North Korea-trained Fifth Brigade, remains one of Zimbabwe’s most painful historical chapters.
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