Gukurahundi debunked, media sensitisation workshop kicks off in Bulawayo

Bulawayo- THE Gukurahundi media sensitisation workshop has kicked off Thursday in Bulawayo with local media editors and senior journalists in attendance, Express Mail Zim can report.

The workshop is under the auspices of National Chiefs Council, Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) and Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs.

The Second Republic has made the Gukurahundi issue an open discussion and the government recently held meetings with traditional leaders in Matabeleland South and North region to gauge their views and also train them on how to conduct the forthcoming public hearings on the matter.
There are 72 chiefs.

In his welcome remarks, National Council of Chiefs president Chief Charumbira said the workshop is a “no holds bars” interaction and there is no media gag.

“Its a no holds bars workshop which should however be constructive.

“I have been to Rwanda on conflict issues and they dont tolerate divisive language.

“I entered a restaurant and I asked one man if he was Hutu or Tutsi but he said they do not use such language ,we are one country,” he said.

“During the hearings, submisions will be made by victims in their communities in the presence of their traditional leaders but media will not be allowed for the sake of privacy and protect victims ,we discussed that at provincial level and steering commitees and agreed that some families might not be comfortable discussing their experiences in public,there are some details that cannot be in the public domain,” he said.

Addresing journalists at the same event, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information Nick Mangwana emphasized that the convening of the workshop was not to capture journalists or make them agents of propaganda.

“We are not here to make you agents of Government propaganda. This is because we don’t do propaganda and also if we did we have enough of those to deploy.

“We are here to focus an bringing our people together, and bringing communities together.

“The media has a critical role in the resolution of past conflicts. The media can help inflame sentiments that are residual to past conflicts or help problem solve by remaining independent and alleviate potential escalations,” he said.

He said the media has to be consistent in its coverage of internal conflicts such as Gukurahundi so that those that were not there can understand.

He blasted international media for selective reportage on conflict issues in Africa.

“The International Media is hardly interested in conflict resolution. They are interested in the conflict. They could cover the war in Congo but not the resolution. They could cover the civil war in Angola, but not the coming back together of the former protagonists.

“They had a lot of interest in the interactive atrocities of the Rwanda but not the Gacaca courts of conflict resolution,” he said.

It was also revealed that the funding of this catharsis program of community consultations on Gukurandi is internal.

” Gukurahundi was an internal conflict the solutions are also internal and homegrown. The Media has a role to bring cohesion in the communities, in the district of the country.

“The media can arouse public opinion in any direction. It can play a role in perpetuating negative sentiments by one group against another. In this case the media would have chosen strife ahead of peace. When you hunt in packs seeking the exclusive, just think -how does this impact the flag,” said Mangwana.

He applauded President Emmerson Mnangagwa for his efforts to debunk a subject that was anathema and taboo to be spoken openly.

The Gukurahundi disturbances were between 1983 to 1987, during which government forces allegedly killed about 20,000 people in predominantly ethnic Ndebele areas.

During the disturbances, special forces from the Fifth Brigade are said to have killed more than 20,000 people in predominantly ethnic Ndebele areas of Matabeleland and Midlands provinces, and forcibly displaced tens of thousands more.

The devconcluded a decade and a half of factional fighting between Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and its armed wing, the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA), and the late Joshua Nkomo’s opposition Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) and its Zimbabwean People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA), whom ZANU officials accused of supporting dissidents in the country.