The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC) has expressed dismay over the destruction of a Gukurahundi memorial plaque in Matebeleland province.
Unknown assailants suspected to be state security agents are said to have used explosives to destroy the inscription which was erected in memory of the Gukurahundi victims.
In a statement, the coalition said the silence by the Government points to dishonesty in genuinely addressing issues of national healing and reconciliation.
“Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition is appalled by the latest destruction of a Gukurahundi memorial plaque at Bhalagwe in Maphisa, Matabeleland South province. The government’s silence and seeming inability to investigate this and previous cases of the destruction of memorial plaques points to unbridled intransigence and insincerity on the part of government towards genuinely addressing issues of national healing and reconciliation, almost three decades since the Gukurahundi massacres which resulted in the loss of over 20 000 innocent lives.
“We view the cosmetic approaches by President Emmerson Mnangagwa towards national healing and reconciliation as self-defeating as they only serve to betray the independence dream of a united Zimbabwe which faced a false start with the Gukurahundi massacres presided over by President Mugabe.
“Destroying memorial plaques and refusing to acknowledge the act only cements the long held notions that those that presided over Gukurahundi are now leading the state and are bent on silencing the issue to eternity,” said the Coalition
CiZC called on the Government to be honest and commit to national healing and reconciliation process.
“It is on this premise that the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition implores the state to be sincere and to take the issue of national healing and reconciliation with the seriousness it deserves. That we have a constitutional commission, the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC), is testimony of the need to address issues such as Gukurahundi, which are a blight on the development trajectory of our country. Such acts of sabotage can only serve to further divide the nation,” CiZC said.
