Zimbabwe’s 44th Independence Day: Personal Reflections, The Forgotten Story of Gukurahundi, Ethnic Cleansing/Tribal Divisions & The Prospects Of Peaceful Reconciliation
Introduction
On the 18th of April 1980, Zimbabwe also formerly known as Rhodesia gained its independence from colonial rule through the liberation struggle and today marks its 44th year of independence.
And whilst I would like to celebrate this, I find it hard to feel “happy” about our independence…because for me it is a juxtaposition. It is hard to use the words happy alongside the words independence, because how can one be happy for my people back home who are still being goverened under oppressive regimes without political freedom? And whilst Zimbabwe is recognised as a “liberated” and “independent” state under public international law/political theory, in political reality it hasn’t quite achieved “independence” or “freedom” for its people.
It has been on my heart for a while to talk about Ethnic Cleansing that occurred during Gukurahundi shortly after Zimbabwe gained its independence. So, today I will be shining a light on the tribal divisions and tensions that uphold apartheid like division, the intentional under-development of the Matabeleland, and lastly the prospects of peaceful reconciliation. Whilst there is a lot to unpack in today’s post my main aim is to shine a light on the tensions and divisions which continue to strifle the Matabele people, and whilst I do not seek to take away from the vast political/social issues Zimbabwe is faced with, my discussion will mainly centre on the aforementioned.
We cannot celebrate or be joyous about our independence/freedom from colonial/oppressive rule when our countrymen who rule the nation continue to uphold harmful practices against their own people. Furthermore, we must not forget the strategic role that Emmerson Mnangagwa played in furthering ethnic cleansing in the Matabeleland. When ordinary citizens of Zimbabwe are not free from political violence, oppressive regimes, and oligarch rule there hardly becomes anything to celebrate about our independence when the very people who should be liberating our people are instead oppressing our people through various forms of violence(s).
Whilst I was born and raised in the diaspora, I vividly remember visiting Zimbabwe as a child and staying at my granddads house in Bulawayo. It striked me as to why the news was always presented in Shona and at that young age, I began to ask the why’s. Why do we not hear any Ndebele speaking presenters presenting the news? And as I flicked through the channels it became quite evident that Shona was the only language that was broadcasted on national television stations.
Fast forward to the Inauguration of Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2017, I began to feel the same sentiments as I did when I was a child. Why was the majority of the broadcast in Shona? And it took me back to a time where I found myself asking my maternal side of the family questions about my roots and our people. I wanted to know more about Zimbabwe and it was in these conversations that I was first told about the ethnic cleansing that occurred across the Matabeleland, which led me to begin independent research to find out more about Gukurahundi and what it was.
Gukurahundi, Ethnic Cleansing, And Tribal divisions
I will first begin defining key terms such as Gukurahundi and ethnic cleansing. The term Gukurahundi “derives from a Shona-language term which loosely translates to “the early rain washes away the chaff before the spring rains”.
The Holocaust Encyclopaedia states that Gurkurahundi occured when “forces from the Zimbabwean army’s elite Fifth Brigade killed more than 20,000 people in predominately ethnic Ndebele areas of Matabeleland’s….the Zimbabwean government has done little to acknowledge the scale and scope of violence….While research suggests that Mugabe and members of his inner circle may have orchestrated the massacres, no senior official has faced accountability for their role in the atrocities.”(Holocaust Encyclopaedia, Zimbabwe Overview).
The United Nations defines ethnic cleansing as “purposeful policy designed by one ethnic group or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.” A simple google search of Gukurahundi brings up various results of scholars and experts referring to Gukurahundi as a genocide or massacre. However, I argue that it was instead targerted ethnic cleansing. Benjamin Lieberman in ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ versus Genocide notes that “Ethnic cleansing is related to genocide, but ethnic cleansing is focused more closely than genocide on geography and on forced removal of ethnic or related groups from particular areas.”(Lieberman, 2012). Lieberman also highlights that “ethnic cleansing is often a policy carried out by strong states to mould the population map” (Leiberman, 2012).
Having watched various documentaries on Ndebele people speaking about their lives post Gukurahundi and its effects, one thing I do recall is the vivid imagery/stories of targeted and horrific killings of innocent civilians at schools, mass unknown grave sites, and the disappearance of their relatives and community members particularly men.
You can feel the pain in their stories and the irreparable wounds that remain within family bloodlines because of this. It must be noted that various written reports from British reporters/journalists and telecoms to Whitehall at the time suggest that the British government were aware of the number of increasing scale of deaths that were occurring daily but chose to turn a blind eye to the ethnic cleansing of the Ndebele people because there was no economic incentive in saving innocent civilians, like we are presently witnessing with the conflict in Congo.
Moreover, it can be said that the Fifth Brigade’s modus operandi/policy was formed on the basis of deep-seated hatred, and when Robert Mugabe intentionally employed North Korean military advisers to train the Fifth Brigade, one can infer from his actions that he did so with the intent to cause excessive harm and destruction to what he viewed as “the opposition” and what he believed needed to be “removed”.
And upon reflection on Zimbabwe’s 44th year of independence, one can only question the legitimacy of Emmerson Mnangagwa’s leadership, considering the pivotal role he played in furthering the ethnic cleansing of the Ndebele people as a high-ranking commander in the Fifth Brigade.
The Prospect Of Peaceful Reconciliation
As a nation/people both home and in the diaspora we may hope and pray for better days, but the reality is that until leaders & those with political will and power are forth coming about the tensions and relations between both tribes/ethnic groups and the fact that deep tensions and pain remain a daily memory for many who had to live through the ethnic cleansing there is not much progression that will take place.
Understanding that sometimes communities may not forget the violence(s) that they were subjected to, but centring policies/reforms on reconciliation and healing is far more important than signing trade agreements with European nations whose interests are to cipher the nations natural resources/wealth. And whilst attempts have been made to create committee groups which allow people to discuss their stories, more national efforts to create inclusion as opposed to segregation are required to bridge the gaps between both tribes/ethnic groups.
Witnessing the intentional under-development of the Matabeleland in contrast to the Mashonaland only reinforces further tribal/ethnic resentment and tensions. Turning a blind eye to the fact that areas in Harare like Borrowdale are constantly urbanely developed whilst areas in Bulawayo such as the Airport remain under-developed illustrates the unequal division of state resources and political alliances.
Furthermore, the two mainstream political parties that are supposed to represent/uphold the interest of Zimbabweans of all groups/tribes appear to widening the segregation gap. In 2021, I watched the President documentary which illustrated Nelson Chamisa’s political campaign. In this documentary, it was made evident that rallies organised by the MDC never included isiNdebele as an alternative language, and typically most of his political campaign was spoken in Shona which accommodated one tribal/ethnic group and segregated the other. Thus, mirroring ZANU-PF’s modus operandi of conducting rallies and conferences in Shona and reinforcing the exclusion of non-Shona speakers.
Today, I have chosen to use this independence day to reflect on Zimbabwe’s forgotten history. It is not my intention to be all doom and gloom, but I find it hard to be joyous or “happy” about the nations “independence” when our nation still requires deep healing. I am not saying that peace negotiations/reconciliation remove all problems, but they do help to work towards healing affected communities/generational trauma caused by Gukurahundi, and may help to bring some form of justice for the pain many Ndebele people endured. An example of reconciliation and rehabilitation can be seen with Dr Dennis Mukwege’s work in the Congo.
Freedom/liberation is one thing in political theory and another thing in political reality, and whilst Zimbabweans are “free” from colonial rule the road ahead towards actual freedom in the economic/social/political sense for everyday citizen is still a bumpy road ahead and requires efforts beyond political leaders. It requires people like you and I from the diaspora and at home to create the change we wish to see as clique as it sounds, it requires the collaborative efforts of grassroot organisations who we can collaborate with to effect the change we wish to see and heal the nation we call home.
Zimbabwe was once known as the breadbasket of Africa, and I believe that the saying ikhaya ielihle is a befitting statement to describe the feeling of being privileged to call Zimbabwe home feels like to many of us and it is through open discussions, written work, and shining a light on unspoken topics like this do I wish to do my part in helping to bridge broken communities and help heal our people one community at a time.
Thank you for reading my written work and I hope you enjoyed today’s piece. Should you want to see more of my day-to-day posts follow me on Instagram @yourfavourite.gemini!
