Ncube
was
just
three
years
old
when
his
father
was
shot
by
soldiers
near
their
home
in
Matabeleland
North
province
in
1983,
the
same
year
when
then
prime
minister
Robert
Mugabe
dispatched
troops
to
suppress
dissent
in
the
ethnic
Ndebele
heartland.
Mugabe
alleged
that Joshua
Nkomo,
his
former
ally
in
the
struggle
against
white
rule
who
garnered
significant
support
from
Matabeleland,
was
conspiring
against
him.
Ncube’s
father,
a
government
veterinary
worker
and
local
leader
of
Nkomo’s
ZAPU
party
was
targeted
by
the
red-beret
unit
deployed
by
Mugabe,
who
was
the
head
of
the
mostly
Shona
ZANU
party.
Baleni
last
saw
her
father,
a
school
teacher,
in
1983
at
the
age
of
19,
when
armed
men
forcibly
took
him
from
their
home
in
Midlands
during
the
night,
she
informed
AFP.
Relatives,
fellow
teachers,
and
students
searched
the
bush
but
failed
to
locate
Clement
Baleni,
who
was
not
known
to
be
politically
involved.
The
family
fled
the
area
in
fear,
leaving
their
belongings
and
livestock
behind.
Although
an
exact
death
toll
has
not
been
confirmed,
it
is
estimated
that
Mugabe’s
Fifth
Brigade,
trained
by
North
Korean
instructors,
may
have
killed
up
to
20,000
people
between
1983
and
1987.
Civilians
suffered
torture,
rape,
and
forced
displacement
from
their
homes
in
an
operation
known
as
Gukurahundi.
This
Shona
term
loosely
translates
to
“the
early
rain
that
washes
away
the
chaff”.
Previous
government
efforts
to
address
the
killings
have
been
ineffective.
The
conclusions
of
two
commissions
of
inquiry
established
by
Mugabe
in
the
1980s
have
never
been
disclosed.
The
government
has
not
officially
apologised,
and
Mugabe
never
admitted
responsibility
before
he
died
in
2019.
“To
ensure
transparency
and
demonstrate
sincerity,
such
a
process
should
prioritise
survivors
and
not
be
led
by
the
state,
as
some
of
the
individuals
were
heavily
implicated
in
the
massacres,”
he
informed
AFP.
Many
doubt Mnangagwa’s sincerity
in
introducing
the
new
initiative.
He
has
been
president
since
2017
and
was
the
national
security
minister
at
the
time.
Arthur
Chikerema,
a
conflict
resolution
lecturer
at
Midlands
State
University,
suggested
that
Mnangagwa
may
aim
to
enhance
his
legacy
and
that
the
announcement
of
hearings
may
be
more
“strategic
than
considerate”.
It
has
not
been
specified
whether
the
process
will
lead
to
justice
or
compensation,
“both
desirable
components
of
reconciliation,”
he
remarked.
On
the
other
hand,
a
coalition
of
human
rights
organizations
views
this
new
effort
to
address Gukurahundi as
an
“admirable
cause”.
“In
transitional
justice,
there
is
a
principle
known
as
‘working
with
the
grain,’
which
means
that
even
if
a
process
is
flawed,
it
serves
as
a
foundation
that
can
be
developed
upon,”
said
National
Transitional
Justice
Working
Group
(NTJWG)
coordinator,
Fortune
Kuhudzebwe.