The Unity Accord was signed between then Prime Minister
Robert Mugabe of Zanu PF and Joshua Nkomo of Zapu, who became Mubage’s
vice-president afterwards, to end the violence.
Currently, government has one Vice-President after Kembo
Mohadi unceremoniously resigned last year, but remained a second Zanu PF party
vice-president.
“The Unity Accord was broken by Zanu PF. Zanu PF kept the
name Zanu PF and removed Zapu from positions within the government of the day.
The current President Mnangagwa has refused to give Zapu the Vice-President
position, an act that speaks volumes that, indeed, the Unity Accord is dead,”
Ndiweni said.
He also complained that the manner and descriptions given
to Gukurahundi by the Zanu PF government since Mugabe’s time show that the
perpetrators are belittling the killings.
Between 1983 and 1987, the Zanu PF government unleashed the
North Korea-trained Fifth Brigade Regiment in Matabeleland and Midlands to stem
what it termed a dissident menace.
Over 20 000 unarmed civilians including men, women,
children and unborn children, were killed.
Thousands of women and girls were reportedly raped,
thousands more were injured and nearly a million were displaced.
The Unity Accord silenced the guns of genocide in 1987.
Ndiweni said the Zanu PF government sought to destroy
evidence by blocking exhumation of victims.
Ndiweni noted that justice was needed to resolve
Gukurahundi, adding that the criminals would get away with murder in the
absence of a judicial process.
His remarks come at a time when Mnangagwa had tasked chiefs
to deal with the emotive issue. Newsday
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