PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Gukurahundi outreach programmes have been bogged down by excessive demands that include hefty allowances from chiefs leading the exercise.
Mnangagwa launched the Gukurahundi community outreach programme on July 14, 2024, at the Bulawayo State House, five years after the government first proposed the initiative in 2019.
The hearings, aimed at providing a platform for survivors and victims of the Gukurahundi genocide, are overseen by a 14-member panel led by traditional leaders tasked with collecting testimonies from affected communities in Matabeleland.
The hearings had a false start due to lack of resources, with sources indicating that traditional leaders were also making their own excessive demands to conduct the exercise.
Among some of their demands were allowances of US$4 000 per month paid in cash, Starlink kits and hundreds of litres of fuel coupons among others.
The traditional leaders also wanted the government to rent their service vehicles for the exercise, or alternatively hire all-terrain vehicles for them, it has been revealed.
“At present, there is a dispute over the allowances which the chiefs are demanding,” a source said.
“They were demanding US$4 000 a month paid in cash, but the steering committee slashed the figure to US$1 100 a month.
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“They wanted hundreds of litres of fuel coupons per month, but this was again turned down and an arrangement was made for them to refuel at selected service stations.
“They also wanted Starlink kits installed at their homesteads...”
The chiefs also clashed with authorities after it emerged that the majority of them had relatives, close family members and friends as members of their 14-member panel.
“They were paid three months advance allowances of US$1 100, making it at least US$3 300, but again the issue of allowances is now back on the table and stalling the outreach programme,” sources said.
It is understood that the government is one-month in arrears with regards payment of the allowances.
Some chiefs were allegedly giving excuses for not holding the public hearings because of the dispute over allowances.
National Council of Chiefs president, Chief Mtshane Khumalo, yesterday told The Standard that he was not aware that the Gukurahundi outreach programme was bogged down by a dispute over allowances.
“I have not been made aware of that,” Khumalo said yesterday.
He said the programme was moving smoothly.
“When we started, people were skeptical and did not attend the hearings.
“On average, we are now getting about 60 to 75 per ward during a single hearing…
“We are saying at least let's have three meetings per week in each ward so that we reach out to the victims, most of whom are of old age.”
Justice minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi, could not be reached for comment.
Mnangagwa was recently petitioned to reconsider the way the chiefs-led hearings into the Gukurahundi massacres are being conducted on grounds that the process is flawed and not a genuine attempt to address the country’s dark past.
The hearings are being held in selected parts of Matabeleland away from the public glare.
Midlands, which also bore the brunt of the massacres, has been excluded, raising eyebrows.
Critics have criticised the secrecy surrounding the hearings, and said the process lacked transparency.
Researchers have categorised Gukurahundi as a crime against humanity, and in some frameworks, genocide.
An estimated 20 000 civilians were left dead when Zimbabwe deployed the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade in Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, and parts of Midlands provinces.
