FORMER Zapu members in Zanu PF are probably hanging their heads in shame after the latest gaffe by newly-appointed Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko in which he desperately wants the country to believe hook, line and sinker that Gukurahundi genocide was a conspiracy of the West to destabilise newly-independent Zimbabwe.
Although the history of the country’s struggle for liberation has been heavily distorted, mutilated and doctored by pseudo-Zanu PF historians, it is an open secret that Gukurahundi was real and later emerged as the catalyst to the consummation of the unity pact signed between President Robert Mugabe and the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo.
Nkomo was forced to affix his signature to the fundamentally flawed document to save the lives of mostly Ndebele-speaking citizens domiciled in Matabeleland and some parts of the Midlands after an estimated 20 000 defenceless citizens were executed by trigger-happy soldiers of the dreaded 5 Brigade.
Lest Mphoko lived and worked outside the two provinces, members of the 5 Brigade had no qualms in raping heavily pregnant mothers, including young girls, right in front of their husbands, fathers and brothers.
But as far as citizens know, he was chosen to be the second VP largely because of his Zapu links, but for him to then say Gukurahundi genocide was a Western conspiracy is betrayal of the highest order. Former Zapu members in Zanu PF should insist on his recall unless they subscribe to his utterances.
Some of us experienced this Gukurahundi first hand so we wonder who he thinks he is fooling apart from Mugabe. Yes, he sounds like someone coming from Matabeleland, but questions abound where he was when the people of Matabeleland and some parts of the Midlands were experiencing those hardships and killings! Maybe investigating where he was during the early, ’80s could explain his comments.
He probably was in Harare or overseas doing embassy work, away and out of touch with reality. Zapu leader Dumiso Dabengwa has intimated Mphoko had crossed over to Zanu PF by 1982 that could probably explain his comments.
Trying to deflate the blame from Mugabe is not only foolhardy but also smacks of political dishonesty. From a citizen evaluation of his performance so far, he appears to be out of touch with reality and prone to gaffes that people do not expect from a leader, more so a VP.
