VICE-PRESIDENT Phelekezela Mphoko has come under a barrage of criticism after he once again attempted to absolve President Robert Mugabe of involvement in the Gukurahundi massacres of the 1980s, in the latest public relations disaster for the government.
BY NQOBILE BHEBHE
On Thursday, Mphoko reiterated his statements that Gukurahundi was a conspiracy of the West and his boss, Mugabe was not involved in the killings that claimed an estimated 20 000 lives.
Mphoko said Mugabe should be absolved of any wrongdoing, drawing the ire of various political parties and pressure groups who immediately called for the Vice-President’s resignation.
In a statement yesterday, the Welshman Ncube led MDC said Mphoko is being used a as pawn “to try and devour his own people by deliberately lying for the sake of his lunch”.
“Zanu PF just needs to know that it has a long trail of dirty history following them and that history is beginning to haunt them,” the MDC said.
“So no matter how hard they try to distort or change history, facts remain bare on the ground and unchangeable.
“Phelekezela Mphoko is an unfortunate pawn, who is being used to try and devour his own people by deliberately lying for the sake of his lunch.
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“It’s unfortunate that as he tries to do that, he is creating an even worse picture of Zanu PF, one of an un-revolutionary party, which conspired with the very West that colonised the country to distort the fruits of the revolutionary struggle.”
Mugabe was Prime Minister when his government deployed a crack army unit specifically trained by North Korea for the purpose to crush “dissidents” linked to then rival, Joshua Nkomo in the Matabeleland and Midlands.
According to the Catholic Commission for Peace and Justice (CCJP), the crackdown left about 20 000 civilians dead in a conflict that still threatens the country’s stability nearly three decades later.
MDC-T national spokesperson, Obert Gutu said Mphoko’s repeated statements are an unmitigated insult to the victims and the survivors of the Gukurahundi genocide.
“The MDC has been totally taken aback by the crude and bizarre remarks that were made by Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko in Masvingo last Thursday regarding the Gukurahundi genocide,” he said.
“What we find totally appalling is the fact that this is the second time in as many months that Mphoko has uttered irresponsible, insensitive and reckless remarks about the very unfortunate and tragic Gukurahundi genocide that took place in the early up to the mid 1980s, killing no less than 20 000 innocent villagers in the Midlands and the Matabeleland provinces.”
Gutu said what is more “shocking and unbelievable” is that Mphoko supposedly hails from Matebeleland.
“In his heart of hearts, Mphoko knows that Gukurahundi was a brutal and callous genocidal crime against the people of the Midlands and the Matabeleland provinces,” he continued.
“This genocide was perpetrated with chilling brutality by the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade.
“Both the unreleased Chihambakwe Commission of Inquiry report and the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace report have documented, in breath-taking detail, the horrific, cruel and inhuman criminal offences that were committed by the Fifth Brigade in the three western provinces of Zimbabwe.
“The MDC understands that Mphoko is singing for his supper since he is just a political nonentity who was literally plucked from nowhere, landing the highly esteemed position of Vice-President of the Republic of Zimbabwe.
“Be that as it may, Mphoko should not and indeed, must not be allowed to continue to add salt to injury by continually trivialising the traumatic and horrific Gukurahundi genocide whose scars are still to be healed to this very date”.
Gutu added that Mphoko has clearly proved that he is not fit to be the Vice-President.
Former Education minister, David Coltart pointed out that for true reconciliation, Zimbabwe needed to acknowledge past wrongs.
“True healing, reconciliation and rebuilding in Zimbabwe will only take place when we all acknowledge the truth of our sorry past – not just during Gukurahundi but also all the terrible things that happened during the war,” he said.
In February, Mphoko caused a stir when he defended Mugabe and claimed that the West conspired to destabilise southern Africa through Gukurahundi soon after the country attained independence from Britain in 1980.
