POLICE in Bulawayo have stopped Matabeleland-based political parties and civic groups from holding a public meeting to deliberate on the region's 1980s massacres.
The meeting scheduled to take place at Stanley Square on Sunday was organised by parties and civic groups under the banner Gukurahundi Genocide Alliance.
The alliance was unveiled last month and it brings together political parties such as Zapu, Freedom Alliance and several others.
In its notice, the alliance invited stakeholders to wear black during the event as a sign of mourning.
In a letter addressed to the grouping dated August 25, the Officer Commanding Bulawayo West District, identified as Chief Superintendent K Nyaumwe, said the meeting could not be sanctioned.
Nyaumwe addressed the letter to Samukele Hadebe, who is cited as the representative of the coalition of political parties and civic groups.
“Reference is made to your letter dated 14 August 2025, wherein (you indicate that)you intend to hold a public meeting on August 31 at Stanley Square, Makokoba, Bulawayo,” the letter read.
“Please be kindly advised that your notification does not fully meet the guidelines specified in the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act [Chapter 11:23].
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“May you comply with the law. Be advised accordingly.”
Progressive Alliance Unions' Cosmas Ncube said they would engage the police on the matter.
“We do not know exactly what compliance is on our part because we notified them on August 14 in writing and they stamped the notification paper. We are engaging the police on the matter,” Ncube told Southern Eye.
The alliance has condemned the ongoing government-sanctioned public hearings into the Gukurahundi massacres as flawed and meant to sweep the matter under the carpet.
The hearings are being led by traditional leaders away from the public eye, raising concerns from critics over the secrecy surrounding the whole exercise.
“We are not about to sanitise or be complicity in an unashamedly dishonest and grossly flawed process. We strongly condemn it and its obviously a predetermined outcome,” the alliance said in a statement.
“We unreservedly reject the current outreach programme as it has become clear to all that the government is neither sincere nor committed to truth-telling and a just resolution for genuine healing to happen.”
More than 20 000 people were killed by the North Korea-trained 5 Brigade military unit deployed by the late former President Robert Mugabe to track alleged dissidents, according to the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace.
