The long-awaited Gukurahundi Community Outreach Programme, which was scheduled to start on June 16 has been further postponed due to a lack of resources.
President of the National Council of Chiefs, Chief Mtshane Khumalo, confirmed that the hearings will not commence on June 16 due to the unavailability of adequate resources.
“June 16 was a proposed date, but unfortunately the hearings will not be starting on that day. Once everything is in order, we will advise,” he said.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa officially launched the Gukurahundi Community Outreach Programme on July 14, 2024, at Bulawayo State House, five years after the government first proposed the initiative in 2019.
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The outreach hearings, aimed at providing a platform for survivors and victims of the Gukurahundi genocide, will be overseen by a 14-member panel led by traditional leaders tasked with collecting testimonies from affected communities in Matabeleland.
While the government insists that the outreach programme is a ‘homegrown’ solution designed to help communities reconcile and heal, many believe the State lacks the credibility to lead a process of this magnitude particularly with President Mnangagwa, who was a senior government figure during the massacres, at the helm.
Activists have argued that justice and truth-telling must be separated from State control.
As delays continue, criticism has mounted, while the chiefs responsible for overseeing the process largely attribute the setbacks to logistical challenges involving transportation, food, and subsistence allowances for both facilitators and participants amid an inadequate budget.
Earlier this year, Chief Mtshane Khumalo, acknowledged the delays, citing that preparatory work was still underway, although they had managed to secure offices in Bulawayo to serve as the hub for data consolidation.
Despite the government’s proclaimed commitment to a healing process, critics argue that the initiative lacks legitimacy, legal grounding, and sincerity.
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