Deputy President of the National Council of Chiefs, Senator Fortune Charumbira, says previous national healing and reconciliation initiatives to resolve Gukurahundi failed because they were not locally focused.
He believes the current initiative will succeed because it is led by traditional leaders mandated by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Chief Charumbira made these statements during the official launch of the Gukurahundi Community Outreach Programme at the Bulawayo State House on Sunday, where he praised the president’s wisdom in pursuing a homegrown solution to solving Gukurahundi.
“I think we should remember that this is not the first initiative since independence to endeavour to resolve or put closure to the Gukurahundi issues,” he said.
The chief cited the Chihambakwe Commission, whose report was never made public by the government, the Gukurahundi Compensation Commission—led by a former magistrate, the late Johnson Mkandla—the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC), and other initiatives led by civil society and religious organizations, all of which failed to make progress.
Chief Charumbira stated that when the chiefs held their initial meetings with stakeholders, primarily from Matabeleland, with over 30 different organizations, they asked what guarantee there was that the current programme would work.
“These groups said, ‘We’ve seen several already in this region and none even made it but collapsed. What guarantee is there that this one will succeed?’” said the chief, who claimed this effort led by the traditional leadership had “already succeeded.”
“There is no way we can go back. Why? Because of the approach taken by the president. The wisdom in His Excellency has led to this success.”
Chief Charumbira said people must thank President Mnangagwa “very loudly” for this initiative, where he opted for a homegrown solution in which Zimbabweans solve their own problems.
“That’s the winning point,” he said, noting that the problem with civic society and churches is they tried to copy how conflict was solved in other countries such as Cambodia, the United Kingdom, and Venezuela.
“No, conflict resolution can only succeed sustainably if you use your knowledge, culture, values, and your context.”
The chief stated that the lack of a homegrown solution was why previous commissions to address Gukurahundi failed.
“This current one is led by traditional leaders and that’s very important. It respects our traditions, norms, and values. There is a writer who said, ‘There is no country that has developed by abandoning its own culture, not even one,’” Charumbira said.
“We want to thank the president for taking a route that works. We are misled to think that the best practice is an international practice. For us to address this issue, we must approach it with best practices and we are the best practice, that’s why we are succeeding on this one, not foreign practices.”
According to Chief Charumbira, the African Union spends 76 percent of its budget on promoting peace and security on the continent, a dispute that should be resolved by homegrown solutions.
“76 percent of the AU’s $600 million budget goes to peace and security, but the contradiction is despite that increasing budget and allocation, over the past four or five years, Africa is facing the worst conflict situation. Five countries have been suspended from the AU and the problem is the United Nations, which misleads Africa and sends envoys to Tunisia and Somalia,” he said.
“Without following your own local solutions, the AU will spend billions on peace and security and will not succeed. That’s the truth.”
