The Gukurahundi Community Outreach Programme is President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s personal project, which he is rolling out with the assistance of traditional chiefs, revealed Deputy President of the National Council of Chiefs, Senator Fortune Charumbira.
In his closing remarks at the official launch of the outreach programme by President Mnangagwa at the Bulawayo State House on Sunday, Chief Charumbira confirmed what most analysts have maintained: that Mnangagwa is the driving force behind the Gukurahundi community programme without the involvement of the affected communities.
“So I’m lucky. We are lucky also to be blessed by the president who said, ‘This thing of Gukurahundi, it’s mine as president, I am the owner with the chiefs council. The two of us don’t want anyone to interfere. We asked him ‘we have politburo’ (who may question this) and he said, ‘tell them to come to me,’” said Chief Charumbira.
Charumbira also praised President Mnangagwa for his leadership in directing this exercise. “All of you are leaders here, but not all of us are effective leaders. Let’s learn from the President as I thank him for his focused leadership. There is some quality that we are supposed to learn from the president’s leadership that is bold and focused,” he said.
According to Charumbira, chiefs encountered difficulties after being accused of their involvement in the project.
“Chief Mtshane Khumalo and I were personally attacked. Social media was awash with questions asking about our authority, while others asked if chiefs should handle Gukurahundi,” he said. “Articles were written and audios circulated questioning why I was involving myself in Gukurahundi.”
Chief Charumbira dismissed such rhetoric as “tribalistic and regionalistic,” claiming “detractors wanted the leadership of Gukurahundi to give up as their own security was at stake.” “We were attacked to the point that people did not know that the detractors wanted to weaken the process by attacking the leadership. Some group went to Chief Khumalo’s homestead, telling him not to follow me. Chief Khumalo told them to ‘get away,’” he claimed.
According to Chief Charumbira, a lesson the chiefs learnt from this programme was if one wants to succeed, “unity at the top is critical.” “We were united despite the odds, and we refused to be divided. His Excellency will remember that two years ago when we gathered here in this fashion, he had been lobbied by detractors that he must remove me as a Shona and put another chief,” he said. “When we came here (to the State House), people lobbied the president that Charumbira must remain behind while they discussed amongst themselves. The president announced, and I hope he remembers, that he said, ‘Charumbira will not leave this room.’”
Charumbira said President Mnangagwa exhibited “focused leadership” as he refused to allow that. “When you give people an assignment, don’t abandon them. The President said, ‘Charumbira will remain because he’s the president of the Chiefs Council,’” he said.
The incident Chief Charumbira refers to occurred in 2019 when President Mnangagwa urged chiefs to resolve their issues and work together following divided opinions on how to deal with the Gukurahundi atrocities. Chiefs from Matabeleland argued that the National Chiefs Council had no capacity to handle the matter. Mnangagwa was angry with two chiefs who had requested Charumbira’s absence and the inclusion of certain chiefs from Midlands who had attended the meeting, claiming they were selected based on tribe.
“First, I was requested that Chief Charumbira be absent when you give your grievances. I am saying as President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, we need transparency and accountability, no secrets, so Chief Charumbira will remain here,” Mnangagwa said then.
Chief Charumbira claimed those who had sought his exclusion were now on board. “Most of those detractors have joined us. They are now also wishing to be part of this programme…We now know how the detractors who remain, maybe one or two, may be sent by the UK or America, not Zimbabweans. As Zimbabweans, we are now together and we are moving very well,” he said, praising Mnangagwa’s leadership in harnessing traditional leadership for development.
“We are lucky to have you. The way you have done this, your Excellency, will achieve tremendous results. The most turbulent times are now behind us, and everyone wants to associate themselves with this.”
