Human rights law expert, Siphosami Malunga, says chiefs alone cannot resolve the Gukurahundi issue due to its complexity.
This comes after President Emmerson Mnangagwa entrusted chiefs with the responsibility of resolving the issue which has remained unresolved for over 30 years.
Malunga, who is a programmes director for the Open Society Africa (OSA) made the remarks while delivering a public lecture on Gukurahundi in Bulawayo on Wednesday.
The lecture, titled: “Whose Truth, Whose Justice?” was part of the ongoing Asakhe Film Festival organised by the Centre for Innovation and Technology (CITE). Said Malunga:
My initial criticism when the decision was made to ask the chiefs to deal with it was ‘what are they dealing with?’ ‘What are they being asked to deal with?’.
That was my question. ‘What are they being asked to address, what are they being asked to resolve?
Are we resolving the issue of people who quarrel, which chiefs do all the time in the village?
There are things that chiefs can’t resolve. Criminal cases, chiefs do not have jurisdiction over right?
A chief cannot resolve a murder. He has got no jurisdiction over it because there are laws that say certain things that happen must be processed in a particular way.
Malunga expressed doubt in the traditional leaders’ capacity to resolve the Gukurahundi issue saying it’s very difficult to deal with atrocities. | CITE
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If I may ask our respected lawyer, what are the terms of the chiefs in this matter? Were they asked to resolve the Gukurahundi issue or they were asked to go hear what the people are saying and may want as a way of resolving the issue? I do not think chiefs were or are being tasked to resolve the Gukurahundi issue. I may be wrong , I stand corrected and directed.
From a family victim point of view, we are told they hear what happened as they are nearer to people and may have information which was supressed all along, for me and probably many victims its a starting point i personally welcome, shortfalls will be addressed along the way, cashvists have been enriching themselves on this, can not and will never want this issue resolved
Another calculated delay in seeking closure to the genocide…..