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Bulawayo welcomed President Mnangagwa once again yesterday as he continues with his frank conversation with the people of Matabeleland on issues that concern them.

He will today meet civil society leaders from Matabeleland North, Bulawayo and Matabeleland South to discuss a range of issues, key among them Gukurahundi, the 1982-87 civil disturbances that rocked parts of Matabeleland and Midlands provinces. This will be his third meeting with the leaders who are working under the ambit of the Matabeleland Collective. In addition, he has met traditional leaders from the region to discuss the same.

This is a very important visit by the President which further demonstrates the seriousness of his Government’s bid to address the challenges that the people of Matabeleland are grappling with. Even Covid-19 which has slowed down business and resulted in curbs in travelling across the world including here, could not get him to postpone the visit. He could have conducted a virtual interface with the collective but doing so would not have shown the high level of seriousness he attaches to the issues at hand hence his decision to make the trip to Bulawayo.

Permanent Secretary for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Mr Nick Mangwana yesterday underscored the President’s commitment towards resolving developmental issues affecting the Matabeleland region.

“This is a follow-up of a programme that has already started and His Excellency does not start something and not see it to its logical conclusion,” he said.

“The issue of Gukurahundi, past marginalisation within this region is an issue which His Excellency is seized with and close to his heart. Even under lockdown he has decided that we need to continue to follow through to see everything to finality and good end. The President will give a speech tomorrow (today) and all the stakeholders will also be able to talk to the media after the engagement itself.”

One matter that has occupied the hearts and minds of the people of Matabeleland, as Mr Mangwana rightly observes, is that of the low pace of development in the region. They, particularly in rural Matabeleland, complain that access to health, education, transport and other services is limited because of lack of clinics and hospitals, schools and institutions of higher learning as well as roads. Although we know that some of the foregoing challenges affect people in other parts of the country, we firmly support the people of Matabeleland’s right to seek redress to their challenges. They have the right to communicate with their leader asking him to address the challenges. Today’s meeting at State House in Bulawayo, gives them that platform once again to speak to him directly.

It is however, worth noting that as part of the Government’s efforts to address the development gaps in the region, many projects are being undertaken with resources coming from the fiscus through the devolution fund. Roads, clinics, schools and other infrastructure are being built and rehabilitated. Actually, implementation of devolution by the Second Republic is a fulfilment of a demand advanced most strongly by the people of Matabeleland during the outreach leading to the adoption of the Constitution in 2013.

On Gukurahundi, we applaud the President for opening up dialogue over the emotive subject. Before November 2017, mentioning Gukurahundi was taboo at all levels. Because the old dispensation was reticent about Gukurahundi, fearful of the subject even, discussions around it were done in hushed tones. People, even victims of the disturbances, were afraid of being labelled if they spoke openly about it.

With the new approach, the victims have been afforded the chance to freely discuss and or grieve – two big, important steps towards sustainable healing from the emotional and or physical damage they incurred as a result of Gukurahundi. Now, there is no fear among the people over it.

In addition to healing the wounds, by opening up on the disturbances, the President has taken away what had been a perennial, divisive campaign message for the opposition and civic groups aligned to them. For opposition parties and some civic groups seeking relevance in Matabeleland ahead of every election, Gukurahundi was their omnipresent message. It was their strongest weapon against Zanu-PF and the Government too. Now that the issue is not only being discussed openly but also being addressed by the Government, we don’t see any political party attempting to make political capital out of this emotive subject.

We and the people of Matabeleland as represented at today’s meeting with the President by the Matabeleland Collective want to see the dialogue continuing and measures to facilitate healing and closure to Gukurahundi beginning in earnest. Processing of birth and death certificates for surviving and deceased victims respectively; exhumations and decent reburials are among the measures that we hope will bring the closure we want to this phase in our national history.