They argue that there has been little development in Matabeleland since the unity accord signed 21 years ago – and that Zanu (PF) was undermining the pact by deliberately excluding former Zapu members from positions of influence in government.
In 1987, the Unity Accord signed between Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo, then leader of former liberation movement Zapu, heralded the end of authority for Nkomo, who was given the Vice Presidency of the country and stripped of any meaningful clout. Nkomo’s Zapu was dissolved and its entire cadre of leaders became Zanu (PF) government officials, but they have been pushed away from the Zanu (PF) feeding trough, sparking the latest protests. Â
A meeting of disillusioned Zapu cadres at White City Stadium in Bulawayo on Saturday failed to take off after Vice President Joseph Msika, a representative of Zapu in the presidium, failed to show up for the meeting where emotions were fraying.
Zanu (PF) chairman John Nkomo also boycotted the meeting although the two officials were expected to address the restive ex-ZIPRA combatants about what the two regarded as benefits accrued from the Unity Accord. Ex-Zapu heavyweights such as Kembo Mohadi and Sikhanyiso Ndlocu attended the meeting and were grilled for forgetting their erstwhile comrades.
Meanwhile, an offshoot of Zapu PF, which is now called Zapu Federal Party, is also agitating for federalism on the sidelines, making the same arguments that the Matabeleland region has been marginalized by central government in Harare.
The Zimbabwean Ndebeles are an offshoot of the Zulu nation, comprising 10 ethnic groups who came together under Mzilikazi Khumalo – a leading general in King Shaka’s army. They have now renewed calls for the restoration of the monarch, overthrown by British colonialists more than 135 years ago, amid grinding poverty in the region and a lackadaisical official response to the humanitarian crisis gripping the two Matabeleland provinces.
Frustrated by what they see as their marginalisation by Robert Mugabe’s predominantly Shona government, Ndebele chiefs and political activists have started mobilising to revive their kingdom.
Prof Welshman Ncube, secretary general of the MDC (Mutambara) said there was nothing fundamentally wrong with the idea if the monarchy retains a ceremonial and traditional role and is of no political persuasion.
Under the envisaged plan, a king would not be involved in party politics but would act as a custodian of Ndebele values and culture.
A source said if the kingdom was restored, the Ndebeles would ask the government to return the property on which Mugabe’s official residence in Bulawayo is located. The residence, State House, is the site of King Lobengula’s last palace. It has been occupied by successive white governments and even the Mugabe regime sees nothing wrong in continuing to occupy the place, complained a livid elderly Ndebele man.
The Ndebele people have since independence in 1980 voted consistently against the Mugabe regime, and many feel they are being punished for it.
Since the break-up of the kingdom, the Ndebele have lived under oppressive governments and it looks like forming our own state is the only way out of oppression, said a university student at NUST who declined to be named.