ZAPU spokesperson, Methuseli Moyo said instead of arresting researchers, journalists and artists over the Gukurahundi issue, the police should arrest the perpetrators of the heinous atrocities.
“The schemers of Gukurahundi and the perpetrators are all known by everybody. This emotive issue will never end as long as the government through the actions of the police continue to arrest anyone who raises the issue. We want the police to arrest those people who were on the forefront of the massacres,” said Moyo.
He said the people of Matabeleland who were mostly affected by the brutal killings by the North Korean trained soldiers will not be silenced by the continued arrests of Gukurahundi activists in the country.
“The police by contuning to arrest people over this sensitive issue is actually invoking people’s emotions especially to people like us who lost close relatives during that period,” he said.
Zenzele Ndebele, a vocal critic of the atrocities described Moyse’s arrest as a moment of madness.
“Last week the Zanu (PF) linked mouthpiece, the Patriotic Newspaper carried a dossier of what it called dissidents activities in Matabeleland and nobody was arrested .But when other people talk about the Gukurahundi issue the police do not waste any time to arrest. The President, Robert Mugabe has even admitted in public that people in this region were killed by his own army. Why then is some people angry on behalf of the perpetrators?,” said Ndebele.
Ndebele had also a brush with the law enforcement agencies after he produced a documentary on the atrocities which some people in Zanu (PF) and state controlled media prefer to call disturbances.
Thabitha Khumalo, the deputy national spokesperson of the MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai also took a swipe on the continued arrests and harassment of Gukurahundi activists.
“The issue of Gukurahundi will never end by arresting people. What is needed is for those responsible to came up in the open and own up to their crimes. We need to heal the victims and compensate them,” she said.
Moyse was arrested on Tuesday at the organisation’s Milton Park offices. The police also searched the premises.
Post published in: News