The Zimbabwean people, against heavy odds, made a powerful and historic statement on the 29th March 2008.A record 57% of Zimbabweans, if we are to use the massaged ZEC figures, rejected Robert Mugabe and his failed policies. However, Mugabe and some securocrats could not stomach the people‘s victory. They have now embarked on a reign of terror by simply retracing their footsteps to the 1980 s and relaunching a campaign of violence whose brutality now makes it a Gukurahundi 2. It is important to note that the same players, using the same methods with the same reason of returning Mugabe at all costs are at the helm of the Gukuraundi 2. The only notable additions being Gideon Gono, who is providing dirty blood money and Patrick Chinamasa, acting as the Comical Ali. A lot of interesting parallels with Gukurahundi 1 emerge from this reckless terror campaign.

During the Gukurahundi 1 ethnic cleansing, Mugabe carefully used Enos Nkala, a fellow Ndebele, to be at the forefront of the propaganda blitz of justifying the murderous actions of the 5th brigade. So overzealous was Nkala that at one time he was even quoted as saying that the 5th brigade must use a big stick against his own people just to impress Mugabe.In the on going Gukurahundi 2, Mugabe has repeated the same tactic. The defeated Patrick Chinamasa, who has never won any election in his whole life, is the public face and voice of justifying Gukurahundi 2. So reckless has been Chinamasa that he has gone out of his way in sponsoring violence in his own home area of Makoni in Manicaland. Even the legendary Comical Ali will turn green with envy hearing Chinamasa trying to justify the cold murder of his own niece, Tabeth Marume by claiming that an unarmed woman would confront armed soldiers at a military training centre when our heroine had made the brave move of only demanding the release of MDC supporters who were being tortured by the bloodthirsty ZANU PF militia and the CIO elements. In Masvingo, Walter Mzembi, in Matebeleland, Obert Mpofu and not so Bright Matonga in Mash West are the most prominent planks of Gukurahundi 2 in their respective home areas.

During Gukurahundi 1, the whole world was hoodwinked by Mugabe’s shenanigans and did not do anything when more than 40 000 innocent civilians were butchered. The British government went to the extent of knighting Mugabe whilst his hands were dripping with innocent civilians blood whose only crime was being Ndebele and supporting ZAPU of the late Nkomo. In the on-going Gukurahundi 2, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and some elements within the old SADC are again being manipulated such that Mbeki can even claim that there is no crisis in Zimbabwe and block the discussion of the unfolding genocide at the United Nations Security Council.

All in all, as the Gukurahundi 2 gain momentum, chilling points emerge. The same players who were at the forefront of the murder of unarmed innocent 40 000 civilians are at it again using the same ghastly methods for the same dubious end of keeping Mugabe in power at all costs. Will the world stand by and watch as they did during Gukurahundi 1?

Garikai Chimuka is based at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

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