Mnangagwa refuses to apologise for Zim genocide

Published: 25 January 2018

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa refused to apologise for his role in the Gukurahundi atrocities in which some 20,000 civilians were killed at the hands of the military in the southern parts of the country under then Prime Minister Robert Mugabe early 1980s, NewZimbabwe.com reported.

The figure is as per report into the disturbances by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace.

Mnangagwa was speaking in a widely televised interview in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday.

Asked to acknowledge the disturbances, Mnangagwa said he was indeed security minister at the time and would not make an attempt to deny what happened.

The President said the best he has done to account for his sins was to sign into law, the National Peace and Reconciliation Bill (NPRC) which has operationalised the operations of the NPRC.

Asked if his government had plans to constitute a truth and reconciliation commission instead and if he was prepared to appear before it, Mnangagwa insisted the commission was there to listen to the concerns of the affected communities and nothing extra-ordinary.

"No, they (victims) themselves are going to…the commissions that were affected, if they ask me to come for any reason I will," he said with a slight stammer.

The interviewer asked Mnangagwa to do the simple task; that of apologising to the victims and prove his vows the country was indeed moving into a new era.

But he was adamant he could do nothing better than seconding a top government official such as one of his deputies to spearhead a peace restoration process.

The interviewer still persisted, asking what was stopping him from he was sorry.

The Gukurahundi issue remains a potential banana skin in Mnangagwa's bid to win his first ever election as a Presidential candidate this year.

In his inauguration speech, the President said Zimbabweans should "let bygones be bygones".

- online

Tags: Mnangagwa,