Why Mugabe started Gukurahundi 1

Former President Robert Gabriel Mugabe (Picture: VOA online)

A lot has been said, filmed and published about Gukurahundi, the genocide that claimed at least 20 000 people, mostly Patriotic Front Zimbabwe African People’s Union (PF ZAPU) supporters in Matebeleland and Midlands Provinces of Zimbabwe between 1983 and 1987 soon after independence.

A number of researchers have explored the reasons behind this genocide, most of them concurring that it was because of Mugabe’s aim of trying to eliminate PF ZAPU in his quest to achieve one party state under the overall dictatorship of Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).

In this article however, I do not to go into all that, no. I just want to focus on some of the not-so-published early childhood background of former President Robert Mugabe. It is not that I have always been after Gukurahundi issues myself, no. That is not to say I am not a victim of it either, because in 1985 when my mother was pregnant of me, my father was buried alive by those bastards, the notorious North Korean trained Fifth Brigade. Also, my eldest brother, the late Jairos Dube was tortured into oblivion by those scoundrels. So you see; I have my fair share of abuse too.

It was after a meeting with one of my guests today when we started a conversation. This was special type of guest, one of former President Robert Mugabe’s close colleagues, one of those in whom Mugabe confided. Just out of interest and sheer curiosity, I asked: “so tell me about Mugabe”. Then my guest started:

“I think Mugabe’s family background had a contribution in the starting of Gukurahundi because the man lived a frustrated life,” said my guest.

“You see, Mugabe’s father Gabriel was married to the daughter of a Mozambican woman and a Zimbabwean man. So right from the beginning I want to dispel certain myths that have always been said about Mugabe. Firstly, Mugabe is a Zimbabwean, not Ghanaian, Mozambican or whatever. It is his grandmother, mother to his mother Bona who was from Mozambique, not his father’s relations. So to say he was not Zimbabwean is false. He comes from Zvimba. That is where they lived.

“Secondly, Mugabe was not in any way very intelligent, not by any standards. I can only say he was diligent, not intelligent. I know him personally. For example, he could read until he knelt down just to get to understand a very simple concept. So you see, it was more of determination than intelligence. He was just an average person intellectually. So those who idolize him as intelligent should stand corrected.

“Now, concerning his family, Mugabe’s mother Bona and Mugabe’s father Gabriel got married in church and went on to have Mugabe. But it so happened that one day, when Mugabe was about eight years of age, something amiss happened and that incident went on to change his life forever.

“Someone put poison in a cup that was full of cockroaches in order to kill them. But one of Mugabe’s uncles, a brother to Gabriel, took that cup unknowingly and without washing the cup of the poison he used it to drink water and he died. Thereafter there was a heated argument between Gabriel and Bona his wife, with Gabriel accusing his wife of witchcraft and wanting to kill him but only to kill his brother.

“He (Gabriel) eventually left his wife Bona together with Robert Mugabe their son there in Zvimba and came to live here in Bulawayo. Upon coming to Bulawayo he married a Tshuma woman, the late Albert’s mother and consequently changed his surname to Mugabe. He was originally a Ngwenya, not a Mugabe.

“After some years, Bona took the young Robert Mugabe with her and decided to go in search of her husband Gabriel. Initially, Gabriel was thought to have come to Hope Fountain Mission but apparently he hadn’t. Bona looked for him everywhere, in Makokoba, Nguboyenja, Mzilikazi, Matshobana and all the old locations but could not find him and having given up, she went back home.

“Little did they know that upon getting to Bulawayo, Gabriel had remarried and then was posted to Regina Mundi Mission in Gweru where as a builder he was assisting with roofing.

“Later on Gabriel, now a Mugabe, not Ngwenya went back home together with his new wife MaTshuma. Upon getting there, there was a heated argument between him and his wife Bona over the new woman. The matter could not be settled by the local priest at Kutama Mission in Zvimba and was consequently referred to the Bishop in Salisbury who then pleaded with Bona to accept the new woman, of which she grudgingly did.

“But I can still clearly remember Mugabe’s statements as he narrated the story to me and a few colleagues while we were in the bush. He said ‘tangaka tichitsvaga munhu anondzi Gabriel Ngwenya tisingazivi kuti maNdevere akamuchinjisa surname kudhara. Ndiko kumushaya kwedu (we were looking for a person called Gabriel Ngwenya not knowing that the people of Matebeleland had changed his surname a long time ago. That is how we failed to get him). For that reason I will never forgive the people of Matebeleland’.

“You see, I believe that apart from the other issues to which Gukurahundi has been attributed, the bitterness that he exhibited over this issue may be certainly one of the reasons why he wanted to exterminate the people of this region,” concluded my guest.

For now it is enough. Meet me in my next article.

Yours Kalanga Boy