Call for compensation for Matabeleland atrocities

A Zimbabwean opposition politician is demanding that the government pay Matebeleland $100bn in compensation for the Gukurahundi massarcres ‘and other outrages perpetrated by successive Zanu-PF administrations since 1980’. Paul Siwela, the self-exiled leader of the secessionist Matabeleland Liberation Organisation (MLO), said the region must not accept President Emmerson Mnangagwa's offer to apologise until the compensation is paid. Mnangagwa recently indicated that he was prepared to issue an apology based on the recommendations of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission. He was speaking in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour. ‘We should be man enough as a government to accept whatever recommendations which are made and see how we can comply with them,’ he said. However, speaking to New Zimbabwe, Siwela accused the government of exploiting Matebeleland's resources to the exclusion of the people of the region. ‘Let's all stand together and enforce this demand for $100 billion compensation as failure would be a betrayal of our departed relatives,’ he added.