Harare moves to silence Gukurahundi activists

Zimbabwe’s deputy chief secretary George Charamba says the erection of Gukurahundi memorial plaques at the Bhalangwe mass grave is unlawful. The site is where thousands of Ndebeles were massacred and thrown into the disused Antelope Mine in the 1980s. A report on the allAfrica site notes that the memorial plaques were erected by Ibetshu Likazulu, a pressure group advocating for the recognition of the Gukurahundi victims. However, three of them have all been vandalised. In an interview with the Bulawayo-based publication CITE, Charamba said ‘the erection of the plaques was an unlawful act as it is not in tangent with the government's policy’. ‘You don't, in a sovereign country with a competent government, just go and erect a monument in a community without involving the state. Where is that done? We are not a lawless society,’ Charamba said. He warned that Ibetshu Likazulu must not erect the plaques in future.