17 June 2025 — Bulawayo
The Zimbabwean government has pledged to begin compensating victims of the Gukurahundi massacres, a significant but controversial announcement made Tuesday by Deputy President of the National Council of Chiefs, Chief Fortune Charumbira — even as families of victims of more recent atrocities, including the August 2018 and January 2019 army shootings, remain uncompensated.
Speaking at a press conference in Bulawayo, Chief Charumbira said community hearings into the 1980s genocide will commence on June 26, 2025, across Matabeleland North and South. The hearings will be presided over by traditional leaders, supported by local panels and counsellors. He said the state is “ready to compensate” victims on a case-by-case basis, with reparations tailored to each individual’s loss.
“Cases which come out well and legitimately so, that require compensation — the government is ready to compensate,” Charumbira told reporters.
“The quantum can’t be predetermined… We can’t give the same amount. It depends on each case.”
Yet, the announcement has immediately triggered fresh outrage and accusations of selective justice. Victims’ families from the 2018 post-election shootings — including the family of slain activist Tinashe Choto, who was shot in the head by security forces in Harare — have still not received any compensation, nearly seven years on.
The government has also failed to deliver reparations to families of those killed during the January 2019 fuel protests, when the military and police unleashed a brutal crackdown on unarmed civilians, leaving at least 17 people dead and dozens injured.
Critics say the timing and political choreography of the Gukurahundi reparations announcement — less than two weeks before the hearings — is a tactical maneuver by President Emmerson Mnangagwa to sanitise his image while ignoring contemporary human rights abuses perpetrated under his leadership.
“This is a hollow promise wrapped in cultural theater,” said one human rights lawyer, who asked not to be named. “The same state that is refusing to acknowledge liability or pay reparations to the families of 2018 and 2019 victims now wants to play redeemer on Gukurahundi. It’s not justice — it’s political opportunism.”
While Chief Charumbira insisted that the programme was endorsed “at the highest level of government” and backed by President Mnangagwa himself, the mechanisms for compensation remain vague. He declined to provide any financial benchmarks, saying it was up to the chiefs and victims to negotiate terms based on “merit.”
The traditional leaders will be assisted by 14-member community panels and two rapporteurs each, with all records captured digitally and stored under the custody of the chiefs. Diaspora victims were told to travel to Zimbabwe if they wish to participate, as no hearings will be held outside the country.
“This is a quasi-judicial process,” said Charumbira. “If you have a good case, come and talk to the chief. They will give you a date in September.”
The outreach is expected to last no more than six months, with hearings held confidentially to protect victim identities. Despite its intentions, the programme risks being overshadowed by the state’s refusal to engage with other unresolved atrocities — especially those committed under Mnangagwa’s own administration.
For the family of Tinashe Choto and others still seeking closure, the government’s silence has been deafening.
“Justice delayed is justice denied,” said a family friend of Choto. “You can’t build peace on a foundation of hypocrisy.”
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