By Paul Nyathi|”If you lost your uncle during Gukurahundi and then someone just pitches up saying that period is over, let’s have closure, it won’t work. Things don’t work like that,” says firebrand ZANU PF Member of Parliament for Makokoba Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube.

Dube has come hot on former President Robert Mugabe and his successor President Emmerson Mnangagwa telling them to stop being arrogant on the Gukurahundi atrocities of the eighties.

Speaking in a wide ranging interview with the Zimbabwe Independent weekly newspaper, Dube expressed shock at why President Mugabe would deny responsibility for the atrocities that saw the death of over 20 000 people in Matabeleland and parts of the Midlands provinces.

“If he is refusing to accept responsibility, who does he think should shoulder the blame? Dube questioned on Mugabe.

“It is public knowledge that he (Mugabe) was the president, chief executive of the country, and commander-in-chief when those disturbances happened. Whether he likes it or not, Mugabe is the one who should shoulder the blame; all these other people involved were working under him,” said Dube.

The straight talking Dube did not spare incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa saying that he was also strongly involved in the execution of the atrocities and should apologise to the people of Matabeleland in order to begin finding a closure to the atrocities.

“Even the current president (Mnangagwa) was also there, although I cannot say he was fully responsible. These are the people who should apologise to the victims on behalf of the government so that this chapter can be closed,” said Dube.

Tshinga Dube castigated President Mnangagwa’s claims that the Gukurahundi issue was a by gone which was concluded at the 1987 Unity Accord between Mugabe and the late former Vice President Joshua Nkomo.

Dube said that the ZANU PF government failed to handle the issue from the onset of the unity accord while Joshua Nkomo was still alive.

“I think the issue was not properly handled in the first place. If you look carefully, it was actually swept under the carpet. When (Joshua) Nkomo, the late vice-president, was still alive this issue could have been addressed entirely. The mistake was that when the Unity Accord was signed in 1987, we all assumed the issue had been addressed,” he said.

“We did not realise at the time we had not addressed critical post-conflict and reconciliation issues. The victims are still there, but they have not been rehabilitated, there hasn’t been truth and reconciliation, let alone justice and reparations. We cannot change the past, but post-conflict societies need rehabilitation of victims and rebuilding.”

Dube said that Gukurahundi can not be an issue to be easily wished off as Mnangagwa hints, because the victims remain with wounds still not healed.

“For you it will not be over because you will still be bitter and you can be bitter until you die. All the parties involved did not look at that issue the way I think they should have.”

“I have always said there is need for what we refer to in Ndebele culture and IsiNdebele as ukukhumisana umlotha; traditional ritual of coming together to bury the hatchet after proper apologies have been made following a hurtful conflict or such a problem. Once that is done, we then agree as a people or nation that it’s done; the chapter is closed. We have seen that happening in other countries. But we have not had that in Zimbabwe. What we have had here are people who would not say sorry. Their excuse is that it was during a war. I dare ask: what war are you talking about when unarmed and defenceless people were being killed? We talk about war when two or more armed groups or people are fighting. When you just kill people because you have a gun and they don’t have one, that’s not a war.

On possible reparations for the victims, Dube closed off the issue of possible financial compensation for the victims.

“First of all, some people talk about compensation. Who do you compensate when some victims are no longer alive?

“We are talking about something that happened about 30 to 40 years ago. It’s very complicated. If one shows remorse and comes forward to assist victims or their families through certain programmes, for example paying for their education or some such other serious plan, people will see that leaders are indeed sorry about what happened.

Tshinga Dube long lost former President Mugabe’s favour over his tough stance on Gukurahundi. His latest remarks may begin to strain relations with Mnangagwa who is already hinting on a rerun of the Makokoba constituency primary election which Tshinga Dube won.