The Chronicle

23 March 2016

VICE President Emmerson Mnangagwa has denounced “false and malicious” statements he says are contained in a book recently published by Bulawayo Senator David Coltart (MDC)

Mnangagwa said he “noted with concern” claims in Coltart’s autobiography, The Struggle Continues, that he incited violence against civilians in the 1980s at the height of the unpopular deployment of the Five Brigade army unit in Matabeleland and the Midlands in an operation to hunt down anti-government dissidents.

Rights groups claim thousands of innocent civilians were murdered in cold blood in the operation which came to be known as “Gukurahundi”, most of them accused of harbouring the dissidents who numbered just over a hundred.

Mnangagwa complained about a passage in Coltart’s book in which he is quoted, during a rally “near Lupane” in March 1983, as having said that the government “had the option of burning down… all villages infested with dissidents”.

A statement issued by his office and dated March 21 said: “The Vice President ED Mnangagwa wishes to communicate that all the statements attributed to him are a total fabrication and that at no stage during the 1980s did he address a rally in Lupane, nor did he at any other venue utter those words.

“The Vice President’s legal practitioners are currently perusing Mr Coltart’s autobiography… before considering appropriate action to be taken to address these false and malicious statements.”

But appearing unfazed by the threat of a lawsuit from Mnangagwa yesterday, Coltart said on Twitter: “ED will be very poorly advised to sue.”

Coltart said Mnangagwa’s utterances had been reported by The Chronicle at the time, adding: “He never challenged what they wrote.”

It has since emerged that the said comments by Mnangagwa were also contained in a Roman Catholic Church-sponsored inquiry into the 1980s disturbances whose final report, Breaking the Silence, was published in 1997 with Coltart as a co-author.

Contrary to what Coltart says in his book, the comments were said to have been made at a rally in Victoria Falls and not “near Lupane”.

Yesterday, we dug into our archives and we can reveal that the statements attributed to Mnangagwa were indeed published in The Chronicle between March and April 1983.

In a front page splash headlined “Minister defends Five Brigade” published on March 5, 1983, The Chronicle reported: “Likening the dissidents to cockroaches and bugs, the minister said the bandit menace had reached such epidemic proportion that the government had to bring ‘DDT’ (Five Brigade) to get rid of the bandits.”

DDT was a popular pesticide, which is now banned almost everywhere in the world.

The Chronicle said Mnangagwa, then the State Security Minister, was speaking at a rally in Victoria Falls also addressed by the Minister of National Supplies Enos Nkala and the Minister of Trade and Commerce, Richard Hove. Nkala and Hove are both late.

“The government had two options to deal decisively with the dissident menace,” The Chronicle paraphrased Mnangagwa as saying. “One was to burn down all villages infested with dissidents and the other was to bring in the Five Brigade. The government chose the latter.”

Mnangagwa also reportedly told the rally that “it was necessary to destroy the infrastructure that nurtured the bandits”.

“Dissidents would only survive where there was fodder for them,” he is quoted as having said, before adding: “Have you ever asked yourself why there are no dissidents in many places in Mashonaland?”

A month later, in an article published on April 5 under the headline, “Nkayi povo denounce Nkomo”, Mnangagwa was quoted as saying the Five Brigade had “come to Matabeleland like fire and in the process of cleansing the area of the dissident menace had also wiped out their supporters.”

“Blessed are they who will follow the path of government laws for their days on earth shall be increased. But woe unto those who will choose the path of collaboration with dissidents for we will certainly shorten their stay on earth,” he added.

Yesterday, Mnangagwa’s office requested the referenced back copies of The Chronicle and we cooperated.

VOA Studio 7

23 March 2016

By Taurai Shava

BULAWAYO —
Politician David Coltart, who is also a veteran lawyer, maintains that he stands by remarks contained in his book regarding what Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa is reported to have said in 1983, when government deployed the North Korean-trained Five Brigade in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces.

According to human rights activists the Zimbabwe army allegedly killed at least 20,000 innocent civilians. The massacres, commonly referred to as Gukurahundi or ‘washing away dirt’, have reportedly unsettled the vice president, who is believed to be harboring presidential ambitions.

Coltart told Studio 7 that he had carried out thorough research for his autobiography titled “The Struggle Continues” saying he stands by what he wrote.

Coltart has become embroiled in a row with Mnangagwa after it emerged that his recently published book contains statements that sometime in 1983, Mnangagwa – then Security Minister- made which encouraged violence against civilians, marking the start of what came to be known as Gukurahundi.

Coltart said he had relied on some reports in the state-controlled Chronicle newspaper, which he had believed to be true as Mnangagwa never sued the paper for those remarks.

He said, “The specific comments in the book regarding Vice President Mnangagwa actually came from the Chronicle reports in 1983, which we had access to. And the assumption has always been that the Chronicle then reportedly accurately. Vice President Mnangagwa never complained about the Chronicle reports of what he said then, and he never sued them in the past 33 years, so one has to assume that he

was correctly reported on. And to that extent yes, I stand by what is written in the book.”

In a statement, Mnangagwa said he was concerned by remarks in Coltart’s book and that the statements attributed to him were false. He has threatened to sue the senator.

But Coltart has remained steadfast. Asked if he believed that the ordinary majority could still forgive the perpetrators of Gukurahundi, given the apparent state intransigence, Coltart – who has in the past urged offenders to apologize for the atrocities – believes that the massacres cannot be taken in isolation as Zimbabwe has gone through a number of traumatic experiences in the past.

Coltart said he would not be the right person to demand any apology from Gukurahundi perpetrators but said he believed there is need for truth-telling.

“This is not something that I can say. I was not a victim of Gukurahundi and to that extent I have no right to demand any apology from Vice President Mnangagwa. All I have done is represent people; victims of that era. And from my representation of those people, I know that they do want an acknowledgment that what happened in fact happened, and yes they would like an apology and they would like some form of communal reparation.”

Human rights activist, Mbuso Fuzwayo, said Mnangagwa could have used this opportunity to take responsibility and come clean on his involvement in Gukurahundi atrocities.

Programmes director Tineyi Mukwewa of the Abammeli Human Rights Lawyers said as the issue of Gukurahundi has rarely been discussed openly, Zimbabweans could salvage something positive from the row between Coltart and Mnangagwa to help bring closure over the issue.

“Clearly Zimbabwe has had no conversation around Gukurahundi, so this is an opportune time where Zimbabwe can, in a structured manner, have a truth telling mechanism where the victims themselves can tell their story and where the accused can also their side of the story. Zimbabwe needs the National Peace and Reconciliation Bill to come into effect, but the bill has to speak about truth telling, so that we find closure in Zimbabwe.”

Participants at a recent meeting on transitional justice said there can only be closure on the thorny Gukurahundi issue if there is telling of the truth and acknowledgment of the atrocities.

The Five Brigade was deployed in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces to quell what the government called a dissident menace caused by some disgruntled former Zipra members, who were unhappy over the way they were left out of the Zimbabwe National Army and other political issues.

A local newspaper posted photographs of articles published in the newspaper in 1983 in which Mnangagwa reportedly compared dissidents to “cockroaches and bugs”.

Newsday

22 March 2016

Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday denied ever uttering inflammatory statements that could have stoked tensions during the Gukurahundi era, but the denial could yet trigger questions on his role during the 1980s killings.

Mnangagwa said statements attributed to him that dissidents were cockroaches that needed DDT was to exterminate them were total fabrications and that he had never uttered those words.

Mnangagwa was responding to an article in the Southern Eye that quoted David Coltart’s autobiography, saying his lawyers were perusing the book before “considering appropriate action to be taken to address the false and malicious statements”.

However, in newspaper articles that are likely to further embarrass the Vice-President, the Chronicle of March 5, 1983 reported Mnangagwa uttering those exact words.

“Likening the dissidents to cockroaches and bugs, the minister (Mnangagwa) said the bandit menace had reached such epidemic proportion that the government had to bring in DDT (Five Brigade) to get rid of the bandits,” the Chronicle quoted the Vice-President saying at a rally Victoria Falls.

Then Mnangagwa was the Minister of State Security.

The article said the government had two options to deal decisively with the dissidents, with the first being to burn down all the villages “infested with the dissidents and the other was in the Five Brigade. The government chose the latter”.

Mnangagwa has not challenged the statements in the past after they were published in Breaking the silence, a report that lifted the lid on the Gukurahundi killings.

News 24

22 March 2016

News24 Correspondent

Harare – Zimbabwean presidential hopeful Emmerson Mnangagwa would be “poorly advised” to sue over claims in a recently-published book that he may have helped incite a notorious massacre, the book’s author David Coltart said Tuesday.

Lawyers for Mnangagwa were “currently perusing” former education minister Coltart’s book before deciding what action to take, a statement from the vice president’s office said.

Mnangagwa has taken exception to a local newspaper review of Coltart’s The Struggle Continues, in which Mnangagwa is reported to have told a rally not far from the southern Lupane district in the early 1980s that the government “had the option of burning down all villages infested with dissidents”.

Rights groups say up to 20 000 Zimbabweans were killed during the 1983-1987 Gukurahundi massacres after President Robert Mugabe sent his North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade into Matabeleland to put down a rebellion.

The statement from Mnangagwa’s office reads: “At no stage during the 1980s did [Mnangagwa] address a rally in Lupane, nor did he at any other venue utter those words.”

But Zimbabweans on social media have pointed out that Coltart is drawing from news reports from the time.

Chronicle editor Mduduzi Mathuthu posted photographs of articles published in the newspaper in 1983 in which Mnangagwa reportedly compared dissidents to “cockroaches and bugs”.

Coltart, a lawyer who served as education minister during the 2009-2013 coalition government, tweeted: “ED [Emmerson Dambudzo] will be very poorly advised to sue.”

Mnangagwa leads one of two factions fighting for power in Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party. The other faction – which appears to be on the up at the moment – is led by the G40, a group of younger politicians who may have the backing of Grace Mugabe.

Mugabe has called the Gukurahundi killings a “moment of madness”.

Herald

22 March 2016

Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa has dismissed as false and malicious, claims by former Education Minister David Coltart that he had made inflammatory statements that could have fomented Gukurahundi killings in the late 1980s.

Mr Coltart’s sentiments were published in Alpha Media Holdings’ Southern Eye edition last week.

In a statement yesterday, VP Mnangagwa said: “The Vice President and Minister of Justice, legal and Parliamentary Affairs of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Honourable E.D. Mnangagwa, has noted with concern the contents of an article entitled ‘Coltart shines light on VP’s Gukurahundi role’ which appeared in the Southern Eye section of the Newsday edition of 17th March 2016.

“The article purports to be quoting extracts from Mr David Coltart’s autobiography. The Newsday article reports that Mr David Coltart alleges in his autobiography that the Honourable Vice President E.D, Mnangagwa addressed a rally in Lupane on a date that is not specified, but sometime in the 1980s and said that the Government had the option of “burning down…. All villages infested with dissidents” amongst other statements inciting violence against civilians.

“The Vice President E.D. Mnangagwa wishes to communicate that all statements attributed to him in this article are a total fabrication and that at no stage during the 1980s did he address a rally in Lupane nor did he at any other venue utter those words in the article in question.

“The Vice President’s legal practitioners are currently perusing Mr David Coltart’s autobiography to ascertain the accuracy of the report in the Newsday newspaper before considering appropriate action to be taken to address these false and malicious statements.”

The article futher quoted Mr Coltart as stating that VP Mnangagwa addressing the same Lupane rally said: “The campaign against dissidents can only succeed if the infrastructure which nurtures them is destroyed.”

It goes on to say that the VP described dissidents as “cockroaches” and the Fifth Brigade as “DDT”, a deadly pesticide used to exterminate vermin. The Newsday article further quoted Mr Coltart saying that the VP had said: “Blessed are they who will follow the path of the government laws, for their days on earth will be increased. But woe unto those who will choose the path of collaboration with disssidents for we will certainly shorten their stay on Earth.”

Southern Eye

By Richard Chidza

22 March 2016

VICE-PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa’s role in the Gukurahundi massacres has once again been thrust into the limelight, with former Education minister David Coltart accusing him of making inflammatory statements that could have formented the killings.

In his autobiography, The Struggle Continues: 50 years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe, Coltart insinuates Mnangagwa and Defence minister Sydney Sekeramayi could have known more about the 1980s killings than President Robert Mugabe.

At a rally near Lupane district, Coltart alleged Mnangagwa said the government had an option of “burning down … all villages infested with dissidents”.

“The campaign against dissidents can only succeed if the infrastructure which nurtures them is destroyed,” Mnangagwa was quoted saying.

Coltart said Mnangagwa described dissidents as “cockroaches” and the Fifth Brigade as “DDT”, a deadly pesticide used to exterminate vermin.

While Mnangagwa’s role in the 1980s killings has been written on extensively, the nature of the inflammatory language used was likely to undermine the Vice-President, who is reportedly under siege in Zanu PF’s factional wars.

The term “cockroach” featured prominently in the media ahead of Rwanda’s genocide in 1994, and its use to describe people has been classified as hate speech.

Mnangagwa, then Security minister, reportedly working in cahoots with the army under Sekeramayi, is said to have ranted at a meeting in Matabeleland North.

“Blessed are they who will follow the path of the government laws, for their days on earth will be increased. But woe unto those who will choose the path of collaboration with dissidents for we will certainly shorten their stay on earth,” Coltart claims Mnangagwa said.

As the killings escalated, Coltart said Mike Auret, bishops Henry Karlen, Helmut Reckter and Patrick Mutume, who were documenting the violence under the auspices of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) approached Mugabe, Mnangagwa and Sekeramayi to present a report on the Matabeleland situation.

“Mugabe promised to look into their concerns, but said he doubted ‘innocent civilians were being violated in any way’,” Coltart wrote.

The clerics are said to have informed Mugabe of their intention to write a pastoral letter on the killings, which they did, but he responded angrily.

“Mugabe reacted angrily refuting the allegations and calling the authors ‘a band of Jeremiahs (which) included reactionary foreign journalists, non-government organisations of dubious status in our midst, and sanctimonious prelates,” Coltart quoted the then Prime Minister.

Coltart also reiterated that former Midlands governor, Cephas Msipa took concerns on the alleged killings to Mugabe and the President called for a meeting at the Bulawayo State House.

“Msipa records that it was ‘as if a rally had been called’ with people arriving at State House on bicycles and on foot. Once again Mugabe heard chilling evidence for two hours from survivors,” Coltart writes.

“Msipa records that after listening to their impassioned pleas, Mugabe said he ‘was sorry to hear what was happening’ but also implored people to stop ‘supporting dissidents’.”

Msipa yesterday confirmed Coltart’s version of events.

“It is true Mugabe requested that as many people were invited to meet him in Bulawayo. It was a free-for-all.

Welshman Mabhena and Amos Mkwananzi had requested to meet Mugabe over the atrocities and after he had heard the people’s stories, he (Mugabe) summed it up saying: ‘I am sorry for what is happening and government will do everything in its power to stop it, but you people must stop supporting dissidents’,” he said.

Coltart said he had not appreciated the depth of the calamity unfolding until late in 1983, when Mugabe appointed a commission of enquiry headed by lawyer, Simplisious Chihambakwe and people began to appear before it.

“It was here that the CCJP brought hundreds of Fifth Brigade victims so that affidavits could be recorded from them. I sat before woman after woman (the survivors were overwhelmingly female), recording the most horrendous evidence of crimes against humanity,” he wrote.

“Sitting at a table in the hall, one woman after another, told me how her husband, father, brother, son, uncle, grandfather, nephew had been gunned down before their very eyes; how whole families had been herded into huts – men, women and children, even babies – which were then locked from the outside and set alight. It was here that I heard about pregnant women who had been bayonetted.”

An estimated 20 000 people were killed during the Gukurahundi massacres between 1982 and 1987.

News24

22 March 2016

This is after Zanu-PF big wig took exception to a review of opposition politician’s new book The Struggle Continues

Zim VP mulling legal action against ex-minister over ‘massacre’ claims

Harare – Zimbabwean presidential hopeful Emmerson Mnangagwa would be “poorly advised” to sue over claims in a recently-published book that he may have helped incite a notorious massacre, the book’s author David Coltart said Tuesday.

Lawyers for Mnangagwa were “currently perusing” former education minister Coltart’s book before deciding what action to take, a statement from the vice president’s office said.

Mnangagwa has taken exception to a local newspaper review of Coltart’s The Struggle Continues, in which Mnangagwa is reported to have told a rally not far from the southern Lupane district in the early 1980s that the government “had the option of burning down all villages infested with dissidents”.
Rights groups say up to 20 000 Zimbabweans were killed during the 1983-1987 Gukurahundi massacres after President Robert Mugabe sent his North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade into Matabeleland to put down a rebellion.

The statement from Mnangagwa’s office reads: “At no stage during the 1980s did [Mnangagwa] address a rally in Lupane, nor did he at any other venue utter those words.”
But Zimbabweans on social media have pointed out that Coltart is drawing from news reports from the time.

Chronicle editor Mduduzi Mathuthu posted photographs of articles published in the newspaper in 1983 in which Mnangagwa reportedly compared dissidents to “cockroaches and bugs”.

Coltart, a lawyer who served as education minister during the 2009-2013 coalition government, tweeted: “ED [Emmerson Dambudzo] will be very poorly advised to sue.”
Mnangagwa leads one of two factions fighting for power in Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party. The other faction – which appears to be on the up at the moment – is led by the G40, a group of younger politicians who may have the backing of Grace Mugabe.

Mugabe has called the Gukurahundi killings a “moment of madness”.