A Zimbabwean court has dismissed a legal bid by the opposition Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) to halt public hearings on the Gukurahundi massacres—an episode of state-led violence in the 1980s in which an estimated 20,000 people were killed by the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade under then-President Robert Mugabe. The victims, mostly from the Ndebele ethnic group, were targeted in Matabeleland and parts of the Midlands during a brutal campaign against alleged dissidents. The Bulawayo High Court ruled that ZAPU’s urgent application lacked merit and had been filed too late to be considered. ZAPU had argued the hearings, which are being conducted under the supervision of traditional chiefs, lack impartiality and legal credibility. The party contends that chiefs, many of whom are appointed by the government, are not neutral arbiters and that the process risks becoming a state-sanctioned cover-up.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa—who was state security minister during the massacres—has backed the hearings as a means of achieving truth, justice, and national healing. The process is being facilitated through the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC), which has been collecting testimonies from survivors and witnesses. While civil society groups and victims’ organizations cautiously welcome the move as a step toward long-awaited acknowledgment, they are calling for full transparency, the inclusion of independent experts, and a clear path toward reparations and prosecutions.
ZAPU insists that genuine reconciliation requires open accountability, not symbolic hearings that avoid naming perpetrators or offering legal redress. Nonetheless, the government has moved ahead, positioning the hearings as a cornerstone of its nation-building agenda. The hearings are scheduled to continue across multiple districts in the affected regions.
