Bulawayo residents will this weekend brave the ire of the state when they meet for the Gukurahundi victims commemorations service at a venue yet to be announced in the country's second biggest city.

by our Top Partner Radio VOP Zimbabwe

Pressure group Ibhetshu LikaZulu's spokesperson Mqondisi Moyo said they hoped to map the way forward on the 'genocide' at the service.

'We will have the commemorations at a venue yet to be announced, but it will be around Bulawayo. If we are to do it at a hall, we will have to seek for police clearance and if it's in a church, we will not seek for police clearance because it would be classified as a church service,' he said.

Massacre
The Gukurahundi operation, carried out under Robert Mugabe government between 1983 and 1987, killed an estimated 20 000+ people in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces, says the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP).

The Gukurahundi massacres only ended after the late Joshua Nkomo's Zapu and Mugabe's Zanu (PF) party signed a unity agreement on 22 December 1987.

Two weeks ago Zimbabwean police dismissed an Anglican clergy retreat labelling it a political gathering without clearance.

Moyo said the theme for this year is 'Towards Restorative Justice'.'We will be bringing lawyers to the event with the hope that they will explain how the issue of victims and perpetrators in light of the continued plight of the victims. We have equally invited political parties, civic organisations, the general public and the churches.'

Moyo said the organisation would join the rest of the world in commemorating Genocide Day on 28 January this year.