'Gukurahundi' Massacre 'Was Under Mugabe’s Explicit Orders': Report

President Robert Mugabe. Image by: Foto24 / Deaan Vivier / Gallo Images

Secret Australian documents which were recently declassified have allegedly exposed the strategic role Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe played in the killing of thousands of Ndebele people.

After Zimbabwe had attained independence from white minority rule in the early 1980's a massacre of the Ndebele ethnic group broke out in the country.

The massacre was titled Gukurahundi, which means 'the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains' in Shona, and intended to remove opposition in the Matabeleland province which showed massive support for ZANU PF's rival party, ZAPU.

TimesLIVE reports:

Details of who exactly was behind the mass murder of about 20,000 people have remained sketchy, with Mugabe referring to the killings as a "moment of madness" in 1999 but never taking full responsibility.

Now, according to Mail and Guardian, a book by historian and author, Stuart Doran will include the minute details of how Mugabe was the mastermind behind the massacre. The material Doran sourced includes diplomatic correspondence, intelligence assessments and raw intelligence from spies who operated during that era.

The information shows that Mugabe and his allies initiated the fifth brigade, a deadly army trained in Korea that executed their victims mercilessly. The aim of the massacre was to ensure Mugabe's political opponent, Joshua Nkomo's voter base was eroded as he had a large following by the Ndebeles in Matabeleland.

An ally of Mugabe said: “not only was Mugabe fully aware of what was going on — what the Fifth Brigade was doing was under Mugabe’s explicit orders.”

The last Mugabe's administration spoke on the massacre was through vice president Phelekezela Mphoko who said the events were a creation of the West and Mugabe was not involved at all.