Joice Mujuru, Zimbabwe’s former vice president and then senior member of the ruling Zanu-PF has expressed regrets at not doing more to stop human rights abuses by the Zimbabwean government.
In an interview with Al Jazeera English’s current affairs show, UpFront, Mujuru said: “I’m being availed to some of the things that are even shocking,”
“I am even asking myself, did these things happen during my days in government?… Surely, for a person who has a human heart, you have to feel bad and sorry, and say sorry to those that have been affected.”
The Zimbabwe People First Party president, however, did claim that she raised many concerning issues during her ten years as Robert Mugabe’s vice president, which she believed ultimately led to her swift removal from the party in 2014.
“It’s on record that I even addressed, and calling and asking who was giving orders for people to go and maim and kill others,” she said.
Secret army
“I’m sure this was the reason why they were in cahoots or clandestinely working against me.”
During the interview, Mujuru was asked whether she knew about the so-called Gukurahundi massacre, when around 20 000 civilians were killed by Mugabe’s Fifth Brigade in Matabeleland. She denied any knowledge and said she trusted what Mugabe told her.
“Of course, you have to believe [Mugabe],” she said. “But who knew that this was a secret army that was going straight to him?”
On the subject of the wealth accumulated by her late-husband Solomon Mujuru’s political and business ventures, Mujuru claimed it was exaggerated.
“The estate for Mujuru should have, by now, brought out how wealthy Mujuru was,” she said. “Why is it that they’re still very quiet about those billions of dollars that the world has been told?”
Mujuru insisted that she had no access to her late husband’s fortune: “It’s all with the courts, what he is worth. You can ask them how much they have managed to identify that belonged to Solomon. And they can tell you.”
Compensation
When questioned about the multi-million dollar farm she calls home, Mujuru said that even though the farm had been illegally seized from its former owner during Zimbabwe’s war of liberation, she was now looking to make things right.
“I want the world to know that since the departure of my husband, I have been hunting for the former owner of Alamein Farm. So that I’m in a position to discuss with him as to the way forward, regarding that farm. Because we know, there’s compensation that was discussed.”
During the interview, Mujuru was also asked about whether she shot down a Rhodesian helicopter as a teenager, a story that has since become legendary in Zimbabwe.
“It did happen!””she said.
To those who claim it’s a fabricated tale, she said: “It’s because their participation in the struggle was very minimal, if not none.” Al Jazeera
