Misihairabwi-Mushonga: Shona Blood More Important Than Ndebele Blood

Regional Integration and International Co-operation Minister Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga wearing her MDC Secretary-General hat waded into the tribalism debate during a rally recently.

In short she said that when Gukurahundi was in full swing, the west and other whites were silent as many lives were lost. She then said that when MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai was assaulted, the international community expressed its outrage. She suggested to her audience that the reason may be because the world views the blood of the Shona has more value than that of the Ndebele.

She then linked this to the economic disenfranchisement of the Matabeleland region.

At a time when we are trying to foster national unity the easiest thing to do is to express outrage at these comments but one cannot run away from the fact that these are the feelings on the ground. The existence of such parties as the Mthwakazi Liberation Front is because of the fact that people from the region who are mostly Ndebele are largely ignored.

We do not really think that a politician should go about scoring political points by fanning tribal hatred but at the same time, this is a matter that must be talked about openly.

As we crawl across social media we can see tribal references increasing and at times become quite heated. The thing that scares us is the fact that the tribal comments are quite deeply entrenched and the people seem to believe what they are saying, strongly.

Tribalism is the pink elephant in the room, and everyone wants to ignore it. Sadly, without talking about it, people seethe privately and before we know it, something nasty happens. At that point, having a conversation will be difficult.

Watch Misihairabwi-Mushonga’s comments on Bulawayo 24 News by clicking here. It is all in Ndebele.