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Meet The Zim Politician Who Allegedly Killed Over 8,000 lives ll A Day Zimbabwean Will Never Forget
Mar 3, 2025
Enos Nkala is remembered as one of the key figures behind the Gukurahundi massacres, a tragic period in Zimbabwe’s history that led to the deaths of thousands of people in the 1980s. He was a close ally of former President Robert Mugabe and played a major role in the violent crackdown on the Matabeleland region. This operation, carried out in the name of eliminating political opponents, targeted the Ndebele people, who were part of Nkala’s own ethnic group.
Nkala, who died in 2013 at the age of 80, was Zimbabwe’s Minister of Home Affairs during the Gukurahundi period. Reports suggest that he worked closely with Mugabe to silence anyone seen as a political threat. The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace described this time as one of the bloodiest in Zimbabwe’s history after independence.
The Gukurahundi Massacres
In January 1983, Mugabe sent the Fifth Brigade, a North Korean-trained military unit, to Matabeleland. Their official mission was to crush so-called dissidents linked to Joshua Nkomo’s party, the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU). However, many reports show that these “dissidents” were mostly innocent civilians.
The Fifth Brigade carried out killings, torture, and other human rights violations in Matabeleland. As Minister of Home Affairs, Nkala played a direct role in this operation, making him one of the key figures responsible for the atrocities.
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