Margaret Thatcher 's UK government was aware of the killings but remained silent on the matter , cautious not to anger Mugabe and threaten the safety of white Zimbabweans . The United States also did not raise strong objections , with President Ronald Reagan welcoming Mugabe to the White House in September 1983 . In October 1983 , Mugabe attended the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in New Delhi , where no participating states mentioned the Gukurahundi . In 2000 , Mugabe acknowledged that the mass killings had happened , stating that it was " an act of madness ... it was wrong and both sides were to blame " . Meredith argued however that Mugabe and his ZANU-PF were solely to blame for the massacres . Various Mugabe biographers have seen the Gukurahundi as a deliberate attempt to eliminate ZAPU and its support base to advance his desire for a ZANU-PF one-party state
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1983
Robert Mugabe