Speaking to The Zimbabwean, analysts said that the government could help to stabilize the country by bringing to justice the organizers of violence on all sides.
This was said as acting President John Nkomo told those gathered for Zanu (PF) politburo member Didymus Mutasa’s 75th birthday in Rusape on Saturday that Zimbabweans should forget past political squabbles which led to bloody clashes in the Matebeleland and Midlands provinces.
Nkomo spoke hardly a week after Mugabe told Defence Forces Day celebrations that Zimbabwe should not go on a witch-hunt for those who took hundreds of lives in organized political violence sparked during the 2008 presidential and general elections. Mugabe also suggested a blanket amnesty for security forces who used excessive force in dealing with opposition supporters.
Admore Tshuma, a Zimbabwean journalist and political analyst, said by calling for amnesty on those guilty of political violence, Mugabe is subordinating justice to political self-interest, thereby shielding criminal elements who perpetrated violence both on his behalf and as non-state actors sympathetic to Zanu (PF).
“There can never be any reconciliation without accountability,” Tshuma said. “Amnesty is problematic because it promotes impunity.”
The 2008 election-related violence shocked Zimbabweans and the world, leaving more than 200 people dead and 200,000 people displaced from their homes.
Although many observers were surprised by the speed and scale of the recent violence in Zimbabwe, the underlying causes of the crisis are old and deep.
The failure to address systemic problems of governance and organized political violence was a direct cause of the recent crisis. And it dates back to the 80s. Nkomo said at Mutasa’s birthday party that the squabbles between Zanu (PF) and Zapu in the 80s “should be water under the bridge.” “We should heal the wounds, reconcile and integrate ourselves,” Nkomo said.
“We need peace, unity and tranquillity to prevail so that we can move forward as a nation. If we say an eye for an eye, Zimbabwe will be blind,” Nkomo said.
But analysts dismissed Nkomo and Mugabe’s amnesty call and urged the coalition government to support the various inquiries established under the February 2008 mediation process to investigate abuses by state forces and those responsible for the violence. How well these initiatives succeed will be central to the coalition government’s ability to improve the lives of Zimbabweans and stabilize the country.
“Confronting long-ignored human rights violations and historical injustices means investigations and prosecutions,” said political commentator Ronald Shumba.
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