At least a non-partisan body could have been constituted to facilitate the healing process. At the helm should be men and women of high moral integrity whose track records are beyond reproach and respected within and outside the country.
National healing and reconciliation cannot be achieved through rallies, meetings and having audience with heavily compromised authorities like chiefs. Some of these traditional and community leaders were exploited by politicians during election campaign periods. The same structures cannot suddenly yield value as if they are apolitical.
National healing and sustainable peace will only be attained when perpetrators of violence are brought before the courts of law and justice takes its course. Since the National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration process is a result of a negotiated settlement, it is likely to rob victims and survivors of the justice they deserve. No amount of truth telling can heal the nation; no reconciliation is possible with justice.
The idea of reconciliation is premature, since we dont have a legitimate government in place. Our problems are compounded by the following critical issues,
Non-observance of human rights, no security of person, closed airwaves, arbitrary arrests, massive unemployment, poor health facilities, sanitation and care and hunger. With a myriad of challenges it is hard to meaningfully engage people on these critical matters without stumbling. The priorities should be an interim constitution, economic resuscitation, employment creation, food and water security and winning international confidence.
Its impractical to attain national healing and reconciliation in an undemocratic environment. The formation of the GNU itself was a flagrant violation of human rights, because it ignored the wishes of the people and was done under a cloud of secrecy. It will be difficult to extricate the country from this political quagmire. We are saddled with this problem because we abdicated our birthright and allowed politicians to outsource and personalise Zimbabwe solution.
Maybe what we need is an interim constitution just to facilitate the next election. Then a legitimate government can invest in the people-driven constitution, otherwise we will be stuck with this arrangement for the next 29 years. The tragedy for Zimbabwe is that people are taken for granted by politicians.
Efforts like dialogue, peace-building and peace preaching may be interpreted as defeatism in the face of evil. This strengthens the culture of impunity by confirming the public consensus that you can get away with murder if you are on the right side of power, thereby perpetuating the status quo that led to conflict and might lead to it again.
Reconciliation in practice is to help create the social space and the mechanism by which Justice, Peace, Truth and Mercy can come together. In Zimbabwe as long as government institutions and civil society are weak and personalities loom large, it is no easy walk to freedom. Mlilo is director of the Mediation for Peace Centre
Post published in: Opinions