Mlondolozi Ndlovu
Victims of political violence from across the country’s provinces have demanded whooping changes to the proposed National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) bill among them the need to reduce powers of the Minister in the commission, the need for a clear time line to the issues which the commission will deal with, quantification of compensation for the victims of violence.
This was revealed yesterday at a workshop held by the Heal Zimbabwe trust (HZT) where most of the people terrorised by Zanu PF and State actors noted that those involved in the violence would not be allowed to lead the healing process.
“As victims of political violence we welcome the initiation by Heal Zimbabwe Trust to have us engage on the NPRC bill. However we do not want people especially Ministers who abused us like the likes of Didymus Mutasa (Former ZANU PF MP and Minister) to be part of this noble process. The bill must be clear on that” said a man from Headlands who preferred anonymity who was part of the workshop.
One of the victims of this political violence which has characterized Zimbabwe’s political landscape, Davy Ndlovu who lost his brother during the Gukurahundi massacres said there is need for the commission to look at the violence as far as this sad period.
“You see I lost my brother during the Gukurahundi period and I still do not have his birth certificate because they could not allow me to say Gukurahundi was the cause for his death, hence this period must be included in the process” said Ndlovu who said his only period od healing was when he visited South Africa and got counselling.
Another youth Memory Ncube who was victimized on allegations of killing a police officer PetrosMutedza said they was need for more information to the public on this issue further saying the terms of commissioners should be much
“There is need for time to be allocated for the terms of the commissioners, because it will obviously take time to bring complete healing and reconciliation to the people of Zimbabwe” said Ncube.
Another victim whose house was burnt and lost his wife during the gruesome 2008 violence said they did not want the President to intervene in the operations of the commsions saying instead more powers should be given to Parliament.
“We do not want the President’s intervention and allow more powers to the Parliament of Zimbabwe, the Judicial service commission because the President is biased” said another victim of violence who preferred unanimous.
The victims also bemoaned the need for the government of Zimbabwe to stop politicization of the national projects such as reconciliation saying they was a tendency by the ruling party to invite its supporters only for important events.
“We are still coming up with a position and I think this process is helping us to come up with a position, but we can say that we have identified key issues highlighted by the participants who feel that the independence of the Commission is actually undermined by the powers that are vested in the minister,” Heal Zimbabwe Executive Director, Rashid Mahiya told reporter
