National healing: Mphoko does nothing

via National healing: Mphoko does nothing – New Zimbabwe 06/04/2015

TOP rights defender Jestina Mukoko has accused the Zanu PF-led government of employing a lethargic approach on current efforts to restore peace and reconciliation in a country polarised by decades of hostilities.

Mukoko, who is director with a rights lobby group, Zimbabwe Peace Project, singled out National Healing Minister and current Vice President Phekelezela Mphoko for blame.

She accused the former Zimbabwean envoy to South Africa of fronting a programme with a patently false start.

“We have not seen anything happening; that is just a title that he (Mphoko) has got,” Mukoko said in an interview with NewZimbabwe.com.

Mphoko has not won many friends among fellow Zimbabweans after he recently tried to absolve President Robert Mugabe of blame over the killing of civilians in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces early 1980s.

The government has since called for public interviews for individuals who will constitute the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC).

But Mukoko feels this was still not enough.

“We are already nearly 24 months into the new Constitution and still we still do not have the NPRC.

“There is more that still needs to be done. I am not sure if in the remaining years they (government) would be able to cover everything in terms of the wounds that Zimbabweans carry.”

Zimbabweans have, since independence, witnessed rights violations with most acts being sponsored by the Robert Mugabe-led administration.

The darkest period was the 1980s Gukurahundi massacres in which independent estimates put the death list at 20 000 civilians.

In 2008, the State was blamed for the murder of an estimated 300 opposition MDC supporters during the bloody presidential run-off campaign pitying bitter rivals President Mugabe and MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

Mukoko said government had no excuse for sitting on the formation of the peace based organ while the victims were carrying physical and emotional scars.

“People have too many wounds that they would want healed,” said Mukoko, herself once a victim of State perpetrated disappearance.

“They looked forward to the organ on national healing and nothing happened.

“Now we were hoping that the NPRC would be in place and be able to respond to those wounds but nothing has happened.

“The net effect is that people are carrying a lot of trauma around and a lot of people in a lot of communities are still living with the same perpetrators that caused them a lot of pain.

“… and people just want to be able to have a lot of closure in terms of the episodes that they went through so that they can go on with their lives.”