The Zimbabwe coalition government is now a month old and it continues to grow stronger each day despite the attacks it receives from those who had vowed this day will never come. Justina Mukoko and the other political activists are now out of prison leaving those who were using their continued detention to vilify the unity government clutching on straws. To cap it all the agricultural Deputy Minister designate Roy Bennett was released on bail a few days ago.
Upon his release Roy Bennett is quoted as having said, “I bear no malice. In my heart, all I can do is move forward to build the country. If we don’t forgive and there isn’t a spirit of forgiveness, we are going nowhere. There are people who don’t want right to prevail and want to keep believing they have the power to do anything. But they are few and their time is near the end.”
These words are instructive. It is time that Zimbabweans took back their pride and stop the wanton destruction of the country at home and abroad and begin the audacious task of rebuilding Zimbabwe, both black and white. The Prime Minster of Zimbabwe, Morgan Tsvangirai in his parliamentary inaugural speech also called for Zimbabweans to move away from the politics of hate and violence and begin to rebuild. He said the days of police violently breaking up demonstrations and needlessly arresting people had to come to an end.
The President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe , at the funeral of the late retired Army General Vitalis Zvinavashe also called for the end of violence between the main political party supporters in the various provinces. "We were fighting among ourselves, brother versus brother ... but we've realised our folly. Let us walk the same road. We formed this inclusive government to bring stability, peace and harmony."Violence must stop," Mugabe said. "We have heard reports of renewed violence, that must stop. Yes, we belong to different parties, but let's not fight. Those who persist with acts of violence are the enemies of Zimbabwe," President Mugabe said
Whilst the call for the end of violence is commendable, the time it seems has come for us to ask ourselves some hard questions and of course we need to deal with attendant hard answers. Following years of violence between the main contending parties, the cause which is attributable to both parties seeking advantage over the other on the political popularity continuum. We now need to address the causes and effects of these on our citizens before it is too late. Zimbabwe needs a Truth and Reconciliation commission, perhaps modelled on the South African one.
The success and failure of our unity government may just come back to haunt us if we do not as a nation face the hard questions that are starring us in the face by way of a Truth Commission. The sporadic incidents of violence that are taking place in various parts of our country are symptomatic of a much bigger problem. There is an urgent need to establish a Truth Commission to look into the atrocities that have taken place in the last ten years or so.
“Truth Commissions” refers to appointed officials mandated to look into past atrocities or historical injustices. It is a generic name to public inquiries. Truth Commissions are often established after a democratic government has succeeded a repressive one or as in our case when a long running dispute between the various political players has resulted in the death and injury of the country’s citizens and then the parties finally put aside their differences in favour of nation building.
The citizens of Zimbabwe are happy that Zimbabwe has an inclusive government in place. But at the same time they are angry that the long road that brought us to where we are today is littered with broken dreams, separated families dead and maimed bodies.
A Truth Commission will play a critical role in our country as we struggle to come to terms with the past, mired with massive human rights violations. Criminal sanctions for past human rights atrocities will not necessarily resolve the issues of past human rights abuses as I have alluded to in previous postings.
The Truth commission we should set up must have an implicit mandate or a term of reference that is designed at rebuilding the country and strengthening the all inclusive government currently in place. In other words the mandate for the Truth Commission needs to be all inclusive. It must concern itself with all citizens including those that are in positions of authority.
For example it is common knowledge that the Zimbabwe security apparatus has adapted a look warm attitude towards the all inclusive government formed between ZANU PF and the two MDC’s. There is a probable valid reason for this. Zimbabwe is a country coming out of internal conflict and strife. The enemies of the people of Zimbabwe have been hard at work to a point that we turned against each other. One simply needs to look at previous engagements between the MDC and ZANU PF in the last elections to realise this. In the Diaspora Zimbabwe news websites and internet chat rooms were places of war between those purporting to be supporting their various causes. Incidentally some to date have not evolved in the spirit of inclusiveness. In South Africa our brothers and sisters are not entirely convinced as to how genuine our inclusive government is. What it stands for and were it is going.
It has taken the intervention of SADC and the then President of South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki to make us realise that we are our own liberators and it is only us who can begin the process of rebuilding our country. The security apparatus is the last line of defence and hence there is a need for them to stand aloof and watch until Zimbabwe convinces them that it is time to make that symbolic salute.
It is therefore imperative for the Truth Commission to be established to look all the reasons the security apparatus is holding out and address these issues. In other words our Truth Commission must mirror our needs as a people and the needs of government. The Truth Commission must have a goal of national reconciliation attached to it, but must not compromise on the issues of disappearances, atrocities committed by all the political players in Zimbabwe. Our target must be national reconciliation.
Another overriding reason we need to set up this Truth Commission is simply to correctly codify the history of our country taking into consideration the various political realities that exist on the ground. Our failure to do this will result in our history been written by the enemies of Zimbabwe which in turn will translate into more hate for generations to come as our children continue to be foisted with half truths and untruths.
The issue of amnesty must also be built into the goals of this Truth Commission for those that come forward with harrowing testimonies. The South African Truth Commission was one of the few hybrid truth commission that offered amnesty in exchange for full and public testimonies of the atrocities that took place.
Our Truth Commission must modelled on it and be given sufficient powers to refer cases that are excessively bad to a committee set or compromising of members from both the two MDC’s and ZANU PF. These committees must be a product of an act of parliament and should have the power to refer cases to our domestic courts for possible prosecution. Our Truth Commission must be “victim centred” this way it is my humble submission, the only way we can make a clean break with the past and start again. An attempt to ignore or suppress the current pockets of sporadic violence occurring around the country may have disastrous consequences for future generations. The establishment of Truth Commission would be the beginning of true national healing and a prosperous future for Zimbabwe.
The writer Lloyd Msipa writes from the United Kingdom. He can be contacted at lloyd@lmsipa.com. Read more from him at http://www.lmsipa.com.
Upon his release Roy Bennett is quoted as having said, “I bear no malice. In my heart, all I can do is move forward to build the country. If we don’t forgive and there isn’t a spirit of forgiveness, we are going nowhere. There are people who don’t want right to prevail and want to keep believing they have the power to do anything. But they are few and their time is near the end.”
These words are instructive. It is time that Zimbabweans took back their pride and stop the wanton destruction of the country at home and abroad and begin the audacious task of rebuilding Zimbabwe, both black and white. The Prime Minster of Zimbabwe, Morgan Tsvangirai in his parliamentary inaugural speech also called for Zimbabweans to move away from the politics of hate and violence and begin to rebuild. He said the days of police violently breaking up demonstrations and needlessly arresting people had to come to an end.
The President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe , at the funeral of the late retired Army General Vitalis Zvinavashe also called for the end of violence between the main political party supporters in the various provinces. "We were fighting among ourselves, brother versus brother ... but we've realised our folly. Let us walk the same road. We formed this inclusive government to bring stability, peace and harmony."Violence must stop," Mugabe said. "We have heard reports of renewed violence, that must stop. Yes, we belong to different parties, but let's not fight. Those who persist with acts of violence are the enemies of Zimbabwe," President Mugabe said
Whilst the call for the end of violence is commendable, the time it seems has come for us to ask ourselves some hard questions and of course we need to deal with attendant hard answers. Following years of violence between the main contending parties, the cause which is attributable to both parties seeking advantage over the other on the political popularity continuum. We now need to address the causes and effects of these on our citizens before it is too late. Zimbabwe needs a Truth and Reconciliation commission, perhaps modelled on the South African one.
The success and failure of our unity government may just come back to haunt us if we do not as a nation face the hard questions that are starring us in the face by way of a Truth Commission. The sporadic incidents of violence that are taking place in various parts of our country are symptomatic of a much bigger problem. There is an urgent need to establish a Truth Commission to look into the atrocities that have taken place in the last ten years or so.
“Truth Commissions” refers to appointed officials mandated to look into past atrocities or historical injustices. It is a generic name to public inquiries. Truth Commissions are often established after a democratic government has succeeded a repressive one or as in our case when a long running dispute between the various political players has resulted in the death and injury of the country’s citizens and then the parties finally put aside their differences in favour of nation building.
The citizens of Zimbabwe are happy that Zimbabwe has an inclusive government in place. But at the same time they are angry that the long road that brought us to where we are today is littered with broken dreams, separated families dead and maimed bodies.
A Truth Commission will play a critical role in our country as we struggle to come to terms with the past, mired with massive human rights violations. Criminal sanctions for past human rights atrocities will not necessarily resolve the issues of past human rights abuses as I have alluded to in previous postings.
The Truth commission we should set up must have an implicit mandate or a term of reference that is designed at rebuilding the country and strengthening the all inclusive government currently in place. In other words the mandate for the Truth Commission needs to be all inclusive. It must concern itself with all citizens including those that are in positions of authority.
For example it is common knowledge that the Zimbabwe security apparatus has adapted a look warm attitude towards the all inclusive government formed between ZANU PF and the two MDC’s. There is a probable valid reason for this. Zimbabwe is a country coming out of internal conflict and strife. The enemies of the people of Zimbabwe have been hard at work to a point that we turned against each other. One simply needs to look at previous engagements between the MDC and ZANU PF in the last elections to realise this. In the Diaspora Zimbabwe news websites and internet chat rooms were places of war between those purporting to be supporting their various causes. Incidentally some to date have not evolved in the spirit of inclusiveness. In South Africa our brothers and sisters are not entirely convinced as to how genuine our inclusive government is. What it stands for and were it is going.
It has taken the intervention of SADC and the then President of South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki to make us realise that we are our own liberators and it is only us who can begin the process of rebuilding our country. The security apparatus is the last line of defence and hence there is a need for them to stand aloof and watch until Zimbabwe convinces them that it is time to make that symbolic salute.
It is therefore imperative for the Truth Commission to be established to look all the reasons the security apparatus is holding out and address these issues. In other words our Truth Commission must mirror our needs as a people and the needs of government. The Truth Commission must have a goal of national reconciliation attached to it, but must not compromise on the issues of disappearances, atrocities committed by all the political players in Zimbabwe. Our target must be national reconciliation.
Another overriding reason we need to set up this Truth Commission is simply to correctly codify the history of our country taking into consideration the various political realities that exist on the ground. Our failure to do this will result in our history been written by the enemies of Zimbabwe which in turn will translate into more hate for generations to come as our children continue to be foisted with half truths and untruths.
The issue of amnesty must also be built into the goals of this Truth Commission for those that come forward with harrowing testimonies. The South African Truth Commission was one of the few hybrid truth commission that offered amnesty in exchange for full and public testimonies of the atrocities that took place.
Our Truth Commission must modelled on it and be given sufficient powers to refer cases that are excessively bad to a committee set or compromising of members from both the two MDC’s and ZANU PF. These committees must be a product of an act of parliament and should have the power to refer cases to our domestic courts for possible prosecution. Our Truth Commission must be “victim centred” this way it is my humble submission, the only way we can make a clean break with the past and start again. An attempt to ignore or suppress the current pockets of sporadic violence occurring around the country may have disastrous consequences for future generations. The establishment of Truth Commission would be the beginning of true national healing and a prosperous future for Zimbabwe.
The writer Lloyd Msipa writes from the United Kingdom. He can be contacted at lloyd@lmsipa.com. Read more from him at http://www.lmsipa.com.
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