THE Speaker of Parliament, Advocate Jacob Mudenda, has
urged the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) to advocate for a
national apology for past conflicts including Gukurahundi.
Advocate Mudenda said a confession from Government would
help the country move on from its past and pave way for successful reconciliation,
national healing and integration.
The Speaker of Parliament said this while addressing
Parliamentarians during a capacity building workshop for the Portfolio
Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and the Thematic
Committee on Human Rights on the mandate of the NPRC in Bulawayo yesterday.
The workshop was also attended by NPRC chairperson Retired
Justice Sello Nare and NPRC commissioners.
“Fundamentally, the NPRC must vigorously agitate for the
national institutional apology for the past conflicts, especially Entumbane One
and Two as well as the Gukurahundi tragedy. Let’s confess that era of conflict
so that we go beyond the acknowledgement of ‘the moment of madness’.
“Confession is a condition precedent to letting bygones be
bygones. Once that confession is done the spring of hope, national healing and
reconciliation will abundantly germinate without any doubt,” said Adv Mudenda.
He commended the political will to bring closure to cases
of violations of human rights committed in the pre and post-independence era.
Adv Mudenda, however, emphasised the need for the NPRC to
handle the issues with greater sensitivities and tactful diplomatic skill.
This, he added, will help the commission to balance and
moderate different demands and expectations from the people.
Adv Mudenda said after the confession, there should be
traditional and cultural expatiation ceremonies as well as truth telling in
Matabeleland and Midlands provinces, where Gukurahundi was most pronounced.
“In tandem, the low lying fruit of reconciliation is a
concerted and strategic issuance of birth certificates and identity documents
and reburial orders of victims where necessary.
“In the affected provinces, we now have three generations
with no birth certificates and identity cards. The responsible department
should move from village to village and make sure the affected people get these
documents,” said Adv Mudenda.
He said the exercise should be done by people who
understand the languages spoken by the affected people so that they don’t
misspell their names on the identity documents.
Adv Mudenda said it is important for the NPRC to
deliberately dissect the root causes of conflicts that have affected the
country before and after independence.
“The correct diagnosis of such root causes should assist
the NPRC to come up with appropriate remedies for national reconciliation in
order to achieve national consensus building,” he said.
Adv Mudenda said during the Entumbane One, Entumbane Two
and Gukurahundi destructive conflicts, people in Matabeleland and the Midlands
provinces experienced violence, forced disappearances and gruesome murders,
which seriously affected development in their areas.
He said most schools were under developed with no science
laboratories, while roads were bad.
“Relatedly, schools in the affected provinces must be
revamped through the construction of modern science laboratories as part of a
tangible rehabilitation process. Catch up infrastructural development should be
embarked upon. This is the practical approach to national healing and
reconciliation,” said Adv Mudenda.
Equally, he added, the two Parliamentary Committees
attending the workshop should ensure that the Devolution Law is in place as
provided for by the Constitution.
He urged Parliamentarians and the NPRC to come up with a
clear strategic roadmap to realise its mandate. Chronicle
0 comments:
Post a Comment