President Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to convene a
“consensus- building meeting” with Matabeleland traditional leaders soon to
co-ordinate and fast-track exhumations and reburials of victims of
post-independence civil disturbances that rocked Matabeleland and parts of the
Midlands province.
Exhumations and reburials of Gukurahundi victims was one of
the key resolutions agreed between Government and Matabeleland civic groups and
traditional leaders when they met with the President in March last year.
A follow-up meeting held on February 14 established that
progress on implementing last year’s resolutions — which include the issuance
of civil documents to surviving children of victims of the disturbances and
ceding the Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project to locals — was being held up by
funding constraints and bureaucracy.
President Mnangagwa, who is following through on his
promise to ensure that the country confronts its ugly past, has since
undertaken to superintend over the implementation process.
On Friday, Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage
Kazembe Kazembe led a Government delegation that included Registrar-General
Clemence Masango and Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Permanent
Secretary Mrs Virginia Mabiza to lay the ground for the commencement of
issuance of civil documents to surviving spouses and the victims’ children.
Mrs Mabiza, who is head of secretariat in the engagement
and dialogue with Matabeleland civic society organisations, told The Sunday
Mail the delegation “shall mostly deal with logistics for providing birth certificates”.
“Most of the issues that are outstanding are to do with the
Ministry of Home Affairs and the Registrar-General, and that is to do with the
issuance of birth and death certificates,” she said.
The team will also meet with the civic society leadership. Ceding of the Zambezi Matabeleland Water Project, she
added, was already at an advanced stage.
“We have been acting on some of the socio-economic needs
such as provision of water through drilling boreholes.”
She said President Mnangagwa will “soon” preside over a
consensus-building meeting to prepare for commencement of exhumations and
reburials.
Government is reportedly exploring ways to facilitate
legally and culturally acceptable processes.
Mrs Mabiza said: “On the other difficult issues such as
exhumations and reburials, we will soon have a consensus-building meeting with
chiefs, civic society groupings and other stakeholders, including the National
Peace and Reconciliation Commission, to plan the way forward.
“After the consensus-building exercise, we will then craft
a way forward in terms of how to facilitate the exhumations.
“This will bring on board our development partners and any
interested funders to bankroll the exercise.”
All the processes will reportedly be done within the
confines of the law, which also entails drafting legal statutes to facilitate
implementation.
However, the guidance would come out of the planned indaba.
“The consensus-building meeting shall involve His
Excellency, but we do not have a date yet, but it is going to be very soon.
“You may be aware that we were expecting chiefs to attend
the meeting that was held in Bulawayo, but unfortunately, due to some budgetary
and other logistical challenges, the Ministry of Local Government (and Public
Works) was not ready to sponsor the chiefs to be on board during that meeting.”
The law provides only for the Minister of Home Affairs to
grant an order for exhumation.
Government has expanded the scope of engagements to include
other civic organisations outside the ambit of the Matabeleland Collective.
The Second Republic, under President Mnangagwa, has opened
up discussions on Gukurahundi, which claimed thousands of lives after violence
flared up in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces soon after independence.
At this month’s meeting with civic society leaders at State
House in Bulawayo, the President, however, indicated that restorative justice
could only be achieved through dialogue.
“We must resist the urge to elevate any differences that
arise out of discussions aimed at resolving the issues in Matabeleland to a
level where they become permanent barriers that prevent meaningful dialogue
among us,” he said.
“Let me assure you that, as I have demonstrated by
convening this meeting today, I shall continue to monitor this dialogue very
closely and hold all my officials accountable for the successful implementation
of issues discussed here . . .
“I reiterate that, as Zimbabweans, we are one. Together we
can overcome any challenges that confront us.”
The Head of State and Government has been engaging multiple
stakeholders to promote peace and unity that is needed to spur national
economic growth and development. Sunday Mail
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