REVISITING THE NPRC CONSULTATIVE MEETINGS The NPRC Consultative Meetings After the gazetting of the law setting the NPRC into life, the Commissioners regional consultative meetings soliciting for views and ideas on the key issues that needed to be dealt with. That the process of consultations could have been better planned and executed is not in doubt. The process while necessary became shambolic at the least and the worst a charade. The meetings were almost instantly hijacked by local politicians when they started. Views from the public seemed to be that the Commissioners did not have a say and could not control the politicians in the meetings at all. Typical of most meetings in Zimbabwe that are related to politics, violence and justice, there were reported cases of young men who took pictures of people attending the conference. Whether these people were state officials or not is neither here nor there. The fact that people of who are not members of the media fraternity can take pictures without being censured is enough to instil fear in those attending the public consultations. Reflective of the national mood was the disruptions that occurred in parts of Matabeleland. Issues around the composition and representativeness of the NPRC Commissioners has been discussed before, but the advice has fallen on deaf ears. The NTJWG does not condemn the disruptions and violence that ensured in some of the meetings but argues that some of these incidents can be avoided by the Government taking advice and decisive action on pertinent issues raised by stakeholders in the fight for justice of past human rights violations. The chronicle below tracks the meetings that were held by the NPRC countrywide and how they went. A brief description of the challenges faced is also given to give a highlight to readers ANNUAL REPORT 2018 on what challenges remain evident for the NPRC to deal with in their work. It was commendable that the media was allowed into the meetings and regrettable that there was no subsequent coverage by the media. The consultative meetings’ purpose was to gather views on priorities to inform the NPRC’s strategic envisioning process. Pressure groups, Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) were represented in the meetings. All in all, ten meetings were done, but not without challenges. Mashonaland East - Bindura From the 19th of February, 2018 to the 3rd of March 2018 the NPRC travelled across the ten Provinces of Zimbabwe to convene the muchanticipated consultative meetings on national peace and reconciliation. The sessions started on 19 February 2018 in Gwanda and Bindura. The purpose of these Consultative meetings was not communicated in advance; hence, participants attended the meetings with different expectations, demands and objectives. In Mashonaland East, it was reported that ‘violence’ erupted. Honourable Minister of State for Mashonaland East David 26