work by civic society organisations on the NPRC and (iv) the subsequent withdrawal of the NPRC Bill from Parliament by the Minister responsible for National Healing and Reconciliation –Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko. The following snippets and excerpts and appendices are pointers to some documentation relating to the aforementioned developments. a) NPRC Public Hearings –Parliamentary Process The Parliament of Zimbabwe through the Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Thematic Committees on Peace and Security and the Human Rights Committee conducted NPRC public hearings from the 10th – 20th of April 2016. The public hearings were complying on Section 141 (a-b) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe which obliges the Parliament to a) facilitate public involvement in its legislative and other processes and in the processes of its committees b) ensure that interested parties are consulted about the Bills being considered by Parliament, unless such consultation is inappropriate or impracticable and c) conduct its business in a transparent manner …. However, the manner in which the public hearings were conducted procedurally and their geographical reach felt far beyond any reasonable men’s test. Only 13 meetings were conducted in Kwekwe, Gweru, Victoria Falls, Hwange, Plumtree, Lupane, Bulawayo, Gutu, Masvingo Urban, Mutare Urban, Marondera, Bindura and Chinhoyi. Approximately 1775 people only were reached during the consultative meetings in a country with a population of over 6 million eligible voters. In addition, the choice of venues for the public hearings was discriminatory as it did not give the majority of victims of violence an opportunity to be heard as they were located far away from the affected people. For example, in Manicaland, survivors of political violence from Chimanimani, Chipinge, Buhera, Nyanga, and Mutasa were expected to air their views in Mutare at whose cost? To make matters worse, the choice of venues for the meetings did not pay attention to key historical concerns, for instance, the Bindura public hearing venue was Tendai Hall. The hall, according to participants at the hearing, was used as a torture base during the 2000, 2002, 2005 and 2008 election violence where people were subjected to gross human rights violations. Poor participation within the targeted communities could have been caused by various reasons including lack of adequate information to the locals about the process and mere cynicism in the NPRC processes. Members of the public who participated in the meetings did not have copies of the Bill. The Parliamentary teams also did not avail any copies prior to the meetings and during the meetings sessions. The public hearings were only publicized at short notice via The Herald Newspaper, and few advertisements on ZiFM and Star FM radio stations (whose signals cannot reach three quarters of the target areas). Few posters were also noted placed within the meeting venues. Countries such as South Africa which carried out similar processes in the form of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in 1995, the hearings were broadcast live on radio and television with members of the public keenly following proceedings. This also allowed active participation of its citizens as the process was extensively advertised in advance through all major media platforms in the country. Heal Zimbabwe Trust tracked the public meetings and observed that major issues raised by the communities were equal or closely related to those raised in the (i) Adverse Report of the Parliamentary Legal Committee on National Peace and Reconciliation Bill, (ii) the Heal 5