MAKONDE 1. CONSTITUENCY: MAKONDE 2. PROVINCE: MASHONALAND WEST 3. VENUE: MAKONDE CHURCH OF CHRIST, MHANGURA 4. DATE: 25 NOVEMBER 2009 5. PARTICIPANTS: No.: 58 Sex: 32% female Age: 18–75, average 39 years From: church leaders, youths, women, political activists, traditional leaders, and governmental employees 6. RECOMMENDATIONS i. Accountability • Institutions that promote transparency and accountability, especially for leaders, need to be strengthened [youth group]. • “A thing called crime must regain its ugliness.” • “Do Zimbabwean institutions have the ability to push for accountability?” [elderly man]. • In Makonde, there are chiefs and elders who know the things that had taken place during that period of the conflict and they should ensure perpetrators are made accountable and the guilty punished accordingly [elderly man]. • During political violence the women paid for the sins of their husbands who had taken flight. Therefore they demanded, “Men, please stand for yourselves” [women’s group]. • “In Mhangura, crime must become a crime again! When we see people bragging about crime, that is very disturbing. They must be arrested and we must see them in the arms of the law. Even if they later get a lenient sentence, but if we see something being done, at least we rejoice” [a young male participant]. • The courts “cannot appease an avenging spirit” [a young male participant]. • “If the courts acquit a murderer, then what? Chokwadi munopera kunge mutsvairo.” [“The avenging spirit will wipe you off.”] Justice is not only for the living but also and especially for the dead. If proper justice is not pursued, the spirits of the dead will pursue extrajudicial measures. The Chiefs and elders know the sad things that took place during the period of conflict. These must lead communities in making sure perpetrators are accountable and that the guilty are punished accordingly [elderly traditional leader]. ii. Truth recovery • Before pushing for accountability the truth ought to be known. There are various ways of recovering the truth [most participants]. • Truth requires diligent and sober research while remaining very faithful to the demands of justice and peace, and Zimbabwe has a great deal to learn from the South African experience. Like South Africa, Zimbabwe must allow its people “to pour their hearts out” [male political activist from an undisclosed political party]. Taking Transitional Justice to the People – Outreach Report 75