NKAYI 1. CONSTITUENCY: NKAYI 2. PROVINCE: MATABELELAND NORTH 3. VENUE: NESIGWE PRIMARY SCHOOL 4. DATE: 04 NOVEMBER 2009 5. PARTICIPANTS: No.: 112 Sex: 51% female Age: 16–86, average 34 years From: school children, government employees, local leaders, traditional leaders, church representatives, peasant farmers and political activists 6. RECOMMENDATIONS i. Reparations • People who were involved in the Gukurahundi massacres should apologize for it to start the process of reconciliation [all participants]. • President Robert Mugabe should come to the people and apologize for the massacres that happened in Matabeleland [elderly male participant]. ii. Truth recovery • There is no other way to reconcile the region of Matabeleland with the rest of the country if the truth of what happened during Gukurahundi is not known. Even for an apology to be accepted, it must be clear what is being apologized for [all participants]. • The people in the area need a special kind of healing. They need to learn afresh how to trust their leaders. A truth recovery process would be a good beginning [one participant]. iii. Who should lead the process? • There are fears that anyone who speaks about the violence will attract the retribution of the state. It is unthinkable that the current government can lead the truth recovery process because they have been at the forefront of trying to destroy the truth. • Civil society may lead the process as they are apolitical [some participants]. • The churches should lead the process, but the churches have limitations. They have been holding peace prayers for the country and attracting the wrath of the politicians. So, the Church may not be strong enough to handle truth recovery [political activists]. • The traditional leaders are in the same league as the politicians. They are being used as tools by the politicians [political activists]. iv. Accountability • The truth is not relevant without systems of accountability, and these systems must be seen to work if victims are to trust the system again. Healing the people of Matabeleland is an almost impossible task, but perhaps the system can stop further injuries. The perpetrators of human rights violations must face justice and account for their actions so Taking Transitional Justice to the People – Outreach Report 105