people being reconciled so that such things do not happen again [women’s group].
• There is need to promote brotherhood and fraternity. There is need to work towards
the mending of relationships in families and even between teachers and parents.
These relationships were eroded by politics when the youths were sent to beat up their
teachers and parents and when teachers went on strike and the parents were not happy
[government employees].
v. Restoration of freedoms
• Rule of law and fundamental freedoms must be restored. The youths must not be
forced to do what they do not want. They must not be forced to participate in political
activities against their will [youth group].
• Politics has eroded away all cultural activities. There is no more brewing of traditional
mhamba [beer] because of political turmoil. People must be free to participate in their
cultural activities. Cultural life has been disrupted by politics because each time they
try to gather for cultural activities, they will be accused of doing politics [traditional
leaders].
vi. Separation of Church and State
• Freedom of worship must be restored and secured. The politicians are at the moment
harassing the Church and forcing church members to attend political meetings. People
are stopped from attending worship services and sometimes they have to go into the
forest to pray, but if you are caught there, they will say you are practising opposition
politics. There must be restoration of fundamental freedoms so that the Church can
worship without political interference [church representatives].
vii. Institutional reform
• Institutions of government and society must reform. The civil service needs rehabilitation.
Economic mismanagement has destroyed the institutions of government [government
employees].
• The schools are now political institutions. Some of them were used as torture bases
during the period of elections [government employees].
• The government must channel money towards reviving the economy rather than
militarization of the state [government employees].
• All the youths who were terrorising people during the election period must be removed
from the government payroll, and the civil service must become professional again
[government employees and youth group].
• The government must revive the industries and all the pillars of the economy so that the
youths may get back to work again [youth group].
• The Grain Marketing Board is being used “not to feed the nation but to feed ZANU(PF)
terrorists”. Ordinary people in genuine need no longer access food from the GMB
[government employees].
• The election management system must stop being partisan. “In the past, people were
being forced to vote for a particular political party and they were accused of being
supporters of the opposition so they were stopped from participating in the management
of elections. The system must change. We must stop political fanaticism and people
should accept political defeat” [government employees].
Taking Transitional Justice to the People – Outreach Report
45
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