Otto Saki – member of the NTJWG Otto summarised the events of the day and appreciated the work done by the teams and NGOs from Matabeleland. He observed that the work before the NPRC and the civil society organisations would not be able to bring back the dead in any way but would certainly help in remembering them and putting closure for survivors and victims. He also noted that the organisations should not see the work on transitional justice as part of an everyday project with log frames and project proposals but as a national duty that should be done for the sake of the people of Zimbabwe. Alec Muchadehama – Chairperson of the NTJWG In his closing statement, NTJWG Chairperson, Mr. Muchadehama chronicled the journey that set into motion the plan to convene the transitional justice symposium. He spoke our the February 7, 2018 consultative meeting that resolved to begin the process of developing a transitional justice policy for Zimbabwe. This was out of the realisation that the needs of Zimbabwe required national convergence which transcends a single institution. He said the goal of a transitional justice policy was to build a national architecture for compassion, to enable Zimbabwe at the official level to deploy means to heal the wounds, reform the institutions towards human security and put in place measures for non-recurrence. Transitional justice cannot be adhoc, said Muchadehama. It must become the government’s way of doing business. He thanked the delegates for accepting the invitation to a dialogue and made a commitment that NTJWG would follow up on the resolutions of the conference. He called on the government to be open to this dialogue as these policy proposals would soon find their way into government’s offices. Only government can implement policy. He concluded by thanking all partners who had committed themselves to the cause of transitional justice. Closing Remarks Paul Themba Nyathi – Deputy Chair The Deputy Chair of the NTJWG spoke after the Chairperson of the NTJWG, Mr. Alec Muchadehama and noted that Zimbabweans needed to change the way they perceive human life so that intra political party fights do not become national issues that negatively affect the way Zimbabweans live, resources are allocated to them and the manner they are treated by the government of the day. He gave examples of his work during the liberation struggle with the likes of Joshua Nkomo, and other liberation stalwarts from ZAPU. He also lamented the fact that Matabeleland has remained underdeveloped with poor roads, poor schools and a general economic malaise. He gave an example that this was deliberate on the part of the ZANU PF because besides just marginalising Matabeleland they also did not want the area to be accessible who could then see what happened during the Gukurahundi. Poor roads mean people can’t visit the areas and uneducated children mean they can never rise to fight for their birth right. He mentioned that David Coltart and him were currently working on a project that helps young girls who get pregnant when they are less than 14-year-old and who were looking after their siblings to go back to school. He noted that it was unfortunate that Matabeleland in 2017 had about 40 schools that had zero percentage pass rate at Grade 7 end of year examinations but the government was busy concentrating on other peripheral things. He lamented that when a government stops paying attention to the things that matter, healing, restoration and peace will be difficult to prevail. 8