NPRCWATCH www.ntjwg.org.zw THE NPRC ACT: UNFINISHED BUSINESS Introduction After the NPRC Act was adopted and gazetted as an Act of Parliament, the NTJWG allocated efforts and time to analyse its content. This was done so as to ascertain if the revised NPRC Bill which was introduced back in Parliament in 2017 was different from the current Act. However, this has been seen by many Zimbabweans as a great improvement as compared to the NPRC Bill of 2015. Background to the NPRC Act On 5 January, 2018, the Government of Zimbabwe gazetted the National Peace and Reconciliation Act [10:32] (the Act) to put the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) into operation and related matters. The NPRC is one of the ve independent commissions established by Chapter 12 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. Section 251 specically established the NPRC with the mandate to ensure post-conict justice, healing and reconciliation. What are the weaknesses of the NPRC Act? The Act has four critical weaknesses which threaten the effectiveness of the Commission. These are the lack of victim centeredness, interference by the executive in various ways, and the power given to the Commission to recommend granting pardon without 35 reference involvement of victims and survivors and the international principles on amnesties. Additionally, the Act fails to acknowledge that the Commission is established to deal with Zimbabwe's legacy of violence and assist society to build a more peaceful and just society. On Victim Centeredness Victim centeredness is a principle rooted in international principles but also in Zimbabwe's own constitution. Section 252 of the Constitution lists the functions of the Commission. The Constitution expects the Commission to ensure healing, justice and reconciliation; making of amends, rehabilitation for victims and reception of complaints. At the centre of these clear functions must be the welfare of victims. Although Section 10 (13) of the NPRC Act provides that the Commission shall provide safety and protection of witnesses, no reference is made to victims and survivors. This is probably the weakest aspect of the NPRC Act as this omission creates a gap which exposes victims and survivors and leaves out critical areas of the Commission's healing mandate as outlined in section 252 of the Constitution. According to the Minimum Standards for an Effective National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NTJWG, 2015: 4), it is important that adequate protection mechanisms be put in place for victims and survivors.