elites, the civil society, churches and business leaders to start a conversation for nation building. The
Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP), on the other hand, also has been making efforts
to facilitate a national dialogue. Parallel national dialogue efforts by the Church require
harmonisation to harness efficiency, effectiveness and a throbbing impact. However, theirs is an
informal national dialogue process which feeds into the government’s national dialogue initiative.
What is peculiar about all the dialogue
platforms being conceptualised by the
NPRC, the President of Zimbabwe and
the Opposition –MDC Alliance seems
convoluted. The key stakeholders have
different
dialoguing
starting
points,
different objectives and agendas. While
President Mnangagwa called for a postelection dialogue, the MDC Alliance
anticipated a dialogue that includes
discussions around the legitimacy of the
Presidency, the constitution and the
economic crisis, among other issues. The NPRC on the other hand, commenced its national dialogue
with a semi-broad based consultative process aiming at establishing a framework for national
dialogue. The NPRC’s initiative seems globally inclusive and holistic process-wise.
“In an effort to come up with a framework for national dialogue, conversations
were centred around the following key questions; why are Zimbabweans not talking?
What are the key pillars of national dialogue? Who should participate, how and at
what level? How should a dialogue process be structured? What does a successful
dialogue look like?”6
The NPRC’s entry point (above) to the dialogue neither had pre-conditions nor positions as is the
case with the ruling party ZANU PF and the MDC Alliance. As such, in view of the above national
dialogue reflections, it is contemplative that;
Inclusive participation -the country’s obtaining national dialogue discourse has missed key
aspects of national dialoguing which calls for participatory processes that involve grassroots
The Herald (01 February 2019) NPRC Initiates National Dialogue https://www.herald.co.zw/nprc-initiates-nationaldialogue/
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