HEAL ZIMBABWE - BASELINE STUDY REPORT
Table 5 above shows that respondents
from different provinces had their own
key reconciliation issues. For example,
respondents from Manicaland, Mashonaland
East, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland
Central, the Midlands and Masvingo
provinces mentioned political and electoral
violence as their major reconciliation issue
while those from Matabeleland South
and Bulawayo metropolitan provinces
mentioned Gukurahundi as their key
5.4
reconciliation issue. Respondents from
Matabeleland South mentioned tribal and
ethnic conflict as their major reconciliation
issue while Harare province mentioned
economic disintegration as the major
reconciliation issue. This observation
suggests that the entry points for peace
and reconciliation interventions in each
province should be differentiated, taking
into consideration each area’s priority
reconciliation issue.
Designing a Possible Framework for the NPRC
Based on the analysis of the data gathered
in this study, this section presents an
ideal National Peace and Reconciliation
framework, reflecting the views of those
interviewed. The respondents’ views
were shaped by their experiences from
past reconciliation efforts such as Prime
Minister’s reconciliation proclamation
decree (1980), the Unity Accord (1987),
and Global Political Agreement (2008)
and socio-political dynamics of traditional
reconciliation processes in Zimbabwe.
All the respondents raised concerns
over the environmental factors (mainly
political interference) that could affect the
effectiveness of the Commission.
5.4.1 Ideal Peace and Reconciliation Framework
Both focus group participants and
interviewees had difficulties to express
what they consider an ideal peace and
reconciliation process. Within one focus
group in Tsholotsho, participants concurred
that “there is not any ideal peace and
reconciliation framework because of the
unpredictability of the political situation in
the country.”54
However, participants reflected on a variety
of interventions, processes and actions that
could be considered for an ideal peace and
reconciliation framework.
These considerations can be categorised
into three areas namely:
(i) Institutional/ Structural
(ii) Operational and
(iii) Programmatic concerns.
Institutional considerations focus on
the infrastructural architecture of the
commission itself; process considerations
detail community expectations in the
commission’s operational methodologies
whilst
programmatic
considerations
describe key activities that the commission
needs to implement in order to facilitate
national peace, healing and reconciliation.
Focus group discussion with participants in Tsholotsho on the 2nd of June 2016
54
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