54 7.2.1 The Land Question The land issue must be resolved once and for all. For decades the African people of Zimbabwe were very bitter about their land which had been violently taken by the colonial settlers. Twenty years after independence they continued to watch a white minority enjoy the fat of their land while many of them became more and more impoverished. On the other hand the white Zimbabwean community failed to see that their occupation of the bulk of the Zimbabwean soil could not be allowed to continue for too long because it was grossly unjust. They invested a great deal in those farms and for some of them it was their entire life savings. When the government moved to repossess the land and redistribute it to others, the white community was shattered, remained angry and is as we speak today very much hurting. The whole land issue regretfully has resulted in the emergence of a culture of racial hatred and in the alienation of the people of Zimbabwe in the first place along racial lines. The fast track land redistribution programme created new forms of alienation because of is retributive, chaotic and racial overtones. Let us admit that many of those white people were born and bred in Zimbabwe and know no other country than Zimbabwe as their homeland. We have to live together and the only way for this to happen is through confession, reconciliation, forgiveness, and a fair redistribution of the land and all its wealth to all the people of Zimbabwe regardless of race, creed or political affiliation. For reconciliation to take place there must be consensus on how this land must be distributed as well as resolving the question of compensation. 7.2.2 The National Constitution The constitution of this country has been a source of conflict because of its genesis and original objectives. The Lancaster House Constitution is considered to be a document designed to transfer power from a minority white regime to majority rule. It was never presented to the people in a referendum when it was crafted because the country was in a war situation. The people of Zimbabwe accepted what was negotiated by their leaders in good faith as an interim measure. Unless Zimbabweans find an alternative constitutional document where their values are well articulated, the current constitution remains one of the areas that generate serious conflict. 7.2.3 Party-politics and the vision of the state/ nation Ever since the split of ZANU from ZAPU in 1963, the people of this country have never been spared from the ugly face of political rivalry. To date politics in this country is governed by hatred and inter-party violence and killings. The coming of independence and the arms cache issue brought back the hostilities people thought had died out in the late 1960’s. The dissident element followed by the Gukurahundi response, reflect the deep-seated feelings that characterize our political landscape and this too is calling for healing. Gukurahundi is part of the politics of intolerance, which kills the desire to share political space with persons