of them are labeled partisan and instigators of human rights violations. Most of the traditional leaders are also old men and, if one is lucky, a few old women as well. Yet in spite of all these challenges, ZIMCET and HZT believe that traditional justice mechanisms have a huge potential to bridge the community fissures that still exist from years of politically motivated and state sanctioned violence in Zimbabwe. The past and current work administered by ZIMCET and HZT has proven that if traditional justice systems are administered effectively they can prove to be more transparent, less expensive and therefore more accessible, more in touch with community values, more conveniently located, and easier to understand than their formal system counterparts due to the use of familiar and indigenous languages. Indeed, studies have also shown that that those who preside over the traditional justice mechanism and processes are largely trusted in communities which offers significant opportunities for reconciliation and dispute resolution in non-adversarial ways. 3. THE SPIRIT OF HUNHU/UBUNTU IN ZIMBABWE AND ITS RELATION TO TRADITIONAL JUSTICE The spirit of Hunhu/Ubuntu forms the embodiment of peaceful human coexistence in African cultures. Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning ‘humanity to others’. “The community values define an individual as a person and in addition the traditional values and ethics that are to be upheld by the members of the customary community. Any violation to these ethical values is an offence to the whole community and is punishable”10. Zimbabwe is no exception. Some of the characteristics that are reflective of Hunhu/Ubuntu are the affirmation of other peoples’ humanity, unity, community building, and respect for other peoples’ rights and a general fear for wrong doing which is supported by the need to voluntarily acknowledge wrongdoing when 10 Matavire. M, 2012, Interrogating the Zimbabwean Traditional Jurisprudence and the Position of Women in Conflict Resolution: A Case of the Shona Tribes in Muzarabani District, International Journal of Humanities and Social Science 4