NPRCWATCH www.ntjwg.org.zw WELCOME Introduction Welcome to the 4th Issue of the NPRC Watch. A lot has happened since the last issue of the NPRC Watch. The long awaited NPRC is now in operation. The Commission has started. Consultation meetings have been held around the country. A National Convergence and Validation Conference has been held in Harare. And we have been on track, every step of the way. From all these developments, there is a strong theme that comes to the fore: participation. That is the theme that we pursue in this issue as we evaluate the process' compliance with the basic principles of public participation. You will remember that this was a big issue with the public hearings held by Parliament. When is public participation authentic, and when is it just a fraud? We share in this issue some insights. 1 1 2 3 How is the process going so far? Now we have the Act, What’s next? What gaps exist in the NPRC Act and what can we do about it?