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PARTIES to the inclusive government last week took tentative steps to begin a much-awaited process of national healing and reconciliation in the country.
The Zanu PF politburo and the national executive councils of the two MDC formations met in Harare for the first time ever and explored the issue which is central to laying a foundation for a stable and prosperous country.
The parties tasked their secretary-generals and the Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration to come up with a report detailing how the healing process should be taken to the grassroots.
While we wait with bated breath for the report, we need to quickly point out that a healing process that is driven by politicians alone is flawed and can hardly be accepted by people who endured human rights violations.
Some of these politicians have openly boasted about their “degrees in violence” and are prone to waving their fists whenever they feel their power is threatened.
Can such people be trusted to lead a process of national healing?
We are about to see a half-hearted attempt at national healing by an inclusive government that has been heavily criticised for putting this important national issue on the backburner for far too long.
All along the Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration, which could have spearheaded the process, has been asleep. To make matters worse, utterances by the ministers responsible have shown they have no clue as to how to tackle the issue.
With elections looming, the three parties to the inclusive government have suddenly realised the importance of promoting national healing. This could be for selfish reasons.
The MDC formations, for example, will need to go back and meet their supporters who were bludgeoned by Zanu PF militias during the past elections. These people have been calling on the formations to push for justice without success.
There are thousands of other Zimbabweans who have harrowing tales of their experiences at the hands of Zanu PF militias. These victims are seething with anger over the way they were beaten up, abducted and tortured.
Many who lost their properties are demanding compensation. In Matabeleland and Midlands where the Fifth Brigade killed thousands of unarmed villagers during the 1980s, the wait for justice has been long and agonising.
Calls for compensation have largely been ignored.
The question that has to be addressed — not just by the leadership of Zanu PF and MDC formations is: How can Zimbabwe genuinely deal with its violent past?
What should be done about those who unleashed violence on innocent citizens? There are also issues to do with compensation.
How can people whose livelihoods were destroyed by the Gukurahundi operation be compensated?
These questions cannot be answered only by the secretary-generals of the parties and the Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration.
These are national questions that should be addressed by all stakeholders, including the victims themselves, if the wounds of the past are to be healed.
Whether we like it or not, a transitional justice process is needed to help our country deal with the legacy of mass human rights violations. Broadly defined, transitional justice involves all the initiatives that societies can undertake in order to deal with their violent past.
These may include truth and reconciliation commissions, reparations for victims, tribunals where perpetrators are tried and punished. Institutional reforms are urgently needed.
A number of countries on the African continent have carried out their own transitional justice processes. Across the Limpopo, South Africa embarked on a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Other countries that also had such commissions are Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ghana.
But while these countries managed to score some successes in their quest to deal with the unresolved problems of their past, Zimbabwe’s case is more complex because individuals accused of spearheading human rights violations remain ensconced in their positions.
These same ruthless people are expected to define the healing process when they should be accounting for their deeds. A credible healing process shouldn’t be managed by politicians.
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