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Position on the national healing process
Youth Forum
July 24, 2009

We note with great concern government's manipulation of the national healing process. The National dedication process, an event to officially begin national healing program kicks off on 24th of July. According to the Prime-minister Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, "this development is expected open a new chapter of reconciliation in tension-torn Zimbabwe.

Whilst we support the idea, we differ with how the process is being carried concerning issues to do with consultation of stakeholders such as youth organisations, faith based organisations and the civic society. The organ on national healing, reconciliation and integration has single handedly outlined "a six month programme to achieve reconciliation and defuse deep tensions that followed last year's violent elections."

National healing is being equaled to an event such as a football match which can just begin without much hussles.As Youth Forum we maintain that national healing is a process whereby thorough consultations should be made with regards to the best methodology to tackle this mammoth task. The communities should be at the helm of such processes whilst the government and other stakeholders offer the requisite support contrary to what is currently prevailing whereby the government is guided by article vii of the elitist Global Political Agreement. In as much as the people of Zimbabwe rejected the imposition of Kariba draft as the sole reference document in the constitutional making process despite its special mention in the GPA, the prescribed National Healing, Reconciliation and integration Process which is government led should be rejected accordingly.

We also reiterate that transitional justice should precede national healing; as long as perpetrators of violence remain free the process of national healing will not be taken seriously. To us both the perpetrators and victims are victims since they were all abused by politicians hence they both need rehabilitation. Perpetrators must show their remorse by telling the truth concerning who assigned them the diabolic roles which they carried out. Those who initiated violence should then be tried before the courts and obtain the deserved judgments.

The youths should take a front role in this process since they constitute the majority of the victims according to the above definition. The GPA should also address national healing in the context of violence which prevailed in the post colonial era; they are still victims of Gukurahundi, Murambatsvina, 2000 land grab and elections held during this period.Failure to address such critical issues is tantamount to sweeping them under carpet and it sets a bad precedence for our future.

We are greatly worried by the continued arrogance of ZANU PF as shown by the disruption of the Constitutional All stakeholder's conference held at HICC, continued media bias towards ZANU PF and re-establishment of ZANU PF bases (Torture camps) in schools among other issues

We believe that meaningful development cannot prevail when there is no genuine transitional justice and national healing. Interventions made by all stakeholders should not be tokenistic but rather sustainable for people in the communities.

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