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Statement on national healing process
Build a Better Youth Zimbabwe
Januyar 08, 2010

We as young people feel that national healing will not be achieved unless young people are involved in the process. The attainability of national healing remains a pipeline dream for there is lack of both political will and commitment from the political leadership in this country. National healing can only suffice if it were to take two fundamental dimensions namely restorative and retributive justice. Restorative justice involves the return of either stolen property or the seeking for forgiveness by the perpetrators and victims' willingness to let bygones be bygones. On the other hand retributive justice makes sure that all those who perpetrated crimes are legally brought to book. It is however unfortunate that these two fundamental processes are not within the vocabulary of the Organ on National Healing. The attainability of feasible national healing cannot come from simple announcements or statements it needs comprehensive engagement of the ordinary people who were part and parcel of the violence that manifested in the previous elections .The process is doomed to fail for it is taking a top-down dimension whereas it was supposed to assume down-top dimension, both perpetrators and victims are ordinary people and not the political elite therefore it defies logic and also a tantamount to a misconception for the process to be confined to the top hierarchy in the government of national unity.

In order for the National Healing process to bear fruit concerted efforts and commitment from the political party leaders and their supporters should be central and this should be complemented by clearly defined strategies on how best this can be achieved. The National healing process should have been spearheaded by other civic bodies namely civil society, the church or a independent commission comprising of eminent and not confirmed political party functionaries among others in order for it to be meaningful, the fact that politicians are leading this process when one way or the other they were the ones who can be attributed to have been the chief instigators of political violence during the June 27 election period is unfortunate. It is on these premises that the public will remain skeptical and fail to embrace the authenticity of the team that was mandated to spearhead this process.

The team tasked to carry out this process has to fight the political polarization that the country currently experiences so that youths can unite and heal first. Youths projects should be funded to reduce dependence, thereby enhancing economic independence. The bureaucracy involved in accessing the youth fund should be minimized so that the deserving projects get those loans.

We at Build A Better Youth Zimbabwe believe that there should be a time frame of engagement in seeking forgiveness ,centers for testimonials should be opened in every ward were both victims and perpetrators should go and testify of what their involvement was in the time of madness. We propose a two year period for this process and afterwards those who did not testify will be dragged before a competent court to answer to the charges leveled against them by their victims.

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