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This article participates on the following special index pages:
Truth, justice, reconciliation and national healing - Index of articles
Symposium
on healing, reconciliation and reconstruction in Zimbabwe
Africa
Initiative, Syracuse University
October 31, 2009
The Africa Initiative partnered with the Newhouse School of Public
Communications to host the three-day symposium from October 29 to
31st October. This crucial meeting brought together key figures
from Southern Africa and the United States to deliberate on the
question of Zimbabwe's future, the role of healing in socio-political
reconstruction, and the role of democratic institutions and an informed
citizenry in a peace process that goes beyond partisan proclivities.
This symposium was unique in many ways, not only because the meeting
was held at a time when the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) that brought tentative peace and stability
in Zimbabwe was hanging in the balance, or that a key partners in
the unity government had threatened to pull out due to alleged frustrations
by a coalition partner.
This meeting
remains unique in the sense that it aimed to create a space for
Zimbabweans themselves to deliberate the present and future of the
country. By bringing together representatives of government, civil
society, human rights groups, scholars and Zimbabweans in the Diaspora,
the symposium provided a rare avenue through which we could assess
the progress, status, challenges and opportunities for lasting peace,
healing and reconstruction for the people of Zimbabwe. Among those
who presented at the conference included:
From the United
States there were presenters that included, Esau Mavindidze, Imani
Countess, TransAfrica Forum, Briggs Bomba, Africa Action, Lavina
Hall, Rutgers University, Erin McCandless, The New School and Timothy
Scarnecchia, of Kent State University.
The Symposium
began with a solidarity luncheon with the workers of Syracuse University.
Among those invited were Adjuncts United, SEIU Local 200 United,
and Teamsters, Local 317. Gertrude Hambira of the Plantation Workers
Union (GAPUZ) spoke on the struggles of the workers in Zimbabwe.
John Burdick of the Faculty-Labor Fairness Coalition presented a
solidarity message.
The symposium
then continued in the Herg Auditorium of the Newhouse School, with
a reception hosted by Lorraine Branham, the Dean of Newhouse School
of Communications. In her opening and welcome remarks to participants
and guests, Dean Lorraine Branham of the noted the centrality of
a free and unbiased media in advancing the pursuit of justice and
stemming impunity. She expressed solidarity with the visitors and
representatives of agricultural farm workers, human rights activists,
and political and social organizations in Zimbabwe. The program
included a special breakfast panel on Gender and Violence in Southern
Africa. This well-attended forum was moderated by Syracuse University's
Dr Deborah Pellow and Dr Lavinia Hall from Rutgers University. The
Friday schedule also included a special discussion on xenophobic
violence against Zimbabweans in South Africa. This project included
a video conference (via the Global Collaboratory at the Maxwell
School) previously done between Syracuse University students in
an Anthropology class and victims of xenophobic violence in South
Africa.
Consistent
with Syracuse University's ongoing commitment to Scholarship in
Action, and the Africa Initiative's mission of providing space
for constructive discourse on Africa and African peoples, the third
day of the symposium was dedicated to the Syracuse community to
interact with those at the center of the struggle for peace and
dignity in Zimbabwe, and to have a meaningful conversation that
transcends the often oversimplified analyses and notions of violence
in popular corporate media. This special Community event was held
on Saturday 31st October 2009 at the Warehouse Auditorium in Downtown
Syracuse from 2.00pm-5.00pm. It was co-sponsored by the Pan African
Community of Central New York (PACCNY) and included Pan African
cuisine served by Jerk Hut restaurant.
Reflections on the events at Syracuse University of Thursday and
Friday, October 29-31
The deliberative
conference - Zimbabwe: Healing Reconciliation and Reconstruction
was a huge success for the following reasons.
1. While the
conference was organized in an academic setting, the planning and
execution allowed for deliberate and focused reports and discussion
which featured ground conditions, ground responses, and the ways
in which the regional and global community has been intervening
to bring about the processes of healing, reconciliation and reconstruction
in Zimbabwe. This approach was reinforced by the balance between
academic and non-academic professionals who were invited to present
papers and to participate in the deliberations. The organizers must
be credited for putting this forum together. Credit is due to the
young people of Africa Initiative who did most of the work.
2. This conference
was an important aspect of the critical intervention which became
necessary as a result of the deteriorated social, economic and political
climate in Zimbabwe. It served to open new spaces for debate and
discussion. Debate and discussion which will in my view contribute
to the process of rebirth which is beginning in the country. In
this light the conference received reports on the situation in Zimbabwe
and the struggles of its people to foster a society based on respect
for the equal right of all the citizens to the resources of the
country. Such spaces for debate and discussion is especially necessary
because Zimbabwe and its counterparts in South Africa has had to
combine its post colonial with its anti neo-colonial phase of development.
As a result the post independence phase has been littered with the
following problems:
- How to address
the issues of historical and structural inequalities located in
the land problem.
- How to address
the issue of gender oppression and patriarchy.
- How to address
the issue of racial and ethnic chauvinism.
- How to address
the rise in violence, especially against women, against the poor,
against political opponents, against immigrant workers, and against
white farmers.
- How to address
the growth of corruption now evident in the state, in the security
forces, and which is seeping into the fabric of the culture.
The underlying
current that guided the debates and discussion was the historical
and structural problems which confront the society. The issues of
oppression and exploitation based on race, gender, and entitlements
organized around the land question. The confluence between the land,
the ethnic, gender and the national questions and the response of
the post independence government formed the base, and was the entry
point within which the reports from the ground and the discussion
at the conference took place. There was the stress from the symposium
that a new land audit was necessary to ensure that land is in the
hands of those who farm it.
3. From the
background of these monumental issues which confronts the country
today, the conference examined the role of the global economy. Special
attention was placed on the ESAP, the structural adjustment formula
implemented in Zimbabwe in the period of transition from minority
to majority rule. It was felt that the land question, the ethnic
question, the gender question cannot be divorced from the manner
in which neo-liberal approaches served to counteract and limit the
possibilities for the creation of a just society based on an equitable
formula for redistributing land. It was also reinforced that the
neo-liberal focus on stock exchanges and old fashion mining conditions
do not provide an alternative to the past forms of economic exploitation.
4. Those who
took this approach, in particular Briggs Bomba and Thomas Deve felt
that enough emphasis is not placed on the ways in which restructuring
at the global level pushes local decision making. Many participants
drew attention to the fact that the economic recession at the global
level imposed greater hardships on the poor and exploited. There
was also a vigorous discussion on the ways in which deregulation
and liberalization contributed to the deepening corruption which
has consumed the state, the security forces, state officials, and
politicians. From this background, an important thread that emerged
to guide the discussion around issues of healing and reconstruction
was the endemic presence of a corrupt state structure, and its involvement
in violence. Especially since this state which must bear responsibility
for the forced removal of the poor, chaos, for famine, and for violence
continues to maintain relative control in the country.
5. From the
background of the tentative peace that resulted from the formation
of the inclusive government (emanating from the Global Political
Agreement (GPA), conference participants received and discussed
reports of the human rights situation, the food security problem,
the problems of land reform, the unemployment crisis, the condition
of the farm workers and the reduction in the number of farm workers
which resulted from the forcible take-over of farms. Based on the
discussions which ensued on these issues the following areas of
consensus emerged. Issues which needs to be addressed:-
- What to
do about violence against the person. Should the society turn
a new leaf without addressing the matter of crimes against the
person?
- From the
human rights standpoint, and this was ably addressed by Elinor
Sisulu, the society cannot move forward, healing cannot begin
without justice for those who have suffered at the hands of corrupt
officials and the security forces. Healing, reconstruction, and
reconciliation can only begin if and when the society recognizes
wrongs, find solutions to address past and current crimes, and
forges a path towards respect for the human rights of all its
citizens.
- How to create
equitable land redistribution to allow White, Black, the upper
and lower classes, and male and female to participate in the economic
future of Zimbabwe.
Having recognized
that 'Land Reform' is yet to take place, conference
participants in particular Minister Sekai Holland and Leader of
the Farm Workers Union Gertrude Hambira presented scenarios for
the furtherance of the discussion on this matter. Both of these
leaders recognized the importance of a just and equitable land reform
for Zimbabwe to move forward. Minister Holland outlined the approach
that the non ministerial body, the organ which has been established
by the joint government will in the near future make pronouncements
on how to proceed on land reform. She explained that one basis for
forward movement is located in the demands and program for Land
Reform as outlined in the platform of the MDC. On the other hand
Gertrude Hambira and the farm workers union which she represents
is calling for land to the landless-that is the setting aside of
land adjoining large landed estates for the creation of villages.
Such villages would feature the growth of subsistence agricultural
communities which inevitably would supplement the household income
of the farm worker.
6. The role of the Zimbabwe Diaspora in the process of healing and
reconstruction was stressed. Esau Mavindidze made a presentation
on the pivotal role of the more than 4 million Zimbabweans in the
reconstruction process. Drawing attention to the importance of remittances
in the society, Mavindidze noted that the Zimbabwean Diaspora had
to take cogniscence of the fact that they were an important constituency
in the reconstruction of Zimbabwe. He said Diaspora communities,
organizations and activists had to be networked to create conditions
to effectively engage the home country politically and in other
areas of reconstructions such as knowledge transfer, business creation
and the promotion of knowledge intensive Foreign Direct Investment.
7. Also noted
was the fact that brain drain was a key component of the overall
character of human flight from Zimbabwe since a significant percentage
of those who left are professionals and skilled people. This crippling
flight of some of the country's best brains has escalated
to levels that have serious implications for the reconstruction
of Zimbabwe since there is currently no coordinated effort for these
expatriates to participate. The Symposium noted that the human capital
available in the Diaspora concerns the level of education, training,
skills and knowledge that might be drawn on for the home-country's
reconstruction initiatives. The following observations and recommendations
were made:
a. Information
and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and other Knowledge Management
(KM) techniques if utilized appropriately can enhance the potential
role of the Diaspora as meaningful change agents in the social,
cultural and intellectual aspects of Zimbabwe.
b. ICTs have
rendered geography irrelevant as a result Zimbabwean skilled personnel
scattered throughout the world can develop common agendas and
identities, even across large geographical distances, making it
easier for them to become involved in the reconstruction process
in Zimbabwe.
c. There are
greater engagement possibilities, including increased foreign
direct investment, creation of web-based professional, social,
and political networks, and advocacy initiatives
d. The task
is to create professional associations coordinated within well
thought out ICT platforms that can channel programs that match
the needs in human capital in the home country with the supply
of Diaspora skills abroad.
e. Engagement
with the society at all levels will be easier when the Diaspora
has organized itself. On its part, the emerging progressive leadership
must come up with a comprehensive policy frame work based on the
assumption that without any support and incentives, the skills
available in the Diasporas will not be transferred to Zimbabwe.
f. This level
of engagement will keep the Diaspora focused on Zimbabwe and playing
constructive roles, which will make them relevant and create bridges
for the possibilities of moving back to the homeland.
8. Coordinating
advocacy with information and legislation. Imani Countess of TransAfrica
Forum outlined the efforts being undertaken by TransAfrica to educate
the public in the United States on the current state of the peoples
of Zimbabwe. The historical role of TransAfrica in working with
the legislators on Capitol Hill was outlined, especially in relation
to the current legislative initiatives being considered under the
leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus.
9. While much
was achieved by this conference, a lot of work still needs to be
done to support help the GPA and people of Zimbabwe as they approach
this new phase. Follow-up is required to address the broad areas
of consensus that emerged in Syracuse. Specialized conferences and
discussion involving all stakeholders should be attempted. The broad
areas for these conferences could be: Land Reform for the Twenty
First Century - How will Reform produce healing and integrate
Zimbabwe into a new global economy; Democratic Reform for Zimbabwe-The
role of indigenous knowledge and culture in fostering democracy
and democratic institutions in Zimbabwe; UBUNTU and the Human Spirit-The
meaning of freedom and human rights for development.
Wazir Mohamed
and Esau Mavindidze
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