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Zimbabwe's wounds far from healed
Media Centre
April 08, 2011

Heal Zimbabwe held a memorial service for the victims of the June 2008 pre and post election violence at the Dutch reformed church located at corner Samora Machel and Leopold Takawaira avenue in Harare on 6 April 2011. The memorial service brought together church pastors, government, civil society and family members of those who where killed during that period.

The memorial service which was organised by Heal Zimbabwe ran under the theme, "Blessed are the peace makers", Matthew 5 vs 9. The church took a central role in spreading a message of peace, hope forgiveness and justice. Pastor Magaya who led the sermon, lamented at the propagandist murmurings of politicians on the contentious role of the church in politics, where the President is on record saying that the church has no place in politics, and that their political dealings would attract political reactions. He said that politicians always say that the church has no place in politics in order escape any form of rebuke on their misdeeds from the clergy. He argued that the church and politics are inseparable, and used the story of Ezekiel in the bible to support his position.

Hon. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai who was also present at the service decried Zimbabwe's endemic culture of impunity where perpetrators of violence have been and are going unpunished. He said that there are victims of violence all over Zimbabwe including bodies of Tonderai Ndira and others. "There are graves in Matebeleland and Midlands of innocent victims of meaningless genocide and we all wonder whether the current exhumations will spread to that part of the country as well," said Tsvangirai. We are angry because perpetrators are walking scot-free, Joseph Mwale the alleged culprit in the gruesome murder in of Tichaona Chiminya and Talent Mabika in the year 2000 is still an employee of the state. Mwale is a living example of a culture of impunity that has afflicted this country which is a testimony of the failure of the justice delivery system, said the Prime Minister.

Close relatives of the deceased struggled to hold back tears as they gave chilling accounts of how their loved ones disappeared, the state they were in their death, what they died for and how the families they left behind were eking out a living without any assistance from the people whom they worked with. Some of the children left behind by the deceased have had to drop out of school.

The service was held in memory of Abigail Chiroto, Cain Nyeve, Better Chukuruma ,Godfrey Kauzani, and Tonderai Ndira who are among the estimated 200 people killed during the violent prone June 2008 runoff election, another moment of madness in Zimbabwe's history.

In an act of remembrance, the whole congregation led by the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his Deputy lit candles while Pastor Magaya led in prayer. Unveiling of tombstones was conducted at Warren Hills cemetery where the deceased are laid to rest.

The memorial come against a backdrop where the Organ on Healing and National Reconciliation has failed to do anything tangible with regards to fostering national healing and reconciliation that they are so wrongly named after. Recent attacks on civil society organisation epitomised by the arrest of Crisis Coalition Director Macdonald Lewanika and the harassment of Mr Abel Chikomo, the Executive Director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (the Forum resulted in the convening of a press conference by civil society). In their joint statement, civil society organisations called upon the police and all other state agents to stop attacking the messenger and to start attending to the message.

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