Slogans will not heal Zimbabwe

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Written by The Editor

Friday, 23 July 2010 15:49

The temptation is to celebrate – indeed as many have done -- the meeting last week of the senior leaders of Zanu (PF), MDC-T and MDC-M as heralding a new beginning.

A new era of tolerance, in which violence and murder will no longer be the weapons of choice for some among us to achieve and retain political power. We won’t celebrate and this is why:

It might have been a good thing seeing those who ordered and committed mass beatings, home demolitions, rape, torture and murder across the country sitting in conference with their victims, all confessing their commitment to national healing and reconciliation.

But it was and remains not good enough. Mere words and cheap publicity stunts have never healed countries. It shall not start with Zimbabwe.

For the benefit of Messrs Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, in case they are not aware of the basics here: true healing and reconciliation never come alone. They always come together with truth and justice.

We could establish as many organs of national healing and reconciliation as we want and hold as many tripartite conferences as the number of days in the year but we would never know true peace and harmony until the truth is known and justice is done.

We have said it before and we find it necessary to repeat: there can never be national healing or reconciliation in Zimbabwe when the criminals who plotted Gukurahundi and masterminded the political violence that accompanied every major election in the country since 1980 retain their positions in the security forces and continue roaming our villages and cities.

We are not advocates for primitive retribution. But the honest truth is that conferences and slogans are not going to heal the families of MDC activists, Tichaona Chiminya, Talent Mabika, Tonderai Ndira, Gift Tandare and Better Chokururama, to name a few among many.

There has to be full disclosure by those who perpetrated dreadful crimes upon fellow citizens before we can start talking about reconciliation. Victims expect – and rightly so -- some form of restitution.

Only truth and justice can cleanse and heal our hurting nation.

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