Friends:
I thought this might be interesting, especially to those of you interested in
mediation, conflict management and reconciliation efforts.
Jack Shepherd
[17th July 2009]
Three Days Dedicated to National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration
24th, 25th and 26th July
The following declaration, issued by the President, was published in the Government
Gazette Extraordinary dated 15th July, 2009,
General Notice 92 of 2009. [Note these days are not being declared public holidays.]
INTERPARTY POLITICAL AGREEMENT
Declaration Authorising the Organ on National Healing,
Reconciliation and Integration to Embark on the National
Dedication Programme
HIS EXCELLENCY THE HONOURABLE ROBERT GABRIEL MUGABE, G.C.Z.M., President of Zimbabwe
and Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces of Zimbabwe.
WHEREAS it is provided by section 31D of the Constitution of Zimbabwe that the
President shall appoint Ministers and may assign functions to such Ministers,
including the administration of any Act of Parliament or of any Ministry or Department:
WHEREAS in the exercise of powers conferred on him by the said section 31D of
the Constitution, as read with Schedule 8 to the Constitution relating to the
Framework for a New Government, His Excellency the President appointed three Ministers
of State to establish and execute the work of the Organ for National Healing,
Reconciliation and Integration, pursuant to Article VII of the Interparty Political
Agreement enshrined in the said Schedule 8 to the Constitution of Zimbabwe;
WHEREAS the said Schedule 8 to the Constitution enshrines the principle of working
together in an inclusive government, with great sensitivity, flexibility and willingness
to compromise, in order to uphold respect for the deeply-felt and immediate aspirations
of the millions of the people of Zimbabwe to carry out sustained work to create
conditions for returning our country to stability and prosperity;
WHEREAS His Excellency The President, consistent with Article VII and Article
XVIII of the Interparty Political Agreement referred to in Schedule 8 to the Constitution,
charged the Organ to promote equality of treatment of all regardless of gender,
race, ethnicity, or origin; put in place practicable measures to achieve national
healing, cohesion and unity in respect of victims of pre-and post-Independence
political conflicts; create an environment of tolerance and respect among Zimbabweans
from the Diaspora; as well as assure personal security of all persons and prevent
the resort to violence for purposes of settling any disagreements or differences;
WHEREAS Article 7.1 (c) of the Interparty Political Agreement provides that the
all-Inclusive Government shall: "Give due consid eration to the setting up of
a mechanism to properly advise on what measures might be necessary and practicable
to achieve the National Healing, Cohesion and Unity in respect of victims of pre-and
post-Independence conflict," the Organ being thereby, brought into being;
AND WHEREAS indigenous Zimbabweans living in the pre-Independence colonial era
were systematically deprived of basic human rights, subjected to oppression, suppression,
racial discrimi nation and inequitable access to the enjoyment of the resources
of the land; including unfair exclusion from political processes within the country;
thereby precluding fair representation of the indigenous population in the governance
structures of the country; leading to an armed liberation war for national emancipation
and self-determination in which thousands of combatants and non-combatants lost
their lives, dignity and property; and
NOTING the tendency to easy resort to violence by political parties, State actors,
Non-State actors and others in attempting to gain the upper hand in competition
for power and position, or in order to settle political differences and achieve
various political ends; and
CONCERNED by the displacement of scores of people due to politically motivated
violence;
RECOGNISING that-
· violence in any form has the effect of dehumanising people
and generating deep feelings of hatred and polarization within our country;
· violence abuses both the victim and the perpetrator, thus undermining
our collective independence and our capability as a people to exercise our free
will in making political choices;
· the practice of settling disputes by violence has its firm
roots in pre- and post-Independence behaviour right up to present times, thereby
spawning an unacceptable and amoral culture.
FURTHER NOTING that the perpetration of violence in any form is an affront to
the Bill of Rights enshrined in Chapter III of the Constitution of Zimbabwe:
NOW, THEREFORE, in the spirit of the Interparty Political Agreement, I do hereby-
(a) declare,
set out and dedicate the 24th, 25th and 26th July, 2009, as a period during which
the Nation may dedicate the Inclusive Government, our newfound peace, our freedom,
our new spirit of nation-building, National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration
to inspire the nation going forward; and
(b) declare, set out and
dedicate the 24th, 25th and 26th July 2009, as the appointed days upon which,
consistent with the deeply-felt desire for freedom, peace, stability and prosperity
by the millions of Zimbabweans at home and abroad, all the political parties,
formations and factions within and without Zimbabwe, and espousing a Zimbabwean
interest howsoever defined, publicly and honestly commit themselves, as indeed
it is their constitutional and legal duty?
(i) to renounce violence in all its forms, and in particular
violence designed to achieve political ends;
(ii) to move among the people, in particular their supporters
internal and external, for purposes of promoting the values and practices of tolerance,
respect, non-violence and dialogue as sustainable means of resolving political
differences;
(iii) to reject all forms of political violence;
(iv) to report all forms of political violence;
(v) to renounce the promotion and use of violence, under whatever
name called, as a means of attaining politi cal ends;
(vi) to work together to ensure the security of all persons and property;
(vii) to refrain from inciting hostility, political intolerance and ethnic
hatred; and
(viii) to take all measures necessary to ensure that the structures, agents and
institutions that they control or liaise with within and without Zimbabwe, do
not engage or support engagement in perpetration of vio lence or any other activities
harmful to Zimbabwe.
AND ON THIS DAY, THE 10th DAY OF JULY, 2009, I IMPLORE AND ENJOIN
THE GOVERNMENT of the Republic of Zimbabwe
(a) in
total inclusiveness, to apply the laws of the country fully and impartially;
(b) to
ensure the safe return of all Zimbabweans desirous of returning from the Diaspora;
(c) to
ensure the safety of all and any internally displaced persons;
(d) to
direct all State actors to operate within the framework of the Interparty Political
Agreement and of the laws of the country in executing their duties.
ALL CIVIL SOCIETY organizations of whatever description, whether affiliated to
a political party or not, not to promote or advocate or use violence or any other
form of intimidation or coercion to canvass or mobilize for or oppose any political
party to achieve any political end.
AND I FURTHER RESPECTFULLY REQUEST AND ENJOIN ALL TRADITIONAL LEADERS AND ALL
FAITH-BASED INSTITUTIONS TO-
NOTE the existence of the culture of violence that has afflicted the country,
its nationals, regions, religions, tribes, clans, families and individuals;
NOTE the compounding of the violent culture by foreign institutions and influences
that seized the country and dominated it; spawning oppression, suppression, racial
discrimination and dispossession of the property of the indigenous people;
RECOGNISE the conflict and bloodshedding that accompanied the liberation process
in Zimbabwe over a period of a century as indigenous people fought to redeem the
cradle and source of their identity, namely The Land;
CONCERN themselves with the shameful post-independence disturbances, conflicts,
violence and losses of life and property visited upon the country by political
parties, faith-based institutions and others; and
CALL UPON the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe, political parties, traditional
leaders, faith-based leaders, civic bodies and their leaders, patriarchs and matriarchs,
mediums and all charged with providing guidance and sustenance to the population
of Zimba bwe; to redeem the nation from the spell of conflict and bloodshed embedded
in its history and practices; and in particular correct the failure to assuage
psycho-social traumas visited upon individuals, families and communities by the
conflict visited upon them in the pre- and post-Independence period;
AND I FURTHER ENJOIN ALL THE COUNTRY'S TRADITIONAL AND FAITH-BASED LEADERS AT
ALL LEVELS-
TO ASSUME their age-old responsibility to make devotions to the Creator with solemn
ceremonies;
TO SEEK the cleansing of our land, Zimbabwe, from the curse of conflict and bloodshed;
TO MAKE supplication for forgiveness and prosperity; and
TO SEEK EVERLASTING GUIDANCE for the Nation of Zimbabwe from generation to generation;
AND ALL THESE WITH STRICT ADHERENCE TO THE OBSERVANCE OF THE SEASONS, PERIODS
AND TIME-TABLES AND APPROPRIATE MEDIUMS BY WHICH SUCH PROCESSES ARE TO
BE OBSERVED.
Given under my hand and the Public Seal of Zimbabwe at Harare this 24th day of
July [Note this is an error but it was in the gazetted notice] in the year of
our Lord, two thousand and nine.
R. G. MUGABE, President
By Command of the President.
NOTE [this is part of the gazetted notice]
I remain keenly conscious that post-conflict peace-building is not an event, let
alone a simple process. Drawing together opposing energies is a managed process,
requiring rare expertise in various fields, as well as purposeful consultations
within clearly-defined parameters; to achieve peace, prosperity, stability and
healing for individual Zimbabweans of all ages, their families, organisations,
communities and the country as a whole. The process has to be grassroots-driven,
for it to be a truly Zimbabwean process.
To this end the Organ was established, to provide guidance and direction to all
groups, as we all turn this epoch in our history into an Epoch of Rebuilding;
with purposeful focus towards the rehabilitation of Zimbabwean politics.
Indeed, we must move from a culture of historically imposed violence, undertake
an examination of the past and present traumatic stress disorders afflicting the
greater part of our population, military and non-military and uniformed or civilian;
to build a new culture of inclusiveness born of a healed national environment.
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