Chronicle Editor
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa will today launch the Gukurahundi community engagement outreach programme at the State House in Bulawayo which is expected to mark a significant milestone in the national healing process and demonstrate the sincerity of the Second Republic in addressing past grievances.
The anticipated launch of the community hearings will see a comprehensive manual and handbook being handed over to the President that will guide how the consultative outreaches will be carried out.
The launch is preceded by a number of engagements, workshops and trainings that culminated in the steering committee giving its feedback to the National Council of Chiefs yesterday ahead of the official launch by President Mnangagwa today.
The high-profile event will be graced by various Government officials, traditional leaders and other stakeholders.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Mr Nick Mangwana confirmed in a Press Conference yesterday that all was set for the event.
“His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe Cde Dr ED Mnangagwa is coming to Bulawayo to launch the Gukurahundi community engagement outreach programme. This initiative is considered to be of high national importance and it will be launched tomorrow, Sunday (today) the 14th of July 2024 at the State House in Bulawayo,” said Mr Mangwana.
He said a number of key Cabinet Ministers whose portfolios have a role in the exercise will be in attendance. These include the Minister of Local Government and Public Works Daniel Garwe, the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Kazembe Kazembe, the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Dr Jenfan Muswere, the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, July Moyo.
“The programme will include presentations of reports and manuals by the president of the National Council of Chiefs, Senator, Chief Mtshane Khumalo,” he said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the feedback meeting, Chief Mtshane said the President will be briefed on the work that had been done for the past five years in preparation for the community hearings.
“We are essentially going to debrief the President on what we have done so far as a steering committee. We have been meeting here to give feedback as the Steering Committee to the National Council of Chiefs. We have chiefs from Matabeleland North and South. The stages that we went through included the stakeholders’ engagements where there were more than 30 groups including the church, then the manual that spelt the approach that we are going to take, followed by the training and then the launch,” he said.
Chief Mtshane gave a thumbs-up to the Second Republic for facilitating this important dialogue in the history of Zimbabwe, saying they received adequate support both financially and materially to spearhead the programme.
His deputy, Chief Fortune Charumbira weighed in saying the initiative to engage in the community outreach was drawn from President Mnangagwa’s wisdom and desire to foster a spirit of reconciliation and unity among the country’s citizens.
“It was the wisdom of President Mnangagwa. He knows that conflict resolution in communities is the mandate of traditional leaders and gave them the lead and resources to carry out the work. He refused to kowtow to the pressure to involve politicians saying it was not supposed to be a political issue but rather a community one led by people who are grounded in community matters,” he said.
Chief Charumbira added that traditionally, chiefs are known as abalamuli/vayananisi and that recognition of sustainable peace is built from cultural values of communities.
For that, he said, the National Council of Chiefs was grateful.
He said the programme is going to follow the phased out approach where Matabeleland North and South will be done first and Midlands later. He said peace initiatives were supposed to be community-driven and not exotic.
The Second Republic availed funds required for the programme and the hearings will be led by over 72 traditional chiefs from Matabeleland North and South provinces who will identify people affected both directly and indirectly by the disturbances that took place in the early 1980s.
The chiefs will capture their views and also establish community-led solutions to the issues brought up, this open platform for dialogue will proffer solutions and reconciliation with affected families.
Since President Mnangagwa assumed office he has made tremendous efforts to address the matter with various initiatives having already been done such as the issuing of birth certificates and National Identity documents for affected people in the Matabeleland region.
He has on several occasions met traditional leaders and other stakeholders to openly discuss the emotive issue proving that he is a listening President who has the interests of the region at heart.
Various workshops have been conducted to train the traditional leaders who will spearhead the processes with each receiving laptops, cellphones, recorders, printers among other things that they will use as they consult. All chiefs that will take part have also been allocated a 14-man team that will be support staff during the hearings.
Senator Chief Mtshane is on record saying the open dialogue that President Mnangagwa initiated when he assumed office will help the nation heal as a whole as the issues have been brought to the fore honestly and openly.
All the information gathered will be archived in Bulawayo.
@NyembeziMu
derick.khumalo