Chronicle Editor
Zvamaida Murwira in Lupane
Members of the public have criticised legislators for shunning rural and remote areas when conducting public hearings on issues of national importance.
They complained that lawmakers confined themselves to urban areas.
This emerged during a joint consultative meeting bringing together the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Human Rights and Peace and Security, Senate Thematic committee on the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission Bill.
The committees held public hearings in Kwekwe, Gweru, Victoria Falls, Plumtree, Hwange Lupane, Bulawayo, Marondera, Mutare and Chinhoyi, among other cities and towns last week.
During a meeting held in Bulawayo at the weekend, participants rapped legislators for shunning rural communities where the majority of Zimbabweans resided, choosing instead to visit urban areas where there are better facilities and social amenities.
The sentiments were raised after the head of delegation and Harare West MP Ms Jessie Majome (MDC-T) had apologised for a late start and outlined the areas they had visited.
“You are moving around cities and towns and never visiting rural areas like Tsholotsho, Kezi. The majority of people live in rural areas and they bear the brunt of conflict and, it is pertinent that you visit these areas. But the tendency for you legislators is to avoid these places because they are remote and lack social amenities,” said Mr Alfred Ncube of Tsholo- tsho.
Participants said it did not make sense to convene a meeting on peace building and reconciliation in an urban area, leaving out rural communities who constituted the lion’s share of the victims of such vices.
Another participant, Mr Lungiso Bhebhe, rapped organisers of the hearing for conducting the Bulawayo consultative meeting at a five-star hotel instead of going to high-density suburbs where the majority of people lived.
“Those who came here are those that have cars or who were lucky to borrow five rand ($0,50) for transport. Why not convene it in Makokoba, Pumula or Nketa where there are people,” he said.
In Lupane, Amakhosi Theatre Productions founder Mr Cont Mhlanga echoed the same sentiments and complained why Bills were only written in English.
“We need Bills to be written in vernacular languages like Ndebele, Tonga and Nambya,” said Mr Mhlanga, who now lives in his rural home in Lu- pane.
Most people who rose to make contributions criticised the Bill saying it should not be passed in its present form owing to “sweeping” powers that it conferred on the responsible minister.
Others said the NPRC should prioritise political disturbances that occurred during the 1980s in the Matabeleland areas and Midlands if sustainable peace was to be achieved.
The public hearing was supported by the United Nations Development Programme and the Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust.
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