Civil society organisations are moving to take Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko to the constitutional court for government’s reluctance to establish a National Peace and Reconciliation Commission to deal with Gukurahundi atrocities.
Vice President Mphoko was tasked to oversee national healing programmes in the Zanu Pf government and the establishment of the NPRC falls under his portfolio.
If established the NPRC will deal with human rights violations which happened since the attainment of independence in 1980, most of which were perpetrated by Zanu PF including the Gukurahundi of 1982 – 1987.
Mphoko is on record defending government on the Gukurahundi atrocities which claimed more than 20 000 lives of the Midlands and Matabeleland civilians in the 80s.
Leaders of the civil society who include Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum director Lloyd Kuveya, Gladys Hlatywayo the director of the Zimbabwe Civil education Trust and Heal Zimbabwe Trust director Rashi Mahiya told  reporters in Harare Tuesday they are dragging Mphoko to the courts for failing to create the NPRC.
“If the delay is inordinate we will take the government to the constitutional court for non compliance because the government has a responsibility to uphold and defend the constitution and according to us if that does not happen we will be left with no option than to approach the highest court of the land,” they said.
The NPRC was supposed to be been established at the adoption of the new constitution in 2013 because it has a life span of ten years from the ‘effective date’ of adoption of the new constitution.