By Paul Nyathi| The National Peace and Reconciliation Commission is continuing with it’s business as usual despite interruptions by the Mthwakazi Republic Party of public hearings in Bulawayo and Lupane.
In an interview with ZimEye.com, NPRC commissioner Geofrey Chada said that the commission is proceeding with it’s consultations throughout the country as scheduled besides calls by the Matabeleland regional party for it to disband.
“We are a constitutional body and going ahead with our business as mandated by the constitution and today (Wednesday) we are in Gweru listening to those people who want to make their presentations to the commission,” said Chada.
The commission’s hearings in Bulawayo and Lupane were disrupted by picketing Mthwakazi Republic Party activists who claimed that the commission made up of predominately Shona speaking people can not preside over Gukurahundi atrocities issues.
Asked what then happens to the submissions from the people of Bulawayo and Lupane, Commissioner Chada said that the commission captured the message delivered by the demonstrators as the message from the people.
He added that the commission also managed to capture some presentations from people who spoke to them outside the demonstrations.
“We have the submissions from the people of Lupane and Bulawayo,” he said.
“We got the message from the Mthwakazi people even if they had to put it across the way they did,” said Chada.
“We also managed to capture inputs from other people who spoke outside the demonstrations and some who opted to put their submissions in writing.”
Commissioner Chada said that after the provincial hearings, the Commission will be holding a national hearing in Harare where representatives from all the ten provinces will be invited to come and go through the presentations collected from the hearings and plan on the way forward for the commission.
“As soon as we are done with all the provinces, we will convene a stakeholders meeting in Harare where representatives from the provinces will gather to come up with a national report from the submissions made in the provincial consultations,” said Chada.