By Paul Nyathi|The National Peace and Reconciliation Commission has been urged to extend their mandate and come up with a list of all missing persons in the country.
Making the submission on behalf of civil society delegates to the Commission at the national convergence validation conference in Harare on Tuesday, the Secretary General of Gwanda Residents Association Bekezela Maduma Fuzwayo said that peace and reconciliation cannot be achieved in the country as long as there are people who disappeared and are still unaccounted for.
Fuzwayo said that even if the issue concerning missing persons is not specified in the terms of reference of the commission it needs to take it upon itself to make sure that the matter is addressed as a starting point to reconciliation.
“We implore the commission to extend its mandate and develop and inventory of all missing persons in the country as a starting point to bringing peace and reconciliation,” he said.
A huge number of people have gone missing in the country allegedly at the hands of state security agents and no track has been made on their whereabouts.
Top on the list of missing persons is activist Itai Dzamara who was abducted from a barbershop by suspected state security agents two years ago and has never been heard of.
In a speech read on his behalf at the same gathering, Vice President Kembo Mohadi said Government remains committed to upholding cultural practices that advance national peace, healing and reconciliation.
In the speech read by the permanent secretary in his office, Reverend Paul Damasane, VP Mohadi said cultural approaches were more restorative and less retributive, which encouraged peace and reconciliation.
He said the current focus of Government was to grow the economy, unite the populace through internal and external engagement to achieve cohesion and end isolation.
VP Mohadi, who is responsible for national healing and reconciliation, said healing and reconciliation help to relieve pain as well as emotional stress and to restore normalcy between involved parties.
“We see the need to strive for restoration of the nation, where those that could previously not speak to each other can now sit under the same tree and plan the future together without acrimony,” said Mohadi.
“People should have the sense of oneness before they start seeing themselves as individuals. We need to be at peace with each other. When this happens, Zimbabwe will be poised for national cohesion, transformation and sustainable socio-economic development,” he said.
He said the unifying role of faith-based organisations could not be ignored in peace building.
“Zimbabweans are largely a God-fearing people whose value for the integrity and dignity of the individual is anchored on man created in the image of God. Internal peace of an individual based on an active relationship with one’s maker results in a community at peace with itself,” he said.
“Government applauds the peace building initiatives of faith-based organisations. The role of civil society organisations in our various communities to advance peace is appreciated by Government. Peace healing and reconciliation requires a coordinated multi-stakeholder approach hence the significance of this gathering,” he said.
The conference was chaired by NPRC chairman Retired Justice Selo Masole Nare and attended by NPRC commissioners and United Nations Development Programme officials among other stakeholders.