Peter Muchengeti (60), a distinguished human rights and peace activist is no more. He was snatched from us in the early hours of this morning having spent a lengthy period at Bulawayo United Hospitals. A long serving Zimbabwe Peace Project employee first as a Provincial coordinator from 2008 when he joined and then a Field Officer until the time of his death.
An accomplished community mobiliser, His association with ZPP dates back to 2002 when he volunteered to work in communities documenting and monitoring human rights abuses at a time the democratic space was under serious threat. Before joining the ZPP Muchengeti worked for the Zimbabwe Civic Education Trust (ZIMCET) where he was instrumental in breaking barriers in the work of building peace committees whose objective lay in fostering a culture of tolerance. His track record as a human rights and peace activist and community organiser speaks for itself and he has left a mark in a number of communities in Matebeleland, Masvingo, Midlands and in Mashonaland East where he successfully mobilised for a peace building initiative. At the time of his death he was running a successful peace building campaign which set up a structure of Peace Ambassadors made up of community members tasked with mapping conflict and involved in local conflict transformation. The Peace Ambassadors in Binga, Mutoko and Chiredzi have been trained and capacitated through this initiative to lead conflict resolution in their communities.
A victim of beatings by law enforcement agents at the time he was working in the Midlands, Muchengeti has remained resolute and committed to unashamedly bring to light injustices faced by communities in the provinces where he worked. Muchengeti has also worked with other organisations like the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) where he was active in the task force as the Bulawayo Provincial chair.
Muchengeti had a wealth of knowledge on how to succeed in engaging communities and the people he interacted with had high regard for him and the manner in which he would humble himself when he executed his duties. An easy individual to work with who always valued his work which he continued to speak about even at a time he was in extreme pain. He had this infectious smile that made him easy to approach for those he worked with in the communities and even in the office. The ZPP and indeed the human rights and governance sector is poorer without him. The void he has left will be difficult to fill having distinguished himself in the way that he did as a Peace Ambassador par excellence.
Muchengeti will be remembered by all at ZPP and will be missed. Muchengeti is survived by his wife and 3 children.
Mourners are gather at 2583 Pumula South Bulawayo. He will be laid to rest on Friday , March 2 at 11 AM at West Park Cemetry in Bulawayo.
ZPP is a Non Governmental Organization that was founded in 2000 by a group of faith based and human rights NGOs working and interested in human rights and peace-building initiatives. ZPP has become a vehicle for civic interventions in times of political crises. In particular, ZPP seeks to monitor and document incidents of human rights violations and breaches of peace.
If you are concerned about acts of violence in your community, ZPP encourages you to get in touch with us on Hotline and WhatsApp numbers
+263 774 883 406 and +263 774 883 417
Toll Free: 080 80199