Harare - Thandiwe Ncube cannot conceal her pain and bitterness when she speaks about her husband's murder nine years ago by suspected militant backers of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe.

"My husband had no hands, they cut off his arms. They were by the side of his body when we went to collect it," the 45-year-old said.

Her husband John was killed at a base set up by Mugabe supporters during the 2000 parliamentary elections. His death certificate says he died of "multiple injuries".

His crime: supporting Mugabe's strongest opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai, now prime minister in a power-sharing government formed last year to ease political tensions and fix an economy ravaged by years of hyperinflation.

Left to fend for her family of four as a widow, Ncube says a national healing programme launched by the power-sharing government means nothing for her.

"It doesn't help me in anything," Ncube told AFP, adding that her husband's alleged killers are still free, even boasting about the crime.

"If somebody kills and comes back boasting, he is the boss. There can be no healing without arresting those responsible. They must be arrested and put into jail then we can talk about national healing."

The unity government has appointed an organ of "national healing" to exorcise the country of the ogre of violence.

Violence is embodied

Sekai Holland, one of the ministers heading the organ, said it will ask victims to testify in hopes of creating a spirit of reconciliation and preventing a descent into full-fledged conflict.

"If this national healing fails, it may lead to civil crisis," she told AFP.

"Political violence is embodied in our operational culture of politics, but this has to be addressed.

"People fight for power. The aspect of violence is something that we as Zimbabweans must deplore. We must sit down and learn to talk peace."

The body has so far met with churches, rights groups and traditional chiefs.

But in May a meeting to encourage victims of violence to testify was disrupted by Mugabe supporters.

"President Mugabe and Tsvangirai should say sorry publicly. Maybe it will work, but as far as I know, this national healing will open a can of worms for both sides," said James Mutemi, who helped disrupt the meeting.

Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says more than 300 of its supporters were killed and thousands displaced in the run-up to the presidential run-off election in 2008.

Tsvangirai withdrew citing the violence.

Programme is futile

In turn, ZANU-PF accused MDC supporters of torching houses of Mugabe supporters. Rights groups say the vast majority of the victims have been Tsvangirai supporters.

Analysts say the national healing programme is futile because it is led by politicians responsible for the violence.

"Zimbabwe is not quite ready for national healing," Gordon Chavunduka, a sociologist at the University of Zimbabwe told AFP.

"The problem is that the exercise is being driven by politicians, yet this was supposed to be done by ordinary people."

Chavunduka, who is also traditional healer, said apart from the national healing programme, perpetrators of violence should approach families of victims for compensation and rituals to appease the spirits of the dead.

"If you kill a person, the spirit of that person will follow you. It will bring bad luck to you and everyone else in your family either immediately or for generations to come."

Grieving father threatened

In an address to open a new session of parliament on Tuesday, Mugabe urged Zimbabweans to promote the reconciliation process - even as rights groups reported new cases of violence.

Heal Zimbabwe Trust, which helps survivors of violence, said a man who lost two sons in a 2008 attack had received death threats for "commemorating the death of traitors" with a memorial service for the victims.

In a recent editorial, the privately owned NewsDay doubted the exercise would achieve reconciliation.

"The known perpetrators of violence expect the organ to protect them," the daily said.

"They want a blanket amnesty. They want they handiwork of violence concealed and forgotten. There is no real consensus on how to achieve national healing, but that does not discount the fact that national healing is key to taking this country forward."

By AFP

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