BULAWAYO – Zimbabwe’s political parties are divided over who should lead a national healing process with President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party opposing plans by the former opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party to let the church and civic society steer the sensitive process, it has been learnt.

ZANU PF, which has been in power since the country’s independence from Britain in 1980, is said to favour a national healing process led by politicians and political parties in the hope of striking concessions against prosecution for past human rights crimes.

“We have a ministry bringing together the three political parties – MDC-M (led by Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara), MDC-T (led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai) and ZANU PF – that was tasked to undertake and facilitate a national healing process hence there would be no need for a parallel process,” John Nkomo, ZANU PF chairman and one of the three ministers in charge of national healing and reconciliation told ZimOnline on Wednesday.

But the MDC-M said it was pushing for the Church and civil society to play a leading role while government merely facilitates the process.

“Politicians should not be leading the healing process. The government should facilitate and not control the process,” said Minister of State in Prime Minister Tsvangirai’s office, Gorden Moyo, on Tuesday.

“The government should play a midwifery role; a midwifery role is to enable the child to be born but is not the one giving birth, it is an issue we are debating in government," he added.

Civic groups and churches have said the Church should lead the national healing and reconciliation process because both ZANU PF and the MDC “lack the morality to conduct it as they are the originators of this conflict”.

They are adamant that the process would only succeed when there is prosecution of all perpetrators of human rights abuses.

Zimbabwe last weekend had a three day programme of national healing after Mugabe declared July 24, 25 and 26 official days for Zimbabweans to renounce all forms of violence and dedicate themselves to working together to ensure security of all persons and property and refrain from inciting political intolerance and ethnic hatred.

Both Mugabe and Tsvangirai – who formed a unity government in February to end months of political unrest following disputed elections last year – renounced political violence at the official opening of the national healing programme.

Tsvangirai said the event marked the start of efforts to find justice for victims of political violence.

However, the country’s civic groups united under the cluster on National Healing within the Civil Society Monitoring Mechanism (CISCOMM), snubbed an invitation by the government to participate in the three-day programme, saying government only wanted them to legitimise a flawed process.

“We see the government’s belated effort to involve civil society . . . as a lame attempt at legitimacy and a ploy by government or sections of it, to gloss over the serious and ongoing violations,” the groups said in a statement last week.

CISCOMM added that the national healing initiative was “dangerously flawed” and “not victim-centered” but left the door open for a “genuine partnership” with the government only when government agrees that there would be no “amnesty for genocide, crimes against humanity, torture, rape and other sexual crimes”.

Political violence flared in the southern African country last year as Mugabe fought to reclaim power in a run-off vote after being defeated by Tsvangirai although the veteran trade unionist fell short of the margin required to take over power and avoid a run-off.

Tsvangirai eventually pulled out of the run-off citing violence that the MDC says left more than 100 of its members dead and at least another 200 000 displaced, leaving Mugabe to claim victory uncontested.

Western governments and a host of African nations rejected Mugabe’s victory while the African Union and the regional Southern African Development Community piled pressure on the Zimbabwean leader to form a power-sharing government with the opposition. – ZimOnline

By Zimonline