Media should allow Gukurahundi reconciliation proc...

Media should allow Gukurahundi reconciliation process to be victim centred

Testimonies to be held in camera
Fortnightly media updates on progress
No end date set to ensure full inclusion
Chiefs are custodians of process
People no longer resident in villages must liase with their chiefs
Verified claimants will be awarded compensation to be decided on

Zim Now Writer

Media practitioners should desist from disempowering communities affected by Gukurahundi by taking it upon themselves to be speak instead of giving the mic to victims.

“Let the victims speak out. What is in their hearts and minds,” said National Council of Chiefs vice president Chief Fortune Charumbira while responding to points raised by media practitioners at the consultative meeting being currently held by the Council of Chiefs and the media.

Chief Charumbira said the victims will speak in a safe environment at the source of where Gukurahundi happened and chiefs with jurisdiction have decided that to protect the privacy of individuals as well as to avoid having strangers, media will not be allowed to cover the outreach itself but will be kept in the loop.

This will also aid in ensuring only authentic accounts are captured to avoid infiltration by opportunists wishing to set an agenda or targeting compensation.

“There will be fortnightly media updates here in Bulawayo from the command center,” said Chief Charumbira.

Chief Charumbira said the media should not pre-empt the process by prescribing what they want the central players to say.

He said while civil society organisations have been engaged to give their voices, the authentic voice of those in the villages cannot come out of workshops.

Chief Charumbira said President Mnangagwa has already stated the some form of compensation will be awarded to verified claimants with proposals of packages like pensions in cases where breadwinners were killed.

In response to how affected people who no longer reside in the villages can be part of the process, Chief Charumbira said that those in the diaspora or in towns should engage with their chiefs to work out how they can put their issues on the table.

He said there is no set date for the end of the process as there is no way of determining how many people will come forward until they do.

Chief Fortune Charumbira also clarified the Gukurahundi reconciliation structure saying that chiefs have been put at the centre because you cannot resolve issues of death and appeasement.

“For example some people will say we want exhumation,” he said pointing out that such matters will have to be held within the boundaries of the proper cultural processes.

Chief Charumbira said the programme which is led by the committee of chiefs from Matabeleland North and South brings in government ministries for secretariat roles as deemed fit.