ZPP welcomes enactment of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission Act

The Zimbabwe Peace Project has welcome the signing into law of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission Act by President Emmerson Mnangagwa on 5 January 2018.

The Act has been anticipated for a while; it is a step in the right direction towards promoting national healing, unity and cohesion from wounds and trauma brought about by Zimbabwe's legacy of sad episodes of conflict.

"The ZPP is happy to see adoption of some input from consultations with various stakeholders while there are still provisions that could have been improved on. The Act has a section on Gender which was one of the issues that had been proposed to ensure that gender based conflicts are addressed," said ZPP.

"In the last few weeks President Mnangagwa faced protests by activists in South Africa and Bulawayo who demanded answers on the atrocities of Gukurahundi in the 1980s. An estimated 20 000 Zimbabweans are thought to have perished in the early years of Zimbabwe's independence. Violent conflict in the 1990s, the 2000s has left an indelible mark for which Zimbabweans need to confront. There is need for truth telling, post conflict justice and taking action to promote deterrence and non-recurrence."

"While ZPP is happy with the enactment of the NPRC Act of concern is that the Act is still not victim centred and does not provide for the safety and protection of victims and survivors. In an environment where most victims and survivors lived in fear the Act should have had a section on this so as to enlist confidence in the process. The Act does not speak of rehabilitation of victims and survivors. We hope some of these issues will be provided for in the NPRC regulations provided for by the Act," ZPP added.

ZPP said Section 10 (7) empowers the Minister of national security to issue a certificate blocking disclosure of evidence and documentation that may be in the opinion of the Minister prejudicial to national interest.

"This provision has been viewed by many stakeholders as unfavourable to the functions and mandate of the NPRC according to the constitution. However, the Act allows for the Commission to confirm, vary or set aside the certificate issued by the Minister," said ZPP.

"ZPP is worried about the powers the Minister responsible wields to the extent of deciding which recommendations will be taken up and rejected. Most stakeholders during the hearings and other subsequent consultations had suggested that the Commission reports directly to Parliament. The Minister could be a stumbling block in the independence of the NPRC. The Act is also silent on how far back the work of the NPRC will go remembering that it only has a 10 year tenure."

The organisation said there are no sufficient constitutional or judicial safeguards to ensure implementation or investigation of violations in a truly independent manner. It said there are still provisions that allow the executive to overreach and frustrate investigation of violations.

"Finally, ZPP is disheartened by the intention expressed in the 2018 budget statement to reduce the budget of Chapter 12 Commissions including the NPRC. Reducing the budget at this stage when a lot will be expected of the NPRC will be paralysing the Commission and thus preventing it from ‘hitting the ground running'. It seems the 2018 budget statement is out of sync with the Act in that the Act in the First Schedule (Section 3(1)) 2) 5 states, every Member of the Commission being appointed on a fulltime basis while the Minister of Finance announced that from 2018 only Chairpersons of Commissions will be appointed on a permanent basis," said ZPP.