Heal Zimbabwe Trust is not for peace

The mission statement of Heal Zimbabwe Trust (HZT) reads: "To rebuild national cohesion through promotion of tolerance and peaceful co-existence in communities." Its vision is to see a peaceful Zimbabwe which celebrates diversity and peaceful co-existence in local communities. What a noble project!

Before reading the activities of HZT on the ground, one would be deceived to think that the trust is indeed a noble project that seeks to promote peaceful co-existence in Zimbabwe. The term itself is a grave misnomer, considering what the trust is really promoting on the ground. It is not at all for peace.

HZT was founded in 2008 when the political situation in Zimbabwe was tense and its existence was justified then. As a result, the trust attracted funding from the West to embark on the peace building project. It flourished. Following the inclusive government, the country reverted to its peaceful mode, rendering most of the opportunists Non Governmental Organizations (NGO) redundant. HZT is one such an organization that was affected and ever since then, it is struggling to survive.

It is this redundancy that has forced the trust to throw its founding values out of the window in pursuit of anything that can make it survive. This includes propagating falsehoods that seek to soil the good name of Zanu PF and other members of society.  Unfortunately some of the lies that it spreads are in stark contrast and defeats the major purpose of their existence.

During the weekend, HZT produced a report in which it alleged that Zanu PF was persecuting members of the newly formed Zimbabwe People First led by Dr Joice Mujuru. Among other allegations, the trust said traditional leaders and the police were roped in to identify ZPF supporters for victimization and exclusion during the food handout exercise spearheaded by government.

As they were manufacturing such a malicious report, President Robert Mugabe was assuring the nation during the official launch of the Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University in Bindura that no one would be denied food.

"We got the same feeling, needs and demands and so even as we struggle against each other politically, the hunger that we feel  within our own party is the same hunger being felt in the MDC," said President Mugabe.

This statement exposes HZT big time. President Mugabe is the supreme leader of Zanu PF. What he says is final. We therefore wonder which Zanu PF is being referred by HZT that is allegedly using food aid as political tool against the opposition members. After all, the distribution of food is not being done by Zanu PF for it is not a political matter. It is the government that has that responsibility and government knows no opposition. Even the opposition members contribute to the national fiscus from which money for the purchase of the maize was drawn from.

It is, therefore, a criminal act to discriminate people in food distribution on political grounds. HZT would do well if they reported such people to the police. Rushing to the media does not help anyone because they do not have the capacity to solve such issues.

Such lies have a potential of sparking uproar in the communities. One wonders how that information promotes peace within communities. A hungry man is an angry man. Those lies can instead promote antagonistic relationships within the communities, more so when those lies are magnified by the media. Hopefully HZT is aware of what happened in Rwanda because of careless statements that were carried by the media.

Zanu PF does not see any threat from ZPF to an extent of employing such foolish tactics. In any case, it is the MDC-T that must be rattled by the emergence of ZPF because it is eating into its (MDC-T) support base.

In its mission statement, HZT indicates that it targets victims and perpetrators of political violence. Now that the country is calm with no victims and perpetrators of political violence, HZT has to manufacture same in order to regain relevance. Even in intra party conflicts, it has become convenient for organizations like HZT to blame it on Zanu PF.

The Standard, a sister paper of the Newsday, which carried HZT report, has a story that vindicates Zanu PF.  It reported that Mujuru party intensified campaign. If there was persecution as HZT reported, how are the campaigns being intensified? "The Zimbabwe People First yesterday held an incident free rally in Harare…," reported the Standard. In all earnest, how can Zanu PF be rattled by a party that amass a crowd of only 500 people at its best, some of whom are just observers.

Therefore, HZT is advised to stick to its founding values and promote peace in the country. Alternatively, it must change and declare its new vision of causing disharmony in the country and fighting in the corner of the opposition.