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ISSN: 2360-784X |
International
Journal of Political Science and Development |
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International Journal of Political Science and Development Vol. 8(8), pp. 344-351, October, 2020. ISSN: 2360-784X
Review
In All Fairness, Can Truth Lead to Reconciliation of a Divided Zimbabwe?
Dorothy Goredema
Faculty of Social Sciences, Midlands State University, P.Bag 955, Gweru, Zimbabwe. E-mail: goredemad@staff.msu.ac.zw
Accepted 28 September 2020
For the past 37 years, Zimbabwe has been trying to attain national healing and reconciliation. Reconciliation is a necessary pre-condition for sustainable peace, social, economic and political advancement the world over. For Zimbabwe, the quest for reconciliation began with the 1980 policy of racial reconciliation followed by the 1987 unity accord between ZANU PF and PF ZAPU intended to end the Gukurahundi disturbances in Matebeleland and Midlands Province. The Organ for National Healing and Reconciliation and Integration followed the violent 2008 elections but still reconciliation has remained in the distant horizon. Peace Commissions such as the Chihambakwe, Chidyausiku and the most recent National Peace and Reconciliation Commission have been set out to ensure post-conflict justices, healing and reconciliation, again with no success. The failure to realize sustainable reconciliation over the past 37 years speaks of a need to revisit past and current approaches implemented or not implemented. Academics and observers have pointed out that Zimbabwe needs “a truth commission to achieve sustainable reconciliation. However this study argues that truth alone is not sufficient to bring about sustainable reconciliation. Applying discourse analysis to draw information from related literature, interviews and focus group discussions, the study found out that acknowledgement, apology and restorative justice in the form of reparations or compensation need to accompany “truth” for true reconciliation to be realized. The study concludes that whilst past policies and approaches to reconciliation have negated truth, truth telling on its own cannot lead to reconciliation unless it is accompanied by acknowledgement, apology, and restorative justice in the form of reparations.
Keywords: Fairness, Truth, Reconciliation. .
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