Source: Heal Zimbabwe
Heal Zimbabwe expresses grave concern over the disruption of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice hearing on the proposed Constitutional Amendment (Number 1) in Marondera on 21 February 2017 and the disruptive behaviour exhibited in Chinhoyi today by rowdy youth. The bill seeks to give the President sweeping powers to appoint the country’s three top judicial officers.
The Marondera hearing was aborted after the Portfolio Committee was accused by participants of only entertaining views from ZANU PF activists. This then presented a standoff between political party activists from different political parties as they started sloganeering and pushing and shoving each other. The hearing was then called off as the Committee had lost control of proceedings.
Heal Zimbabwe notes that disruption of democratic processes such as bill hearings that encourage citizen participation in democratic practices reveal the high levels of political intolerance among political parties. Such high intolerance levels also reveal that Zimbabwe is a country in dire need of national healing and reconciliation. Past human rights violations perpetrated by some political parties remain unaddressed due to a lack of an independent body that is charged with ensuring post-conflict justice, healing and reconciliation such as the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC).
Heal Zimbabwe posits that the snail’s pace that has characterized the full operationalization of the NPRC presents a time bomb that is likely to compromise peace and tolerance among political players ahead of the 2018 elections.
Heal Zimbabwe is concerned by the continued disruption of public hearings which has become a common occurrence in Zimbabwe. In October 2016, public hearings on the Electoral Amendment bill were disrupted in Mutare, Bulawayo and Marondera. The organisation further calls upon Zimbabweans to resolve conflicts amicably without resolving to violence and disruption of important national processes.
Source: Heal Zimbabwe