“You And I Can Make Peace Happen”
By Ron Murevererwi – Deputy Prime Minister, Honorable Thokozani Khupe officiated the launch of a peace building and transitional justice project on the 31st of August at the Belgravia sports club in Harare. The event was organized by Restoration Of Human Rights Zimbabwe (ROHR), Centre for Community Development in Zimbabwe (CCDZ), Catholic Commission for Peace and Justice in Zimbabwe (CCPJZ) and Victim Action Committee (VAC), a consortium of the leading organizations to the initiative. Over hundred stakeholders attended the function representing various sections of the community including the Co- Minister of Home Affairs Honorable Theresa Makoni.
Deputy Prime Minister (DPM), Honorable Thokozani Khupe challenged the nation to join hands and conquer the barriers created by party politics, stigmatization, stereo types, gender and race towards building a peaceful conducive environment to enable economic growth. She said “without respect for human rights there is no freedom, there is no human dignity, no justice, no fairness or liberation to talk about.”
Honorable Khupe also reiterated that for Zimbabwe to move forward there is need for unity among Zimbabweans. She also pin pointed that credibility; respect and trust are pertinent values to be earned for a genuine national healing process to take place.
The Minister of Home Affairs, Honorable Theresa Makoni said’’ the coalition government was a compromise set up in which people should locate opportunities to forge ahead to bring real change.
Speaking to the media, ROHR Zimbabwe Director Tichanzii Gandanga said the initiative was aimed to encourage the nation to assume deliberate efforts in achieving peace and building bridges into the future to a national vision cemented on democratic principles, respect for human rights, justice, tolerance, core existence and cohesion. He emphasized that peace is an individual effort and inevitable responsibility regardless of political affiliation.
The launch comes at a historic time when the nation is poised to transform from the past legacies of man-made crises into a more transparent and accountable leadership devout from corruption and lack of integrity wrangles.
Prime Minister Richard Morgan Tsvangirai together with human rights lawyers Beatrice Mtetwa,Alec Muchadehama and constitution lawyer and expert Lovemore Madhuku were honored for their outstanding contributions in defending human rights, people’s freedoms and promoting peace. The awards were a token to honor some of the unsung heroes of the struggle for human rights and democratic space.
The launch of the peace building initiative marks a lifetime journey towards broking strategic relationships among the major stakeholders to peace building with the aim of peace building skills building, raising awareness in peace building and national healing.
DPM Khupe applauded the consortium directors of the four organizations Alouis Munyaradzi Chaumba, Fortune Muchuchuti, Philip Pasirayi and Tichanzii Gandanga for bringing key stakeholders together on peace initiatives.
