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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa yesterday said he has made it his personal mission to work towards national healing and lasting solutions to the Gukurahundi conflict in order to unburden future generations.

The President said this yesterday while addressing the nation ahead of today’s 34th Unity Day commemorations.

Unity Day is celebrated annually on December 22 following the signing of the Unity Accord by the late former president, Robert Mugabe and late Vice President Dr Joshua Nkomo in 1987.

President Mnangagwa said the Unity Accord extinguished fires of conflict which threatened the nation while laying a strong foundation for durable peace and unity the country enjoys to this day. He said Government has made deliberate steps to ensure healing.

“As I address you, efforts continue to be deployed to build on that precious legacy of peace and national unity which the Unity Accord bequeathed us. I have made it a personal mission to engage our citizens and our communities in the conflict zones of that unfortunate time of early Independence,” he said.

“We have to boldly confront and tackle the aftermath of that era; heal wounds it left in its wake, and where possible, assuage persistent difficulties and challenges traceable to it. This, I am resolved to do until we remove whatever bitter memories may still exist, and are likely to linger. We are the generation that must resolve issues of early Independence conflict, so we release our children to move forward and ahead as a united people.”

President Mnangagwa said his continuous interactions with relevant stakeholders is a testament of how he seriously wants the matter to be resolved for the nation to move in unison.

He urged citizens to respect the process being undertaken by chiefs to resolve the emotive Gukurahundi matter.

“On countless occasions, I have met and interacted with interest groups, community and traditional leaders from Matabeleland and parts of Midlands, all with a view to establishing what needs to be done so the after-effects of this regrettable era are put behind us. Our traditional leaders, led by our Chiefs, have a great role to play in this regard,” said the President.

“They preside over communities affected by the conflict; those hurt by the conflict are their subjects. They know the hurts; hear all the cries from the era and have suggestions on what needs to be done.

As we give space to our traditional leaders to lead processes of reconciliation and repair, we should guard against those negative elements which aim to re-ignite frozen differences in order to throw us back into renewed conflict. As always there are sinister forces which seek to profit from a divided and divisive past. They must not succeed.”

He said the country should build national institutions for conflict prevention, management and resolution whose impact will be felt at a local level.

President Mnangagwa said the signing of the Unity Accord teaches the nation that internal problems only require local solutions.

He said Government has adopted inclusive development through devolution of power as a strategy to address marginalisation issues that have emerged as a result of early conflicts.

“A key area requiring and receiving serious attention is that of balanced, inclusive development which leaves no one and no community behind. Oftentimes, feelings of marginalisation or persistent inequities breed resentment and eventual conflict.

Examples abound on our continent, examples from which we must draw key lessons,” said the President.

“Our cardinal policy on decentralised and devolved development is the answer. That policy cedes decision-making and resources to communities who are empowered to draw up and implement plans for their own development and transformation.

That policy ensures broad-based, even development which ensures no person, or community is left behind. Through it, we address imbalances of history: both colonial and post-independent.”

President Mnangagwa said through devolution programmes, communities throughout the country have started bearing witness to Government infrastructure development projects including the construction of roads, dams and the country moving towards rural industrialisation.

The President said the Unity Accord should be apolitically celebrated as it speaks to the aspirations of the people of Zimbabwe regardless of their beliefs.

“Even though the signatories to the Unity Accord were two Sister Liberation movements, the threat and menace which that Accord cured and resolved was a national one. Equally, the benefits accruing from it remain national in character.

Those two considerations alone make the Unity Accord larger than the two signatories, catapulting it into the coveted status of a national gain, resource and heritage,” said the President.

“This, in effect, means the Unity Accord is our asset together as Zimbabweans. There should never be barriers of politics, colour, creed, language, region or tribe standing between us and its collective ownership. Illustratively, all political formations in the country confirm it, one way or the other, through their structures and leadership choices.

That makes the Unity Accord a common possession, indeed a timeless guiding ethos. Our nation stands by it, or perishes for want of it.”–@nqotshili