Community-based reconciliation in practice and lessons for the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission of Zimbabwe

Abstract

Reconciliation in Zimbabwe remains a recurring question despite several interventions by the government to respond to the challenge. Such efforts
stretch as far back as the first decade of independence. A key observation about the failure of the interventions is the weak utilisation of localism. Yet other countries with similar historical experiences as Zimbabwe have  Recorded better progress by embracing community-based methods. Indeed, the traditional liberal view that there is a universal set of approaches to reconciliation has for long been discredited and it is now widely accepted that due to diverse cultural values, practices and norms, communities should approach reconciliation in diverse ways. The National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) of Zimbabwe has the opportunity to learn from other developing countries on how community approaches
unfolded, and apply such lessons in enriching its own programmes in the country. The East Timor and Sierra Leone cases are adduced as providing
practical and valuable insights upon which the NPRC can benchmark and refine its strategy, and take advantage of the idle pool of indigenous methods in the country.

Keywords: community-based, reconciliation in practice, lessons, National Peace and Reconciliation Commission, Zimbabwe