Preamble
Zimbabweans have experienced many challenges for a very long time. Greed, corruption, nepotism, bad stewardship and political violence have become endemic across the nation; mostly caused by very weak or broken public institutions. This has resulted in infrastructure disrepair, poor service delivery, economic decline and the associated poverty, destitution and all manner of hardships across the nation
Further to this; immorality, the occult and spiritism for money has become rampant. Lies and deception have become the order of the day in this “each man for himself” broken social order, where the weak and vulnerable are completely forgotten and left to fend for themselves.
We believe that these challenges cannot be resolved through elections given the nature of our broken public institutions. We therefore founded Zimbabwe National Reconciliation Alliance (ZiNRA) in June 2013; a non-partisan parachurch all-inclusive officially registered TRUST platform, because we got the revelation that Zimbabwe’s crossing bridge form brokenness and retrogression to unification and progress is national reconciliation and renewal through a negotiated settlement.
National Reconciliation
At the heart or centre of our challenges and brokenness is a cultural identity crisis and fragmentation whose thread can be traced back to the precolonial and colonial periods, coupled with a very poor, monopolised and politicised Independence transition. There is therefore need for us to reset the clock and begin afresh; a substantive, truthful and inclusive Independence transition.
We need to have a shared cultural / national identity with core values and ideals that define us as a people and inform our vision and the priorities setting our national agenda coupled with the recalibration and reconfiguration of a shared political, governance and economic system that is compatible with our cultural reality. This is important because without a shared strong cultural identity, we have no foundation upon which to build the nation or a viable economy towards shared prosperity
It is therefore important that we converge as a matter of urgency given the nature of our deepening domestic challenges; and both objectively and truthfully analyse, review and reconcile our entire story and pilgrimage as a people to figure out who we are, why we are failing, and where we got it wrong. This will also provide us with the opportunity to revisit our history, and develop a truthful and shared narrative both for empowerment and lessons.
Campaign Corporate Actions
Our greatest challenge has been that the good citizens who should be working together to build a great Zimbabwean civilisation, have been bystanders or spectators and commentators from the terraces or side-lines when we should have been the main participants and workers
If you and I do not build the nation for our children, who will? There is need for mindset renewal and behavioural change. Each one of us MUST participate and contribute to this national reconciliation and nation building work; and now is the time to do so
We have listed below some of the things that we can each do;
- Participate in this Dialogue process towards National Renewal
- Spread and share the Campaign News with others
- Pray for this national reconciliation and renewal campaign
- Contribute Resources towards this great work
Reconciliation Ministry Mandate
In Matthew chapter 6, the believer is mandated to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all other needs will thereafter be provided. In other words, we must seek and ensure that the nature and presence of God becomes our core cultural identity; the nature of love, truth and Justice. We must also love our neighbour as ourself, meaning we must be patriots and statesmen who more or less equally invest in both national development and personal development.
The disciples of Jesus Christ (the Church) must be the torchbearers and forerunners of the ministry of reconciliation. Our relationship with God or Truth must be restored; without the truth in our relationships and dealings, we will remain hypocrites and broken. Our relationships one with another must be restored to harmony or Oneness (Ubuntu). Our talk (rhetoric) must be reconciled to a oneness with our actions and cultural identity.
In 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and Isaiah 58, we, as ambassadors of Jesus Christ, have been mandated with this ministry of reconciliation and restoration. Reconciliation is the will of God and we the Church have been appointed and ordained for this great work. Our first responsibility is for each of us to take a position for reconciliation as we confess and repent from the sins that we and our fellow countrymen have committed against God and against each other. When we do this, God will remember us and deliver us.
The Dialogue, Reconciliation and Renewal Process
For the inclusive dialogue process to work, it must be structured and focused with clear objectives. It is also important to figure out a representative system because it is both logistically and practically impossible to bring every citizen directly into the dialogue conference.
To this end, ZiNRA took the initiative to put together a dialogue framework which suggests the key objectives and mechanics of the dialogue process. Further to this, we have gone ahead to suggest the dialogue questions which are focused on foundational issues as directed by the dialogue framework; We have also gone through an originators mock dialogue process and put together a first draft of the dialogue resolutions. The final resolutions shall inform the basis of a negotiated settlement with the government of the day at the end of the dialogue process.
All these three documents are available for further scrutiny and input by well-meaning citizens and delegates from across-the-board within organised cluster groups or as individuals. We all have a duty to God and the nation of Zimbabwe to engage and participate in this dialogue process towards the national reconciliation and renewal of our nation.
We therefore humbly ask that we all engage, participate and do our very best.
Concluding Remarks
This reconciliation campaign provides us an opportunity as a nation to seek and acknowledge the truth of our reality and take collective responsibility as we repent from the wickedness of greed, corruption, deception and fragmentation. There is need for us to stand before the mirror and be brutally honest as we confront the domestic vices that have broken our society
Now is the time for the citizens of Zimbabwe to put Zimbabwe first above all else; as it is also time for the disciples of Jesus Christ from across church denominations to unite under our saviour and stand up together to do one thing; the ministry of reconciliation, towards national renewal.