The ManicaPost
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
MANICALAND is yet to record a major case of politically motivated violence in all its seven districts, a month before the August 23 harmonised elections, in a commendable show of political maturity and tolerance.
Zimbabwe goes to the polls on August 23 to elect the Head of State, Members of the House of Assembly and local authorities councillors.
In an interview, National Peace and Reconciliation Commission chairman for Manicaland Provincial Peace Committee, Dr Golden Chekenyere said no major incidences of political conflicts have been recorded in the province so far.
“Overall, Manicaland remains a peaceful province. During our Voter Peace Education Drive from June 19 to June 26, our messages to voters were messages of peace. They were messages of non-violence before, during and after the elections as well as avoidance of the use of hate speech by political candidates was emphasised,” he said.
NPRC reached out to all corners of Manicaland in an effort to promote a peaceful election season.
“From our recent engagements, we are happy to say NPRC conducted key stakeholders’ strategic engagements at provincial and district levels in order to scale-up peace building and conflict prevention in Manicaland.
“The NPRC team engaged provincial stakeholders, District Development Coordinators for Mutare, Nyanga, Chimanimanai and Chipinge, law enforcement agents, traditional leaders like Chiefs Marange and Zimunya and some of their headmen,” he said.
The presence of improved communication gadgets and media was an added advantage to NPRC’s efforts.
He said: “We were fortunate that all media houses, including community radio stations, afforded us radio interviews. The community radio stations helped the Commission widen its reach to communities who are sometimes hard to reach for various reasons.”
Dr Chekenyere added that the Commission also engaged other key stakeholders such as Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and development partners in spreading the message of peace before, during and after the upcoming harmonised elections.
The NPRC leader in Manicaland said the peaceful environment in the province and beyond is also a product of the emphasis of peace by President Mnangagwa.
“President Mnangagwa has been preaching peace, national unity and national cohesion since November 2017. President Mnangagwa continues to preach peace before, during and after the elections.
“Our view is that because of the message from our President as buttressed by NPRC in its Voter Peace Education, Manicaland Province and indeed our country at large has remained peaceful.
“We will continue to preach the message to communities for them to vote peacefully. Let us shun conflict and violence before, during and after the harmonised elections.
“Let us remain united as Zimbabweans and peace is the basis of our country’s development because without peace there cannot be development,” said Dr Chekenyere.
