NATIONAL Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) chairperson Bishop Emeritus Ambrose Moyo has said his appointment came as a shock, adding he is still grappling with the “surprise”.
BY NQOBANI NDLOVU
President Robert Mugabe recently appointed Moyo to chair a nine-member NPRC, one of the independent commissions established under Chapter 12 of the new Constitution.
Lilian Chigwedere deputises Moyo in the commission, which also comprises Zanele Chiradza, Choice Ndoro, Netty Musanhu, Charles Masunungure, Geoffrey Chada, Leslie Ncube and Godfrey Chekenyere.
Moyo said he learnt of his appointment in the news, saying he was in the dark over the scope of their work and also about the date for the swearing-in ceremony.
“It came as a shock and surprise. I did not expect it. I am still grappling with it (surprise appointment). I have not been sworn in. I do not know when the swearing-in will take place . . . I am not a commissioner as yet and I don’t think I am able to answer questions relating to the work of the commission,” Moyo told editors attending a conflict prevention, management, resolution and transformation reporting workshop in the capital yesterday.
Moyo, who is also the executive director of the Ecumenical Church Leaders Forum (ECLF), was responding to a question on whether their appointment, three years after the NPRC was supposed to be set up, would affect their work.
NPRC is one of the five independent commissions established by Chapter 12 of the Constitution, but was the only one with a time frame of 10 years from the date that the Constitution was adopted in 2013.
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The commission, whose major functions will include ensuring post-conflict justice, healing and reconciliation, was supposed to become operational in 2013 at the adoption of the new Constitution.
This is despite the fact that Parliament’s Standing Rules and Orders Committee completed interviews for prospective commissioners late last year and submitted the names of shortlisted candidates to Mugabe for appointment.
Despite Mugabe’s recent appointment of the commission, some human rights groups have called on the government to go a step further and set up a secretariat to assist NPRC carry out its work.
Heal Zimbabwe Trust said: “This will enable the NPRC to carry out its constitutional mandate of ensuring post-conflict justice, healing and reconciliation.”
