THE National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (Nango) on Wednesday conducted training of its members in the Midlands province aimed at imparting skills to end existing regional conflicts.
By Brenna Matendere
The Midlands province has been dogged by conflict, which includes the 1980s Gukurahundi disturbances, which the government and other independent bodies have been trying to resolve over the years with little success.
Political violence, rifts between local authorities and vendors and the stand-off between non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the police over public gatherings haunt the city.
Gweru City Council and residents have also been haggling over the rates billing system, which could see pre-paid water meters being introduced.
There is also a fight between farmers and miners on land rights as well as the menace of MaShurugwi.
Nango central region co-ordinator Titos Mangoma told NewsDay on the sidelines of the Gweru workshop, that his organisation strived to ensure that all NGOs in the Midlands have personnel trained to deal with cases of conflict.
“The training was basically on conflict prevention, management, resolution and transformation. The training sought to capacitate civil society organisations and other stakeholders to understand their role in promoting peace through utilising various peacemaking mechanisms which prevent, manage, resolve and transform all forms of conflict,” he said.
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“The key outcomes of the meeting were geared towards the development of a framework which encompasses early detection systems of conflict and strengthening various peace building mechanisms. There are several cases of conflicts which came up in the meeting and we resolved on how to tackle them one by one as NGOs.”
Some of the NGOs which took part in the training include Zimbabwe Christian Alliance, Childline, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, Women Coalition of Zimbabwe and residents’ associations. Mangoma urged the NGOs to go into communities and try to end existing conflicts.
“The issue of MaShurugwi who are terrorising people also came out in the meeting and we agreed on how to try and solve the conflict. There was also the issue of violation of children’s rights that is a conflict case in communities; as well as land rights fights between farmers and miners. We set out the tone for ending some of these conflicts and several others that are already known at the national level,” he said.
