Masakhaneni Projects Trust

Dear Colleagues

The National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) had yet another false start. And once again for reasons beyond the jurisdiction of the NPRC commissioners who unfortunately had to personally bear the wrath and even foul language bordering on hate speech from rowdy youths in Bulawayo and Lupane. Actually, no public engagement was done in either of the two Matabeleland provinces. Ironically, it is Matabeleland North communities that have perhaps suffered the worst conflict and trauma before and after independence! As Masakhaneni Projects Trust we intimately follow the work around the NPRC not just as observers but as interested stakeholders in conflict management and community healing. Read more

Greetings to you all

Just a day before the conclusion of the BVR blitz, on the 8^th of February a team from Masakhaneni Projects Trust with officials from ZEC held its own awareness raising and wooing residents at Blanket mine near Gwanda to register to vote. Actually, just on that day our teams were able to get 147 people registered. MPT held a number of activities ranging from sporting and distribution of informative and educational material as well as a road show to mobilize citizens to register to vote. There was lots of fanfare at Blanket mine with residents keen to receive campaign material like hats and T-Shirts but above all receiving information on the importance of registering to vote. Read more

A new season’s greetings,

In my welcome to you all in 2018 I sincerely praise the Almighty who saw us all through to this time.

As Masakhaneni Projects Trust (MPT) we start our work in 2018 with renewed energy and vigour. We feel privileged to participate in communities’ efforts towards local development and improved livelihoods on the one hand while on the other enhancing community-based strategies on conflict transformation and peace building. As we serve communities we work with we have come face to face with evidence of 37 years of destruction; betrayed dreams and callous disregard for the well-being of citizens. Some of our communities survive under appalling poverty and eking a living on less than a dollar a day. Read more

Dear fellow citizens

What an end to 2017!!! The otherwise seemingly uneventful year politically has at the eleventh hour literally witnessed a political earthquake. As families and communities we enter the festive season with a sense of guarded hope and renewal. Without seeming to condone military overreaching in political affairs, more so, internal party succession issues the result was hugely welcomed by many Zimbabweans. I would suspect that part of the excitement was just to see some too familiar faces exiting the political stage. Is it in our nature as human beings to appreciate change for its own sake? I am in no way underestimating some of the serious issues that this country has to address; issues which were topical in the pursuit of ‘Operation Restore Legacy’. An operation that raises its own problems regards the need to deal with the past. Read more

A warm greeting

The month of October came and went apparently uneventful. In all honesty, I should confess my personal deep agony and torment about the progress or better still, lack of progress in the much touted Biometric Voter Registration exercise. My anxiety is not necessarily on the efficacy of the process which has received widely publicized misgivings from organized civil society and other electoral stakeholders like political parties or on the perceived partiality by our supposedly independent Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). All that is now the least of my worries, but, poor turnout by the three Matabeleland provinces is indeed a cause for concern. Read more

Greetings to you all

We had a very busy month of September with a number of activities, especially outreach programmes with rural communities in Matobo and Gwanda. October is already proving to be even busier as Masakhaneni Projects Trust (MPT) continues with community work through its premier projects, namely: Promoting Sustainable Peace through Improved Resilience and Secured Livelihoods, Enhancing the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in Zimbabwe and Improving Participation of Women and Youth in decision Making Structures through Livelihoods. The successful implementation of all these programmes depends on the collaboration and effort of the respective communities. Local community stakeholders like councillors and traditional leaders have been very helpful indeed. Our utmost gratitude is reserved for them and of course a pat at the back to the MPT team of dedicated staff who in most cases perform their duties with exceptional dedication. Read more