Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is expected to declare through a proclamation a weekend or three days of national dedication for the country to celebrate new-found peace and unity, The Herald said on Saturday.

Minister of State responsible for National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration John Nkomo made the remarks when he addressed the Zimbabwe Council of Churches conference on the role of the Church as a reconciler, healer and peace builder in Harare.

He said the proclamation was part of the program of the Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration's activities in the next six months.

"It is further proposed that traditional leaders and faith leaders in Zimbabwe will take the people through a process of dedicating the country according to the various cultures and religious practices of our Zimbabwean people," he said.

Although Nkomo did not give dates of the proclamation, he said the national dedication would be followed by the official launch of the Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration by the principals to the Global Political Agreement.

Thereafter, the organ would embark on provincial and district consultations targeting opinion makers, traditional leaders, faith-based groups, civil society and others concerned with national healing.

Workshops with local, regional and international experts to consider best practices and formulate recommendations for appropriate mechanisms and systems to guide the implementation process would be held.

Nkomo said a stakeholders' conference to define the work of the organ would also be held with members of civil society, political parties, churches and other interest groups.

He said the Church had a critical role to play in the healing and reconciliation process, pointing out the majority of Zimbabweans were Christians.

"I am confident that among these are victims and perpetrators of violence. They listen to sermons and Bible readings. Some are asked to pray. All these are people who need your moral spiritualization and reconciliation," he said.

Nkomo said President Mugabe, PM Tsvangirai and DPM Mutambara were dedicated to steering Zimbabwe to a united and peaceful future.

"They are doing this standing on the principle of the irreversibility of our hard won freedom and peace as well as the irreversibility of the land reform question, the main grievance that under wrote historical and contemporary conflicts in our country," he said.

He challenged the Church to spearhead promotion of the virtues of tolerance, peace, reconciliation, harmony, integration and healing.

Zimbabwe Council of Churches president Bishop Naison Shava said the Church had organized the conference in the belief that it had a role to play.

"We are strategizing our position as the conscience of society. Because of that position, we ought to be actively involved in all issues that affect society and the environment in which we live," he said.

Source:Xinhua