THERE is no doubt in my mind that the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) will continue to witness dwindling attendance figures at its “report back” meetings. By Martin, Our Reader The reasons are attributed to many factors, but it will suffice to mention one or two of them which, regrettably, are of ZHRC’s own making, advertently or inadvertently, or even a combination of both. Not so long ago the commission held a report back meeting in Matabeleland North province. Unfortunately, the attendance was drastically low, rock bottom low in comparison with the previous meeting. Either the low turnout reflected the negligible number of invitations extended to the residents of the province or it was because judging by the previous gathering the people saw no value in the commission’s outreach endeavours. Whatever the case might be is neither here nor there… as people are at liberty to take a position or hold an opinion or both these two at the same time. However, personally I make a diametrically opposite assessment than take a position or hold an opinion. A post-mortem is appropriate, instructive and informative. ZHRC management should know that the people they invite to their gatherings need not to be taken for granted, but seriously as they consciously set aside or reschedule their commitments for the day. They deserve to be rewarded both financially and food-wise. This is the norm worldwide. The invitees are usually leaders of organisations and/or communities and are a vital component of the information and statistical data without which ZHRC work would not be worth the paper it is printed on. It is very disrespectful that after the meeting has ended people wait for food for 2 hours and the meeting itself would have commenced 60 minutes or 90 minutes late. People need to be respected. Personally, I don’t clap my hands because of the status or position of the speaker but because of the content of the speech or contribution. People are not at these gatherings for chiefs. In the end ZHRC audiences will be drawn mainly from traditional leaders and government departments.
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