Harare — THE inter-party Global Political Agreement, signed between Zanu-PF and the two MDC formations on September 15 last year, envisaged a process of healing the wounds spawned by the political acrimony of the past decade.

To this end, three Ministers of State in the inclusive Government were tasked with setting up an Organ for National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration. The organ is not a ministry but an independent body. It is envisaged that the process will exact a lot of effort not only on the political leadership, who provide guidance, but also on the leadership at local level.

MDC-T provided a 66-year-old mama, Sekai Holland, Zanu-PF seconded John Landa Nkomo while MDC appointed Gibson Sibanda.

The appointment of these three ministers demonstrated President Mugabe's commitment to finding common ground with MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC leader Arthur Mutambara from which to move forward but there is lack of congruency between that initial vision and what is obtaining on the ground.

Probably in nominating Sekai Holland, ostensibly the oldest among the MDC-T's youthful ministers, Mr Tsvangirai thought he was placing her where her presumed wisdom thought to have come with her age would probably bring together a nation deeply divided by Western interference.

As a Minister of State, Holland is charged with spearheading a campaign to promote reconciliation, national healing, non-violence and peace among all Zimbabweans.

Having gone to Sydney, Australia, in 1961 where she finally met, fell in love and married Jim Holland an Australian engineer in 1964, it is assumed Holland could have a better understanding of different cultures.

After independence, Sekai Holland and her family returned to Zimbabwe where her husband faced deportation under legislation inherited from the previous colonial government. It was through the considerations made by the Zanu-PF Government that was now in power that Sekai's Holland husband was allowed to stay in the country.

Sekai was instrumental in the launch of the MDC on September 11, 1999 leading to her election to the MDC national executive where she was appointed secretary for international affairs. The advent of the inclusive Government in February saw Sekai assume her current ministerial post.

The question is, is Minister Sekai Holland capable of bringing about national healing and reconciliation? Or maybe the question should be: Is she the right candidate for that portfolio given the disconnect between her age and puerile utterances?

Media reports recently quoted Sekai Holland insulting the Ndebele people, descendants of King Mzilikazi, a cattle rustler and brigand.

History tells us that in the pre-colonial halcyon days the Ndebeles did indeed raid the Shona tribes, driving off with their cattle, agricultural produce, beautiful women and strong young men.

Those were the days of tribal clashes where even among the Shona different kingdoms raided and plundered from each other. Zimbabweans have since put that down as a footnote in history.

Now, here is a whole minister charged with promoting national healing but who shoots of her mouth in a manner at variance with the objectives of her portfolio. Her tendency to shove her feet in her mouth belies her office.

Why wasn't Sekai Holland similarly inclined where the white component of the MDC-T is concerned, why didn't she call unrepentant characters like Eddie Cross descendants of the murderous brigand, Cecil John Rhodes?

Are loose canons like Mrs Holland what Zimbabwe deserves in leadership at this juncture?

After the formation of the inclusive Government and the subsequent appointment of Mrs Holland and her colleagues to oversee the national healing portfolio, a BBC correspondent, Mike Thompson, surreptitiously sneaked into Zimbabwe to secretly gather information on political developments following the "marriage" between Zanu-PF and the two MDC formations.

During his escapade in the country he met with Sekai Holland who told him that Zimbabwe could be heading for a new wave of violence that will be even worse than what happened in 2008. Obviously she meant the violence would be from Zanu-PF against MDC since she claimed that no one in MDC-T was safe.

Sekai Holland also told Thompson that she and other members of the MDC-T including fellow ministers were receiving death-threatening calls daily.

When the news broke out, Sekai Holland claimed she had been misquoted saying she had given the interview before the formation of the inclusive Government.

The bottom line is MDC-T leaders must stop fanning hate speech and lies through the pirate radio stations and foreign correspondents aimed at prejudicing Zanu-PF. For national healing to occur let's not aggravate old wounds.

In fact, the greatest injury we have suffered are the illegal economic sanctions which constitute economic violence perpetrated against our country by Western imperialists. MDC-T leaders are not promoting healing by continuing to dilly-dally over the issue of sanctions.

When PM Tsvangirai was wrapping up his tour of Europe and the United States on a fund-raising mission for his party not for Government, Thompson interviewed him about Holland's allegations. To save face he dismissed the allegations as paranoid, meaning Holland had a mental disorder that causes delusions. It is worrisome to note that despite insinuating that Sekai Holland is unsuitable for the position, Tsvangirai has not done anything to correct the situation.

Other schools of thought are of the opinion that after the Mzilikazi insult, Tsvangirai could have advised President Mugabe that Sekai Holland be removed from the party list for Cabinet or at least offered an acceptable apology to the Ndebeles. Even Holland herself has no apology for her utterances.

It is not only Sekai Holland who has exhibited irresponsible behaviour. Recently Giles Mutsekwa, the MDC-T legislator for Dangamvura/Chikanga and Co-Mnister of the Ministry of Home Affairs, misinformed a gathering at the 10th MDC-T anniversary in Chipinge that Zanu-PF was given 30 days to resolve outstanding issues by the Sadc Troika in Maputo, Mozambique.

One character in the inclusive Government who appears to be sitting on the fence, Arthur Mutambara, admitted when he addressed his supporters in Mutare early this month that the issue of private radio stations, the MDC-T's parallel government and sanctions must also be considered as outstanding issues of the GPA that need to be resolved.

No one party was given an ultimatum by the Troika but all parties to the GPA were told to iron out their differences and clear all outstanding issues including economic sanctions which MDC-T is preferring to call restrictive measures, MDC-T's parallel government and pirate radio stations as mentioned by Mutambara.

The crisis that Zimbabwe went through should be a wake-up call for its people to remember that we are a God-fearing country. As such, people should always remember God when they find themselves faced with problems rather than apportioning blame on political leaders.

In the Bible God would on several occasions punish people with slavery and days in exile when they sinned and forgot the laws of Moses. Let us turn to God and ask for forgiveness because through his name everything is possible.