ABSTRACT
The healing and reconciliation are understood to be processes that will address the various historical wounds, memories of social hurting, and conflicts that date back from pre-colonial ethnic encounters. Africans had limited choice in constructing the character of the nation-state which is expected to solve social, political, and economic challenges that have accumulated since time immemorial. This chapter argues that issues of social cohesion in Africa must rely essentially on African local moral and spiritual resources and authentic appropriation of other relevant resources emanating from global solidarities. In the context of Zimbabwe, most analysts have focused on healing and reconciliation emanating from issues of local conflicts and confrontations. Recognition that Zimbabwe, as a nation-state, is a social and political experiment that is aimed at enhancing the dignity of all its people and searching for the common good. The social imaginary may not necessarily be self-conscious but it is expressed in the stories, images, and legends expressed by ordinary people.
