As the election fever grips the nation, Heal Zimbabwe has taken the #AsOne campaign to diverse classes, groups, and stakeholders under the theme, “Harmony in Diversity”. On the 28^th of April, Heal Zimbabwe took its flagship National Peace Campaign to the Students Movement at the University of Zimbabwe. In a show of political tolerance and peaceful coexistence, leaders of the two dominant student unions, the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) and the Zimbabwe Congress of Student Union (ZICOSU) attended the Students Peace Dialogue at the Students Union Building.

The meeting was attended by a total of 34 student leaders from both unions who have recently had history of violent altercations and hostile exchanges especially during Students Representative Elections. Fifteen of the attendants were from the ZINASU while nineteen were from the ZICOSU. The meeting was also attended by members of the elected Students Representative Council including the President, Allan Chipoyi, Vice President Darlington Chiwa and Secretary General Munashe Masiyiwa.

Speaking during the meeting the chairpersons of both students’ unions highlighted the importance of accepting each other’s political preferences and building relationships across the board to combat the sting of intolerance and hate speech. SRC leaders, who also represented the two Students Unions encouraged students to take the lead in preaching tolerance and peaceful participation in the much-anticipated general election. Heal Zimbabwe representative Tapiwanashe Chiriga spoke at length about the pillars on which the campaign stand: tolerance, peaceful participation and Ubuntu and the underlying theme: Harmony in Diversity. He also addressed how citizens can make use of existing avenues and mechanisms to promote, protect and build peace.

There was consensus at the end of the meeting that students must play a critical role in peacebuilding and conflict mitigation and prevention on campus and in their communities. The #AsOne campaign will be taken to other institutions of higher learning. The campaign seeks to promote peace and political tolerance ahead of the 2023 elections.