My dear, sexy sub editor, George Moore will have to forgive me this month and most probably even beyond.
When we met briefly in Francistown last week, he complained about me writing a lot about politics of late as if there was nothing else happening.
Well, there could be but most people’s focus this side is fixed firmly on politics, seeing as we only have 12 days to go before August 23 general elections.
The two major political parties are all over the place trying to win the hearts of voters by promising them this and that.
Ruling Zanu-PF is vowing to do things they failed to do in the previous years and yet they expect people to believe that this time around they will perform miracles if voted back into power.
On Tuesday evening, opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) President, Nelson Chamisa launched his party’s manifesto, which was thick with promises, including making Zimbabwe great again if given a chance to lead the country.
But what really grabbed people’s attention this week was the withdrawal of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party from the elections.
Its leader, Douglas Mwonzora announced on Tuesday afternoon that his party will no longer be participating in the elections as they are not free and fair.
This means that for the first time in over 20 years, the once formidable opposition party in the country will not be participating in the elections.
Of course the party was not going to get any significant numbers seeing as it had long lost most of its prominent members to the opposition CCC; but the fact that brand MDC is now officially dead and buried marks the end of an era.
And just when many thought this year elections would not claim any lives, an opposition supporter was stoned to death in Harare last week as he was going to a rally.
It’s incredibly sad that in this day and age we still talk of political violence and lives being lost in the process. One can only hope that as D-Day draws nearer, political supporters will be tolerant of each other – after all, whether we vote Zanu-PF, CCC or whoever, we are all Zimbabweans at the end of the day!
Meanwhile the government has roped in a number of African journalists and Media Personalities from the region to tell the real Zimbabwe stories after their participation in ‘The True Zimbabwe Tour’.
According to government spokesperson, Nick Mangwana, the group is here, “To experience the hospitality of our people and to see for themselves the great work done by the Second republic in the last five years.”
No doubt Zimbabwe is a beautiful country and they will enjoy the hospitality but as for what the republic has done in the last five years, I am not sure what they will be shown that has benefitted the masses because the general feeling is we are worse off than we were during the late Robert Mugabe regime.
