The successful holding of the Second All-Stakeholders Conference has brought the reality of a referendum on the draft constitution closer. As we all know, it is the referendum that is going to shape the roadmap to elections.
Aspiring office holders from the major political parties have already started jostling to strengthen their chances of being elected in the next elections, whose date, of course, still remains a sticky area despite President Robert Mugabe insisting on March 2013.
As has always been the case in Zimbabwe, those who intend to contest in the next elections are using all the dirty tricks in the book to coerce the suffering voters to their side.
Taking advantage of the poverty and ignorance of many, the aspiring candidates are doling out unapproved and un-serviced housing stands to potential voters. They are handing out farming inputs and promising the electorate all sorts of things. In the more macabre cases, voters are actually getting free but illegal burial space.
What is sad about this is that these are methods the unscrupulous politicians have used for a long time. They come pretending to be concerned about the welfare of especially the poor, but once they get or lose the votes, they withdraw to their comfort zones – cosy nests feathered by corruption and greed.
It is even sadder that the politicians leave the poor electorate in a more vulnerable position. Residents who would have been settled illegally, sometimes after parting with a few dollars, are left to fight on their own when they are evicted.
In most of these cases, they would have moved onto their new land together with their families genuinely believing that their accommodation woes are over. So, when they are evicted, the whole family suffers as they have to start from fresh, looking for new accommodation, school places for the children and new livelihood opportunities. So voters ought to be careful when they are approached by political candidates with material gifts. They ought to assess the candidates thoroughly and carefully look at the implications of the gifts they receive from aspiring office holders.
They have been cheated for too long and, even though the next general elections might still be months away, they should learn from history.
Civil society must also play its part in creating awareness around the dangers that come with those that are campaigning for political office. Similarly, the youths need to take the message to their parents, relatives and friends.
Post published in: Editor: Wilf Mbanga
What is sad is that politicians have played these dirty tricks on the electorate again and again and yet the people never seem to learn. Some of the tricks are not rocket science for Christ sake! The people are being misled into believing this Copac draft is going to lead to free and fair elections, free of violence, for example. Surely the people can see for themselves that the violence is not going away and yet most of them are going to vote yes to the draft!