“By not registering to vote we are choosing to ignore the exceptional effort those at home have made. By not inspecting the voters’ roll we are simply saying the future is in President Robert Mugabe’s hands,” said Kumbirai Muchemwa, MDC SA Information and Publicity Secretary. “Let us refuse any excuses at the Registrar Generals’ offices. It is time to stop enjoying tales of how we were denied what is rightly ours. Let us start telling the stories of how we have achieved and inspire others.”
His sentiments come at a time thousands of Zimbabweans based here are travelling home for Christmas. Zimbabwe is likely to hold elections in 2013 to end a fractious inclusive government that has led the country since 2009.
The voters’ roll, which has been described to be in shambles, is one of a number of contentious issues ahead of the polls. With a diaspora vote unlikely, MDC-T believes Zimbabweans based in South Africa will have a key role in the next poll if they vote back home.
“We need to remember that we lost lives and livelihoods in the past decade. Our children became loafers, our parents became beggars, families were separated, the doors of factories were shut and we were left with barely anything to eat or to wear.
That is the primary reason we are in South Africa. Next year is a crucial year that will decide whether we can start to pack our bags to return to Zimbabwe forever,” Muchemwa said.
Post published in: News