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NKAYI – Three hundred die-hard opposition supporters had gathered beneath the shade of a msasa tree, dancing and singing songs of how President Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zanu (PF) party had ruined their country.
In their midst a man speaking in the vernacular Ndebele called out the political slogans of Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change. “UMugabe phezulu (Hoist Mugabe in the air)”, he asked, as the supporters on cue lifted both their hands as if they were carrying a human body. “UMugabe phezulu”, the man thundered again. “M’tshayeleni phansi (Crush him on the hard rock)”, the cheerleader shouted. “Bwaa!” came the reply.
It is at political rallies such as this one last month at the Nesikwe Business Centre in the dirt-poor Nkayi rural district in southern Zimbabwe that the MDC hopes to garner enough support to topple Zanu (PF) and President Mugabe in the elections due March this year.
Until recently, the rural areas of Zimbabwe were Mugabe’s unchallenged stronghold, but the country’s growing economic crisis has rapidly eroded that support.
Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, is working hard to build up his party’s base in such rural areas despite a campaign of intimidation and violence by Zanu (PF) activists.
Tsvangirai knows the inherent risk of making forays into these rural areas, where in 2000 he lost two of his loyal lieutenants, Tichaona Chiminya and Talent Mabika, who were clobbered and later burnt to death in a petrol bomb attack as they drove out of rural Murambinda after a rally.
Matabeleland is a known MDC stronghold. It is taking his campaigns into the heartlands of Mashonaland that is an uphill task.
“Fear keeps people away from rallies in these areas,” he says. “Rural Mashonaland has been the focus of Zanu (PF)’s intimidation campaign. All of our actions are now intended to ensure that people have no fear of attending our rallies. But I am confident this will not affect the election result. The groundswell of discontent is too great for Mugabe to handle.”
The climate of fear created by Zanu (PF) has meant that all MDC rallies require protection by police armed with assault rifles and tear-gas canisters and strict security from the MDC’s own security personnel.
But those brave enough to make public their MDC allegiance was not to be put off. Wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan, “Morgan Ndizvo”, “A New Zimbabwe, A New Beginning,” the crowd in Nkayi clapped and sang. The chorus of their favourite song translates as: “The old people of Zanu have destroyed my country and my home.”
Along the road to and from Nkayi the MDC convoy was greeted by many locals with the MDC salute – palm open, fingers spread – which indicates peace and says: “I hold no danger, I have nothing to hide.”
Throughout Nkayi district, which has suffered great economic hardship over the past eight years, most people who would talk said they felt it was time for political change. And 2008 was the decisive year.