Why I will vote for MDC

I hate to see elderly women struggling to make ends meet and having to travel to and from South Africa in order to make a living. I don’t like it when I see kombi drivers being harassed by the police who they must try to dodge every day so that they can make a reasonable living.

I am disgusted when I have to listen to Zanu (PF) ministers prescribing to us as if they alone have the solutions for our future. I detest it when I see them driving in their gas guzzling 4×4’s, pretending that everything is alright and that they are entitled to live off our taxes without doing any work of value for us. And it is just outrageous that they now want golden handshakes for the damage they have done to our country.

When I see pensioners going into town to collect a paltry $60 a month, or when I see educated youth wondering about town with nothing to do, it reminds me of my responsibility to change our circumstances. I loathe it when people pretend that things are okay – because they could and should be much better.

When I have to continually avoid potholes in our roads, which we now take as normal, or when power goes off without notice and yet the bills keep coming. When I smell the toxic fumes of paraffin as mothers in the townships try to feed their families, I know that something is awfully amiss.

When a family of five must live in one room as lodgers and are continually harassed by the landlord for rent. When taps run with unsafe drinking water and I see lines of young girls carrying buckets of water on their heads, I know that things must change.

I cannot stand looking at the long queues at our banks on payday as people try to get out the little that they earn, nor the endless queues of commuters as they struggle to get home after a hard day’s work. They must labour for wages under the poverty datum line – that is if they get paid on time at all. Packed in kombis like sardines, they risk their lives every day; I know they deserve better.

I am tired of seeing rag tag young girls with malnourished kids on their backs, wondering where the next meal will come from. When I hear that so many mothers are dying of cervical cancer, TB and treatable diseases, I know who is killing them; it is the incompetence, arrogance and dishonesty of Zanu (PF). When people die at home because they can’t afford an ambulance or a doctor, it pains me. When clinics have no medicines, power or running water and yet we spend millions to fund frivolous projects and functions like beauty pageants, it infuriates me.

I do not accept that we have deployed our best brains into politics and government yet. I know that Zimbabwe can be much more than Zanu (PF) can ever imagine, and yet they do not even have any shame about what they have done to our country. The mind-boggling theft of our resources and public funds by our politicians cannot be forgiven. We shall remember them not for their sacrifices or talents, but for their selfishness, greed, cruelty, vanity and utter foolishness.

I hate it when I see vast tracts of arable land lying idle and yet we cannot even feed ourselves. I know that Zimbabwe has serious dormant talent in agriculture that needs to be applied to the benefit of all and yet, because of political egos, we must all suffer.

Regardless of what you may think, we owe Morgan Tsvangirai and all activists who dare to challenge the status quo our respect and gratitude. They have faced personal torment and pain for our sake. This also applies to our honorable war veterans, who sit forgotten and despised despite risking their lives for our freedom. The difference between us and them is that they took personal responsibility and risk to change our circumstances. Of course, it is very easy to criticize and point out what’s wrong with everything. We have many “experts” out there, who comment on the problems and then sit back and do nothing about it. We must ignore them.

The MDC and our activists have made have been architects of a new momentum towards democracy and justice in Zimbabwe. It will be up to you and me to participate and make that democracy a reality. Zimbabwe must never be the same again because some good men and women decided to do what most of us were scared to even consider.

Yes, I will vote for the MDC so that we may start a new chapter of rebuilding our country. We must give hope to the millions of my brothers and sisters out there who surely deserve a better shot at life. At the same time we must unashamedly let Zanu (PF) know they have failed us and do not deserve to preside over our great nation. That is the least that we can do. – Join the debate. Send your comments to: vtmusewe@gmail.com