In a speech to mark Independence Day commemorated nationally today (Thursday), Tsvangirai, leader of the main Movement for Democratic Change, described Zimbabwe as a “nation of heroic fighters”.
However, he remarked: “The only tragic news is that independence did not come with basic freedoms as we had all assumed.”
He said there was still “a huge deficit when it comes to respect for human dignity and human rights because we take for granted the people’s basic freedoms of assembly, speech and association.”
Over the decades, there have been local and international complaints over what observers say is repressive rule by President Robert Mugabe and his party.
The formation of the Government of National Unity in early 2009 bringing together the two Movement for Democratic Movement formations and Zanu (PF), critics say, has failed to end human rights abuses.
“Independence must come with freedoms if it is to have total meaning to all of us, which is why some of us were party to the formation of a post-liberation political movement to complete the unfinished business of the liberation struggle,” added Tsvangirai whose party was formed in 1999.
In the statement, he hailed the endorsement of a constitutional draft in a referendum held on 16 March.
The new constitution expected to become the new supreme, replacing the Lancaster House charter of 1979 that has been amended 19 times, “will go a long way in addressing the absence of basic freedoms and the deficit of good governance we have endured over the past three decades,” said Tsvangirai.
“Today we celebrate this Independence Day with much happiness, knowing fully well that we now have an expanded bill of rights, the women have been empowered and never again will we have a national leadership that is not restricted by term limits!” he added.
Ahead of a harmonised poll expected in the second half of this year, Tsvangirai urged people to register as voters as a way of participating in shaping a democratic Zimbabwe.
Post published in: News