| |
Back to Index
This article participates on the following special index pages:
2008 harmonised elections - Index of articles
Statement
on the 2008 elections
Murewa Community Trust
April 07, 2008
We are of the view that
the outcome of the harmonized elections reflects the will of the
people despite clear attempts by the ZANU PF government to subvert
the will of the people. The Murewa Community Development Trust,
like all other progressive forces is anxiously waiting for the outcome
of the presidential elections. The people have been taken advantage
of by ZANU PF for a long time. In previous elections, the people
particularly women have been subjected to torture and other cruel
and inhumane treatment, including rape by the youth militia. Teachers
were forced to abandon teaching and go into hiding in the 2000 parliamentary,
2002 presidential and 2005 senatorial elections. In 2000 farmers
and pro-democracy activists were tortured and we fear that violence
will again rear its ugly head in the run-off election between MDC
President, Morgan Tsvangirai and ZANU PF candidate Robert Mugabe.Its
known world over that the war veterans who shot white commercial
farmer, David Stevens are still roaming freely without being made
to account for their actions.
With specific reference to the 29 March elections, we would like
to applaud the people of Murewa who braved intimidation and threats
from youth militia and ruling party vigilante. We however feel that
the violence that was perpetrated on the people of Mashonaland provinces
in the previous elections had an effect on the outcome of the 2008
harmonized elections.We would like to applaud opposition candidates
who participated in the 2008 elections and did so at great personal
risk. We urge the newly elected MPs, notably Hon Ward Nezi (Murewa
West-MDC Tsvangirai), David Parirenyatwa (Murewa North-ZANU PF),
Joel Biggie Matiza (ZANU PF) and the many MDC and ZANU PF councillors
who were elected to represent the people of Murewa to execute their
mandate in a diligent manner and respect the people that they represent.
The Murewa Community Trust will continue with its citizen education
advocacy programmes to allow people to engage with their elected
leaders for accountability purposes.MDCT shall continue organizing
community meetings to remove fear and make the people engaged in
the political process. We shall continue to monitor and advocate
for the political participation of previously marginalised groups
and demand an end of the discrimination of MDC supporters in food
aid schemes as has been the case previously.It is our conviction
that "politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians"
as argued by the French, Charles De Gaulle.
We urge the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to expedite processing
presidential results whose outcome is already known by the tens
of thousands of Zimbabwean people. The people have spoken and to
avoid what happened in Kenya, we urge the ZEC to be professional
in its conduct.We urge ZEC to remain resolute even in face of intimidation
and unjustified arrests of its officers by overzealous and partisan
police.
Phillip Pasirayi
Secretary-General
Murewa Community Development Trust
+263 912962381
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|
