Back to Index

MDC statement on Obama's victory
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
November 05, 2008

Barrack Obama has been elected the 44th President of the United States of America. We congratulate Obama, his family, his campaign staff and indeed the whole of America.

To us, Obama's victory is a victory of hope, faith, change, a restart, values and dreams which have underpinned our fight as a movement against dictatorship and the neo-fascism of Robert Mugabe.

Obama's victory will hopefully usher in a departure from the politics of polarization, fear, unilateralism and arrogance that has defined the Bush doctrine in the last eight years. Indeed, we hope that Obama will open new avenues of dialogue of new interaction based on respect of all countries irrespective of the size of national budgets or the number of fighter jets owned.

We also associate ourselves with the clear messages "to those who would tear this world down", and to those "who seek peace and security. Quite clearly, a full-stop has to be put to the years of plunder, dictatorship and corruption, civil wars, patronage and clientelism that has characterized many failed states particularly on the African continent.

We are mindful of the difficulties that lie ahead in Obama's path and the fact that this is no El Dorado, a construct that Obama himself acknowledges in his acceptance speech. Indeed it is a task that may take more than his two terms of office. Perhaps the greatest thing we have learnt from this victory is that democracy can work and that there is no alternative to the same.

John MacCain's speech was particularly humbling, instructive and inspiring. If in Africa, incumbents would accept defeat and would graciously depart from the seat of power, this would be a different continent, and indeed Zimbabwe would be a different place.

For those of us who are still in the trenches, fighting for change and democracy across the entire African continent, this is our victory.

One which for now we will savour and celebrate.

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