The Movement for Democratic Change
----- Original Message -----
From: Barbara Goss
Sent: Saturday, March 25, 2000 5:47 AM
It is not often that I obey instuctions to " forward something to
everyone..." but perhaps you can help in some way .....
Barbara
Subject: [rhodesia] FW: ZIMBABWE FACES COLLAPSE - PLEASE FORWARD
TO ALL
CONTACTS OUTSIDE ZIM
ZIMBABWE FACES COLLAPSE.
POLITICAL CHANGE IS THE ONLY HOPE
WELL WISHERS CAN HELP
Zimbabwe is on the brink of a total economic collapse and facing a serious
national crisis. The facts are simple. Twenty years ago Zimbabwe was a
self
sufficient country that could support itself and was a food exporting
nation. After twenty years of one party rule, mismanagement, incompetence,
and corruption, by the Government, Zimbabwe is dependent upon foreign aid,
imports food, and is no longer able to sustain the import of it's basic
energy or raw material requirements. Businesses are faced with the
prospect
of closure. The President is actively encouraging the rule of anarchy in
his bid to remain in power.
There is a critical decision to be made and there is only one opportunity
to make the right choice. The choice we face is, do we as a nation take
the
road to dictatorship, anarchy, a collapsed economy, and chaos, or do we as
a nation follow the road to a new democratic government that has
credibility, integrity, with the desire to, and a viable chance of,
uniting
it's people of all races in restoring democracy, prosperity and security
to
it's economy.
The country's ageing president seems not to understand or care. The
Zimbabwe dollar, on a par with Sterling twenty years ago, now has an
exchange rate of 63 dollars to one pound, and will soon be worth even less
- not even a UK penny or US cent.
Everywhere desperate people queue for petrol or diesel, and struggle
against the burden of inflation to meet their most basic personal needs.
Real poverty is at an all time high - 80% of the population is unemployed.
With a very serious shortage of foreign currency more and more businesses
are being forced to either retrench or close down altogether, creating an
even higher level of unemployment. There is a corresponding increase in
the
breakdown of personal security as people without a source of income are
forced to steal in order to survive. What was once billed as a possible
jewel of Africa is rapidly becoming the latest catastrophe in the history
of Africa.
With general elections due at the end of April, the public hope for
winning
the election and creating the hope that all Zimbabweans will have a better
future is centred on the leadership of one and only one man - Morgan
Tsvangirayi, a straight talking realist and passionate democrat.
Until recently, the head of the country's trade union movement, Morgan
watched the relentless slide to economic chaos with ever growing concern.
With prices rising so fast that workers standards of living were
plummeting, he launched a new political party in September last year - The
Movement for Democratic Change. Already it has met with considerable
popular approval and success.
Morgan Tsvangirayi is creating hope, to the extent that the leaders and
decision makers of Commerce, Farming, Finance, and Industry are queuing to
meet the person that many are now predicting as the future leader of the
nation. People are giving up their jobs and risking all they have in order
to campaign for his cause, such is their faith and belief in the need for
positive change, and Morgan Tsvangirayi's ability to bring it about. Many
believe that this is our best and last chance to bring about meaningful
change of twenty years of one party rule.
Morgan Tsvangirayi has captivated audiences and converted people from all
races and walks of life, both urban and rural, to support him to the
extent
of actively uniting and campaigning for him. Such is the powerful
difference between the government controlled media image of Morgan
Tsvangirayi as a trade union leader, and the man in person discussing his
vision of the future for our nation.
Morgan Tsvangirayi has created a new ray of hope that the future of
Zimbabwe can change and become the nation that all Zimbabweans desire to
live in, where people of all races can live in harmony and work for one
common goal, peace, security and prosperity for all.
Mugabe's party is ZANU (PF). In twenty years of power it has created a
monolithic structure totally insulated from the real world and impervious
to criticism and reform. At times of economic crisis it's answer has been
to blame the white population and deprive them of their land, and spend
lavishly on unproductive causes. The bloated civil service is so unwieldy
that even the development projects proposed are held up for months and
years by red tape.
Corruption is the order of the day. Government ministers and their
families
have acquired wealth of an order not seen since Mobutu's hay day.
Benefactors like the IMF and World Bank have withdrawn their support
because Mugabe resolutely refuses to introduce the measures they know to
be
necessary for the country to prosper.
So how realistic is it to have any hope at all? When Government called a
Referendum to push through a new constitution during February, Morgan and
the Movement for Democratic Change campaigned vigorously against it and
won
the day. This has given the people confidence and hope that the MDC could
win at the coming general elections.
Nobody expects Mugabe to give up without a struggle. Already he has
enlisted the aid of large numbers of unemployed people who describe
themselves as "Veterans" of the war of Independence during the sixties and
seventies. He has encouraged them openly to "Invade" white owned
commercial
farms in the name of forcing land reform. Within two weeks over 380 farms
have been occupied and production brought to a standstill. Billions of
dollars have been lost as crops rot in the fields or barns. In any other
country this illegal activity would be stopped by the police. In Zimbabwe
Mugabe has ordered the Police to do nothing. He believes the land grab
will
prove popular with the people and thus earn him their votes. But after
twenty years of many broken promises, many will not be fooled.
It is against this background that the MDC provides the only hope for
Zimbabwe. In six months the party has developed a national infrastructure
and plans to contest every seat in the forthcoming elections. In addition
to make sure that the polls are not easily rigged, the MDC plans to have
at
least three of it's own scrutineers and observers at every polling
station.
There are likely to be over 5000 polling stations around the country. The
need now is to find and train 15,000 people in a very short space of time.
This exercise alone will be almost prohibitively expensive for the new
party, but it recognises that the prevention of rigging is the sine qua
non. If peaceful democratic change is not possible the eventual
alternative
will be violent change by desperate and hungry people.
Morgan Tsvangirayi's and his party, the Movement for Democratic Change,
desperately requires support in any amount, shape or form that people are
willing or able to offer, in order to be capable of campaigning
effectively
for the opportunity to restore Zimbabwe to a nation that is self
sufficient
and governed in a democratic transparent manner.
If Zimbabwe is to make the change from the accelerating downward economic
spiral that we are presently locked into, we need every bit of support
that
we can obtain. We are campaigning in an environment where the government
controls and abuses the national media. The government has allocated and
uses vast amounts of public funds and resources for it's campaign for
re-election, while providing no resources to opposition parties. Where in
a
democratic society opposition views can be expressed freely in the
national
media, in Zimbabwe the state controls and runs the main newspapers,
Television and Radio broadcasts. There is only one independent daily
newspaper in one city.
In order to curtail the use of the Internet and e-mail as means of mass
communications the government is rushing a bill through parliament which
will give the President power to control communications. Satellite TV
reception is also under threat. The aim is obvious.
In order to bring about change we have to be able to elect a credible
government that has integrity, transparency and will keep it's promises.
This is important if we are to regain the trust and respect of the
international community and foreign investors, and thereby be given the
chance to re-build our economy. Without this Zimbabwe is doomed to
economic
chaos.
Morgan Tsvangirayi has stated publicly that his government's ministers
will
consult and take note of the views of the sector for which they are
responsible. The intention is that each minister will have an advisory
committee drawn from the decision makers of sector that the minister
controls. This is in stark contrast to the present government's attitude,
where ministers fail to attend parliament and will not discuss matters of
concern with the private sector. To date the party has demonstrated a
willingness to seek and listen to professional advice.
Zimbabwe has a population which wants to work productively, but is unable
to do so because of mismanagement by the present government. Zimbabwe is
rich in resources, but we have to create the environment that will
facilitate the opportunity to utilise our resources and create prosperity.
This will only come about if we are able to elect a democratic government
that welcomes participation in running the affairs of the nation by it's
people. We need a government that will enable and create a conducive
environment that will encourage investment which in turn will create
employment.
Trust accounts controlled by accountants at Price Waterhouse have been
established to ensure that donations are spent upon election campaign
costs. Zimbabweans are donating to these accounts according to their
ability. We would like to ask that you help support the change to
democracy
in Zimbabwe by making a donation according to your ability to the trust
accounts. Your donation no matter how small will help make a difference
and
will be greatly appreciated by all Zimbabweans wanting to change to a
democratic way of life.
Every penny, every cent, and every dollar or pound from well wishers
around
the world will help Zimbabwe back to true democracy with a healthy economy
As Zimbabweans we are confident that we can bring about positive
constructive change as long as we are able to command the resources
required to run an effective election campaign.
Should you require more information, please do not hesitate to contact any
of the following addresses. The Web Site contains the Party Manifesto and
other useful information.
Phone MDC Support 263 4 367 151 /2 /3
E-Mail MDC support@mdc.co.zw
Web Site http://www.mdc.co.zw/
Please pass this message on and campaign on our behalf that your
government
and the international community will support positive constructive
democratic change in Zimbabwe. We are going to need urgent help after the
elections to prevent another economic disaster. Time is very short and the
situation is very serious.
Thank you for your time and interest. I would like to take this
opportunity
to thank you for any assistance that you are able to provide. Your
assistance will be greatly appreciated by the people of Zimbabwe.
Yours faithfully
David Mills
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