Zimbabwe: Mugabe day insignificant
BY OWN CORRESPONDENT – A new opposition party has expressed dismay at the ‘Mugabe holiday’ to be celebrated next week saying it is not worthy celebrating.
ZDC’s vice-president Beston Mbewe and Thomas Sibanda(black cap)
The Robert Mugabe National Youth Day will be celebrated on Wednesday 21 February a few months after the former president Robert Mugabe was pressured to resign through the intervention of the military under ‘Operation Restore Legacy’.
Speaking to this publication, Zimbabwe Democratic Change(ZDC) vice president Beston Mbewe said their party will not be hoodwinked into believing that the day is about celebrating the youths when in fact it is about hero-worshipping the former ‘dictator’.
“The government want us to believe that the day is about celebrating the youths but the name of the holiday and the day which we know used to be celebrated as the birthday for the former president whom we all know had a bad track records in upholding democracy and human rights,” argued the ZDC vice president.
The party started as a youth movement in 2015 and became a full-fledged political party last year under the stewardship of Josphat Ushewokunze who is a businessman-based in South Africa.
The ZDC vice president who was flanked by secretary general Thomas Sibanda said the youths should be given the space to actively participate in council and parliamentary positions.
The opposition party said it draws most of its membership from people who are living in the Diaspora and it strongly support the Diaspora Vote challenge that is before the constitutional court
It also lamented the partisan reporting on state broadcaster ZBC saying it makes the electoral playing field uneven.
The party which is among the over 75 parties that will participate in the next polls said they it is firmly behind Mnangagwa’s call not to return land to the whites but said there is the need for a transparent land audit and ensure that land is distributed on non-partisan manner.
