Members of the Standing Committee and National Executive, party leaders and officials, members of Harare Province, mayors and councilors, Ministers and members of Parliament, Members of the Diplomatic Corp, Invited Guests, comrades and friends,
I wish to start today’s events with a minute of silence to mark the passing of our National Hero, Gibson Sibanda. Thank you.
Comrades and Friends, today we are gathered here to launch the MDC’s new, real change party card. This historic step would not have come about without the work, comradeship and commitment of people like Gibson Sibanda.
He epitomised the characteristics of a true hero of Zimbabwe. His entire life was spent in serving the people of Zimbabwe, in working courageously and relentlessly to build a new Zimbabwe – a free Zimbabwe, a democratic Zimbabwe where each citizen has the right to live free from fear, poverty and hunger.
It is because of people like Gibson and the many other thousands of Zimbabweans that share his vision and the vision of the MDC that the party continues to strive to be a Party of Excellence.
In being a Party of Excellence, we must always put the people first, shun corruption and nepotism and never lose sight of the founding ideals of the Party, born out of the National Working People’s Convention in 1999.
As a post-liberation party, the MDC was born to protect, promote and fulfill the true ideals of the liberation struggle and we represent the natural successor to the continuing struggle to build the type of nation our heroes sacrificed so much to achieve.
The MDC today stands true to those ideals and the ideals articulated in our first manifesto written 11 years ago.
Namely:
• The MDC stands for the supremacy of the nation and its peoples over partisan or individual interests.
• The MDC rejects systems that prioritise defence of leadership interests over defense of people’s interests.
• The MDC stands for a people’s constitution prepared in a democratic, broad-based and participatory process that recognizes equality of opportunity and treatment of all Zimbabweans.
• The MDC stands for social democratic, equitable, human-centred development policies, pursued in an environment of political pluralism, participatory democracy and accountable and transparent governance.
• The MDC aims to build a united, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society.
• The policies of the MDC aim to build sustainable, equitable, long-term and stable growth in our economy from household to national level, through investing in and developing the capabilities and opportunities of our people, our national resources and infrastructures.
Comrades and Friends, the launch of our new real change card today is the next step by the Party of Excellence on the journey to building a prosperous, peaceful and democratic society.
It is the master card to real change.
It represents a qualitative leap in the capacity of the MDC to organise and mobilise to deliver real, positive change to the people.
It presents the opportunity for the majority of Zimbabweans who aspire to such a society to become shareholders in this national project. By obtaining this new party card, we will all be able to contribute to ensuring that the MDC has the resources and support to deliver real change to the people.
It is a reality that in order to achieve this real change we need to raise more money, to provide more support, better services and greater accountability to all our members. It is for this reason that we ask all Zimbabweans to invest with us in our vision of a new Zimbabwe by purchasing and owning the real change card.
Comrades and Friends, I recently heard the current inclusive Government described as purgatory – because we cannot tell whether it will lead to a new heaven, a new Zimbabwe or plunge us back into the hell of oppression and poverty that we have experienced over the past decade.
Indeed, the reluctance by some to abide by the commitments to which they had agreed in September 2008 threatens the future of our great nation.
Such an attitude threatens the legacy of our war of liberation which was waged to empower each and every citizen, to provide all of us with the privileges and protections which are our inalienable right.
Therefore, the only way forward is for all signatories to the GPA to abide by the agreement that we signed. Continued failure to fully implement the GPA betrays the trust and the hope the people placed in this inclusive Government.
The issue of Provincial Governors is a prime example of this. The formula for the allocation of the Governors was agreed by the negotiators based on the results of the election. It is for this reason that the MDC was awarded five Governors as a reflection of our mandate from the people.
To then artificially link the allocation of Governors to the issue of restrictive measures is a blatant attempt to undermine the GPA, the inclusive Government and the will of the people.
Similarly, desperate calls to link future elections to the issue of restrictive measures is another attempt to avoid the commitments in the GPA which determines the framework for such elections. This is in line with SADC’s recent resolution to produce a definitive roadmap to these elections as a clear exit strategy to the Zimbabwe crisis.
Elections are inevitable, as any transitional process can only ever be temporary. Therefore we must commit ourselves to driving through the administrative and logistical changes that will ensure that the next elections are free, fair, legitimate and credible.
Comrades and Friends, the sad fact is that those that are trying to prevent progress have nothing to fear from it. The society that we are striving to build will ensure that every citizen is afforded protection by the law and lives free from fear of persecution and intimidation.
The other reality is that it is futile to try and oppose, delay or obstruct the will of the people. The past 11 years have shown that regardless of the challenges and obstacles that must be overcome in the struggle for freedom and democracy, no weapon is stronger than the will of the people united in the quest for peaceful change.
It is for this reason that I am convinced that while this current political dispensation may be viewed as a type of purgatory, it will inevitably lead to a new heaven for the people of Zimbabwe.
A heaven that allows all of us to feed our families, educate our children and care for our loved ones in a peaceful, prosperous environment.
Comrades and Friends, we will build a nation where our relationship with our fellow citizens is built upon respect. Respect for our choices, respect for our lifestyles and respect for our inalienable rights as global citizens.
We will work towards a society where we are united by our identity as Zimbabweans, but where we are also united in our ability to respect our individual differences under that title. No one has the right to define exactly what is meant by sovereignty, or who is more patriotic or more deserving of access to our nation’s riches and resources.
Where we all have equal access to our nation’s wealth and the protection of our laws based on a deep and abiding tolerance for our differences as much as a deep and abiding affection for our similarities.
As the next step on this journey to our new Zimbabwe it therefore gives me great pleasure to launch the MDC’s new real change card and to purchase the first one.
I call upon all Zimbabweans to join me as members of the winning team.
Join me in the real change team as we build the new Zimbabwe.
Together we will reconnect with the founding spirit, values and principles of our great movement; this mammoth movement that has over the years shown great fortitude in living true to its founding mission and vision.
Together we will march towards a new society underpinned by our respect of the supremacy of the nation and its people over narrow, partisan and individual interests.
Together we will consolidate the people’s party and galvanise everyone in the villages and the urban townships to continue the brave march towards real change.
Let us remain together, united, winning and ready for real change.
I thank you.
* The Zimbabwean
