Chamisa the only competent person to lead Zimbabwe to a new dawn- Coltart

We never at any time spoke about the need for sanctions. We made it quite clear that we, like all Zimbabweans, want to take the Nation forward, but that the best way of doing that was if whatever government takes power respects our own Zimbabwean laws and Constitution; that more than anything else we will make the country attractive to foreign investors again; that foreign investors can see through mere rhetoric and that the reason the economy has continued to plummet since Mugabe’s removal is because business confidence has not been restored by the new regime.

Our message was well received by all the people we spoke to. Most importantly Nelson Chamisa spoke eloquently and clearly about everything I have written about above, demonstrating that despite his relative youth he has the capacity to lead a new government well. At the end of our meeting with Boris Johnson he said how impressed he was by Nelson Chamisa. Inevitably there have been detractors, mainly from people who are now in the employ of the Mnangagwa regime or who write for the propaganda rags such as the Herald and the Chronicle. Nelson Chamisa was given a grilling on Hardtalk, as was to be expected. No doubt he has learned from the experience and he is a quick learner. Having done Hardtalk twice myself I know how demanding it is and I respect that he was prepared to go into the firing line – something his principal opponent in this election appears not prepared to do.

It is important to remember that Nelson Chamisa has known nothing else other than the crazy political environment which has existed in this country since he entered politics in September 1999. Ever since he was 3 years old Mnangagwa has held some type of office, during which time Zimbabwe has been plundered and devastated. He has been detained, beaten up and left for dead at Harare airport. He has had leadership thrust on him by his own National Executive following the untimely death of Morgan Tsvangirai, who clearly demonstrated his own faith in him before his death.

The amount of abuse being directed his way shows how much of a threat he poses to a de facto military regime which has a long and bloody history of murdering, torturing and brutalising its opponents. Despite all of this he is bravely campaigning and at the core of his message is non violence. He is the only leader campaigning country wide at present drawing thousands of people to his rallies in both rural and urban areas. Of course Nelson Chamisa has faults. All of us do. Of course he has made mistakes in some of his pronouncements – all of us have done so in our own political careers. None of is perfect – but at this moment in our history we cannot let perfection be the enemy of the good.

Notwithstanding these human flaws and the quality of some of the other Presidential candidates, Chamisa is the only competent person who realistically stands between ongoing de facto military rule and a new dawn for Zimbabwe. Everything else is simply pie in the sky. That is the harsh reality all those who dream of a new vibrant, tolerant and free Zimbabwe need to confront.

Senator David Coltart
Bulawayo
12th May 2018

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