The Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai will celebrate its 16th anniversary at Nharira in Chivhu under the theme: “MDC@16: Determining the defining moment".
Party presidential spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka said in the 16 years party leaders have strutted the corridors of government and slept in lice-infested cells for no crime except their unstinting belief in positive change.
“Zimbabweans will recall that ZANU-PF had dragged the country to the precipice when the MDC showed its competence while steering the ship of the State and saved a whole country and its people,” he said in a statement.
“Today, suffering Zimbabweans struggling to put food on the table remember with nostalgia the achievements of the MDC during its time in government.
“Given the poverty in the villages, on the farms and in the urban townships, it now seems like ages ago when life was palpably bearable with Morgan Tsvangirai’s hand on the wheel of government.
“That glorious past is now another country as the ZANU-PF government does what it knows best—condemning the country’s citizens to unmitigated poverty.”
Full statement:
Thursday, 03 September 2015
MDC anniversary set for Chivhu
President Morgan Tsvangirai will join thousands from the MDC family at the party’s 16th anniversary celebrations that have been set for Nharira business centre, Chivhu on Saturday, 12 September, 2015.
At 16, the party has had a long history and has seen thousands of innocent Zimbabweans being brutally attacked, maimed or raped in State-sponsored violence for simply daring to support the agenda of change and positive transformation of their lives.
The MDC family, led by President Tsvangirai, will congregate in Chivhu to celebrate the 16th birthday of this great people’s party; a party that probably set a world record by positively transforming the lives of the people during its short, four-year stint in government.
Zimbabweans will recall that Zanu PF had dragged the country to the precipice when the MDC showed its competence while steering the ship of the State and saved a whole country and its people.
Today, suffering Zimbabweans struggling to put food on the table remember with nostalgia the achievements of the MDC during its time in government.
Given the poverty in the villages, on the farms and in the urban townships, it now seems like ages ago when life was palpably bearable with Morgan Tsvangirai’s hand on the wheel of government.
That glorious past is now another country as the Zanu PF government does what it knows best—condemning the country’s citizens to unmitigated poverty.
Among its many achievements was when, together with the broader democratic movement in the country, the party spearheaded the writing of a new Constitution by Zimbabweans themselves.
In Chivhu next Saturday, the party will take time to remember the many heroes across the country who have either been brutalized or who needlessly lost their lives in the struggle for democratic change.
In a mere 16 years, the MDC family and their leadership have tasted life in the trenches, in prisons, in the corridors of government as well as life outside of the control of the levers of the State.
As President Tsvangirai recently said, this is a party whose members and leaders are familiar with both extremes; they have strutted the corridors of government and slept in lice-infested cells for no crime except their unstinting belief in positive change.
In short, this is a party that has seen it all.
Next Saturday in Chivhu, Zimbabweans will be celebrating the people’s achievement in this post-liberation struggle that has achieved so much and positively changed both the politics of the country and the lives of the people.
This project, sired by the labour, civic and constitutional movements in the country, deserves to celebrate its achievements; just as it needs to reflect on the journey that has been covered and what could have been done better to cut short this seemingly endless journey towards meeting the people’s aspirations.
Our friends in labour, the civic and student movement as well as the rest of Zimbabweans are all welcome to celebrate with us the tenacity and resilience the MDC has shown during this eventful, tortuous journey.
Of late Zimbabweans have shown convergence both in confronting the beast together and in the decision to resolve once and for all the crisis bedeviling Zimbabwe. So other political players are welcome to come and celebrate with us.
As we trudge towards the last hours of our tortuous journey, the MDC’s 16th anniversary celebrations in Chivhu will be held under the theme "MDC@16: Determining the defining moment."
Luke Tamborinyoka
Presidential Spokesperson and Director of Communications
Movement for Democratic Change
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