Why Tsvangirai is targetting prostitutes to win next year’s elections

The Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai says it is targeting prostitutes for next year’s elections because they are “the public, glaring face of (President Robert Mugabe’s) government’s failure”.

Youth leader Happymore Chidziva told the Daily News at the launch of the party’s “Bereka Mwana Tiende” voter recruitment campaign that prostitutes were important to the party’s struggle because they were pushed into sex work because of the hardships they were facing.

“They will speak to the nation about how tough times have become,” he said.

“To call them prostitutes is to degrade them.

“We are targeting the girl child who is being abused by the current government to the extent of being forced to sell their bodies to survive.

“Their voices must be heard.

“They should be afforded the opportunity to share their stories . . . and we all share the same challenges.”

The MDC-T is conducting a door-to-door campaign to encourage youths to register as voters because those below 40 constitute 60 percent of Zimbabwe’s population yet only 5 percent voted in the last election.

“Are you aware that you are outsourcing your future to the old, even to grandfathers like Mugabe?” Chidziva was quoted as saying.

“You are outsourcing your future to that old man. What does that mean?

“I am making a final appeal to you.

“You are the game changers, as 60 percent of those below the age of 40 are the majority of the country’s population . . .”

The MDC-T is negotiating coalitions in its fight to oust Mugabe and has so far signed agreements with Joice Mujuru’s National People’s Party and Welshman Ncube’s MDC, but there are already disagreements over the proposed unions.

The opposition seems to be in a quandary following reports by an African think-tank, Afrobarometer that almost two-thirds of Zimbabweans trust Mugabe.

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