Opinion by Taruberekera Masara in Pretoria 

The rise of Nelson Chamisa’s political stake owes much to his popularity with young voters. His message of generational consensus is perceived as truly viable.

This is opposed greatly to the notion held by his adversaries in and outside MDC, that the youth brigade that follows him is brainwashed and is coercively bandwagoned into rooting for him.

It is really an affront to the youth, their right to choose, political assembly and commonly held belief that Zimbabwe is an educated nation. How educated people become brainwashed boggles the mind.

By and large as he was coming into the crowded field of competitors for the 2018 race, though, repeat success was not necessarily a foregone conclusion, Chamisa’s success with the youth now looks durable.

Those who follow him know what they want.

Chamisa is still leading the opinion polls, he remains influential and many youth-led progressive organizations like ZINASU endorsed the democratic socialist for president. 

The youths have a justification for following him. It is only because Zanu PF is such a visceral assault on the sense that people have forgotten the power of voting for something as opposed to voting against something.

Even today with waning prospects at the political bank the source of Chamisa’s youth appeal appears to be much the same as it was in 2018. Student-debts in tertiary education, escalating health-care costs are still significant burdens for young people, unemployment, lack of empowerment opportunities and lack incremental solutions to the problems affecting the economy and the society.

The youth themselves are clearly saying he is the best candidate to carry their hopes.

Young adults themselves are clear about the case for Chamisa. “Nelson is not our political saviour. It is the movement behind him that will change this country. We are not electing a saviour; we are electing a political opponent who we will hold accountable to meet our demands”, the Generational Consensus leaders explained on their Facebook page. 

Youths in Zimbabwe do not have the luxury of gambling with their vote, because they represent families and children who depend on their choices to carry them through a country that is heavily divided, unequal and a corrupt society.

Youths who are raising young families have no luxury because they are raising children who are exponentially and systematically affected negatively by institutional structures designed to limit their opportunities to achieve their dreams.

It is with such a background that the youth becomes a firewall for Chamisa’s political project.

Chamisa in his campaign trial has repeatedly claimed that, as president, he would ‘build a great Zimbabwe’. Generational Consensus in its statement said “we hope we’ll get the opportunity to hold him accountable to that” 

They must vote the choice that has the best chance to keep up with the issues they wish, the choice that keep their freedom and maybe progress.

And for young women they have to get a choice that fight for them to have a normal life, fight with them for their dignity, ring fence the issues around sexual reproductive health, maternal health care services and to have a gender sensitive national resource allocation.

The electoral field is still swollen, and there are few ways for candidates to carve out a realistic path to the top office. With so many candidates competing for votes, a committed, cohesive bloc of young adults could make a real difference for Chamisa in his quest for the state house occupancy. In most years, youth voters might not have been numerous enough to deliver Chamisa on their own strength, but youth voters are now amongst the key voters in Zimbabwe. 

Young voters do not historically turn out in high numbers, at least not compared with seniors, but 2018 proved to be a different year and a new chapter. Chamisa’s youth support has implications for the general election. A record number of youths registered and casted their votes.

Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) noted that there was a marked improvement in registration by the youth compared to 2013, and especially urban youth.

There is a 77% increase in urban youth registering and the ratio of rural to urban youth under 35 years has declined from 3:1 to 2:1. 

A total of 5,524,188 registered Voters (as of Aug. 8, 2018) average turnout was 45.67%.

Opinions from The Zimbabwe Daily

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has been Zimbabwe’s main opposition party since its formation in 1999. The MDC was formed by former trade unionists who were at odds with the government over its treatment of workers. The MDC’s agenda for change in the country resonated with many of the disgruntled Zimbabweans and for that they enjoyed successive electoral victories. They managed to penetrate into former Zanu PF strongholds, which threatened the very existence of Zanu PF and led to panic within the Mugabe regime. Many believed that the MDC would inevitably form a new government that would lead Zimbabwe into the promised golden age.

Unfortunately, the MDC has failed to dislodge the Zanu PF government after multiple attempts. There have been allegations of electoral fraud. Some of the allegations are well founded but then the are some allegations that are far-fetched such as the science fiction ballot paper made in Israel. Unfortunately, some folk in Zimbabwe have very basic reasoning so they believe ridiculous assertions, be it from Zanu PF or MDC. However, this opinion piece is not about the gullibility of Zimbabwe folk but about the failure of the MDC.

The MDC finds it easy to blame the ruling elite for their own failures instead of looking each other in the eye and accept that their own failures are a creation of their own. Currently, the MDC is tearing itself apart as the Chamisa and Khupe camps fight each other for the crown of the party. Their sole focus as it stands is who will be victorious but they are not thinking at what cost. The story of how we came  to this goes back to the early day of the MDC and the subsequent splits. The recurring theme in all these has been one of not accepting responsibility but laying the blame squarely at Zanu PF. Every time there has been a fight and or a split within the MDC, Zanu PF has been the prime candidate for blame. However, you don’t need special reasoning capabilities to realise that the MDC is destroying themselves. Of course, Zanu PF is exploiting the situation to its own advantage but they did not create this situation, the MDC did.

The MDC politicians are cowards who only care about their political careers than the population they claim to be serving. I doubt that throughout their fights, they have stopped to think about the people who put them in those positions of prominence. Add to that, the MDC does not seem to have anything to offer to Zimbabwe apart from their desire to replace Zanu PF. I fear that if any of the MDC formations are given the opportunity to lead the country, sooner or later, they will end up just like Zanu PF.

What Zimbabwe needs is a credible opposition, an opposition that will challenge Zanu PF and can rally the people behind them for real change. An opposition party does not need to be in power to deliver change, an opposition party can successfully lobby the government to deliver some of the much needed change in the country. However, the MDC is a one trick pony that only believes being in power is what will change things for the country.

Like many Zimbabweans who have been sitting on the side lines, I have come to realise that the MDC is not fit for purpose. Zimbabwe deserves a better opposition party that will help deliver the country from the abyss it currently sits in.

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