News / Local
MDC, MDC-T and Zanu-PF united in cleaning Bulawayo
01 May 2012 at 03:51hrs | Views
THE Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (Jomic) yesterday brought the political parties in the inclusive Government together and conducted a cleaning exercise to raise awareness among the people of Bulawayo about the importance of unity.
The cleaning exercise was conducted at Basch Street Terminus, popularly known as Egodini by members of Zanu-PF, MDC-T and MDC.
Speaking in separate interviews, members of the three parties said they were cultivating a culture of unity and working together for the purposes of development.
The Jomic co-chairperson of the Bulawayo provincial liaison committee, Mr Oscar Ncube, said the three parties realised that the terminus was dirty and decided to work together in cleaning the area.
"We have 15 members from each political party, including men, women and youths. We came together to clean up this place and show people that it is possible for us to work together without necessarily fighting," said Mr Ncube.
"The unity that is being displayed by our national leaders should be cascaded to provincial level and we are trying to make sure that people appreciate the importance of uniting for one purpose, which is development."
Mr Ncube said the parties would also do other programmes at district level to stop violence among members of different parties.
"We will be doing more programmes of serving the community, as well as district consultative meetings within the districts of Bulawayo," said Mr Ncube.
He urged other parties not in the inclusive Government to join them in the exercise.
Sihle Thebe, the Zanu-PF chairperson of the Women's League in Bulawayo said the exercise was also meant to unite women and promote equal representation of men and women in political positions.
"Our wish is to see the people of Bulawayo voting for women as we try to promote equal representation in influential positions. When women go to vote, we want them to look at the candidate as a woman, not the party she is representing.
"The cleaning exercise is meant to promote the culture of unity among men and women and create a platform where we can work together despite our political affiliations," said Thebe.
The chairperson of the MDC-T Bulawayo Women's Assembly Ms Gladys Mathe said the cleaning exercise would go a long way in promoting peace and reducing cases of violence among political parties.
"Zimbabwe is a country of peace and we must maintain that. This is one of the first programmes we have done to show people that we are one although we belong to different parties.
"We will also do more programmes and make sure that every individual appreciates the importance of unity in the country," said Ms Mathe.
Meanwhile, a six-member team from Jomic in Matabeleland South province last Friday embarked on a massive clean-up campaign in Dulibadzimu suburb in Beitbridge.
The Jomic team, which was spearheading the exercise, included members of the three political parties, which are signatories to the inclusive Government.
The Environmental Management Agency (EMA), the Beitbridge Town Council and the local community also joined in the exercise, which covered Mashavire Business Centre and Dulibadzimu bus terminus.
The Zanu-PF Matabeleland South provincial youth chairperson, Washington Nkomo, said the clean up campaign was aimed at bringing together youths from the three political parties in the inclusive Government.
"We have embarked on a clean-up campaign in Beitbridge as a way of bringing together youths from Zanu-PF, MDC-T and MDC so that they work together in pursuance of our motto, which is to promote tolerance, trust, peace and national unity.
"We want to show the outside world that we are united people of Zimbabwe who can work together despite differences in ideologies. This clean-up campaign is therefore a platform for the youths from the country's major political parties to interact," he said.
The provincial chairperson of the MDC, Mr Mthulisi Ncube, urged youths to desist from political violence.
"As youths we are saying there is a need to shun the culture of violence. We should work together so that our nation prospers and through such clean-up exercises and other similar campaigns, we can promote unity and tolerance," he said.
The chairperson of MDC-T youth in Matabeleland South, Mr Morgan Ncube concurred with his counterparts, saying they expected the political leaders to lead by example.
"We urge every Zimbabwean to participate in promoting peace in our country and leaders should play a leading role so that as youths we are also able to follow them," he said.
The Matabeleland South provincial administrator for Jomic, Ms Thembizwe Dube, described the clean-up exercise as a success, saying similar campaigns would be held in other districts of the province.
"As Jomic, we are happy because we managed to achieve our objective. The clean-up campaign brought together youths from all the three major political parties in the GPA, which is indeed a true reflection of unity, tolerance and trust," she said.
Jomic is also organising sporting activities and all the political parties are expected to participate.
The cleaning exercise was conducted at Basch Street Terminus, popularly known as Egodini by members of Zanu-PF, MDC-T and MDC.
Speaking in separate interviews, members of the three parties said they were cultivating a culture of unity and working together for the purposes of development.
The Jomic co-chairperson of the Bulawayo provincial liaison committee, Mr Oscar Ncube, said the three parties realised that the terminus was dirty and decided to work together in cleaning the area.
"We have 15 members from each political party, including men, women and youths. We came together to clean up this place and show people that it is possible for us to work together without necessarily fighting," said Mr Ncube.
"The unity that is being displayed by our national leaders should be cascaded to provincial level and we are trying to make sure that people appreciate the importance of uniting for one purpose, which is development."
Mr Ncube said the parties would also do other programmes at district level to stop violence among members of different parties.
"We will be doing more programmes of serving the community, as well as district consultative meetings within the districts of Bulawayo," said Mr Ncube.
He urged other parties not in the inclusive Government to join them in the exercise.
Sihle Thebe, the Zanu-PF chairperson of the Women's League in Bulawayo said the exercise was also meant to unite women and promote equal representation of men and women in political positions.
"Our wish is to see the people of Bulawayo voting for women as we try to promote equal representation in influential positions. When women go to vote, we want them to look at the candidate as a woman, not the party she is representing.
"The cleaning exercise is meant to promote the culture of unity among men and women and create a platform where we can work together despite our political affiliations," said Thebe.
The chairperson of the MDC-T Bulawayo Women's Assembly Ms Gladys Mathe said the cleaning exercise would go a long way in promoting peace and reducing cases of violence among political parties.
"Zimbabwe is a country of peace and we must maintain that. This is one of the first programmes we have done to show people that we are one although we belong to different parties.
"We will also do more programmes and make sure that every individual appreciates the importance of unity in the country," said Ms Mathe.
Meanwhile, a six-member team from Jomic in Matabeleland South province last Friday embarked on a massive clean-up campaign in Dulibadzimu suburb in Beitbridge.
The Jomic team, which was spearheading the exercise, included members of the three political parties, which are signatories to the inclusive Government.
The Environmental Management Agency (EMA), the Beitbridge Town Council and the local community also joined in the exercise, which covered Mashavire Business Centre and Dulibadzimu bus terminus.
The Zanu-PF Matabeleland South provincial youth chairperson, Washington Nkomo, said the clean up campaign was aimed at bringing together youths from the three political parties in the inclusive Government.
"We have embarked on a clean-up campaign in Beitbridge as a way of bringing together youths from Zanu-PF, MDC-T and MDC so that they work together in pursuance of our motto, which is to promote tolerance, trust, peace and national unity.
"We want to show the outside world that we are united people of Zimbabwe who can work together despite differences in ideologies. This clean-up campaign is therefore a platform for the youths from the country's major political parties to interact," he said.
The provincial chairperson of the MDC, Mr Mthulisi Ncube, urged youths to desist from political violence.
"As youths we are saying there is a need to shun the culture of violence. We should work together so that our nation prospers and through such clean-up exercises and other similar campaigns, we can promote unity and tolerance," he said.
The chairperson of MDC-T youth in Matabeleland South, Mr Morgan Ncube concurred with his counterparts, saying they expected the political leaders to lead by example.
"We urge every Zimbabwean to participate in promoting peace in our country and leaders should play a leading role so that as youths we are also able to follow them," he said.
The Matabeleland South provincial administrator for Jomic, Ms Thembizwe Dube, described the clean-up exercise as a success, saying similar campaigns would be held in other districts of the province.
"As Jomic, we are happy because we managed to achieve our objective. The clean-up campaign brought together youths from all the three major political parties in the GPA, which is indeed a true reflection of unity, tolerance and trust," she said.
Jomic is also organising sporting activities and all the political parties are expected to participate.
Source - TC
