MDC-T youth promise 25K votes for Norton in 2018

MDC-T Youth Assembly leader, Happymore Chidziva on Saturday the 20th of May, 2017 promised 25 000 votes for his party to come from one of Zimbabwe's most coveted town, Norton, which happens to be the corridor to the village of the world's oldest dictator in power, Zvimba communal lands.

Thousands of youth thronged the Norton's Koshen Grounds to kick-start MDC-T President Morgan Richard Tsvangirai's vigorous door-to-door voter registration youth campaign dubbed, Bereka Mwana 'Carry the Child' Youth Campaign for the provincial city of Chitungwiza and the rest of Mashonaland West Province, urging youth and party members to register as voters ahead of next year's watershed elections.

"Mugabe must go in 2018, and we want him to get our message straight, that as youth in Zimbabwe, we are sick and tired of his madness and especially the fact that we have come to grow up in a Zimbabwe without space for us the youth. We must change the future because Mugabe has forgotten that our brothers went to fight to free us from white oppression and not to replace white oppression with black dictatorship. We are not afraid of him and this time we will not tolerate his voter rigging tactics because as youth we will defend our vote and make sure that the elections are held in a free and fair atmosphere", said Happymore Chidziva, the Commander of MDC-T Youth Assembly in Zimbabwe.

The host province for 'Bereka Mwana - Carry the Child' initial launch, in MDC-T's delimitation zone falls under the Chitungwiza Province and covers both the provinces of Mashonaland West and Chitungwiza.

"We want to remind Mr Mliswa that the votes he owes us are now due, and we are taking them back whether he likes it or not, come 2018 because Norton is for Chinja or Guqula which means Change, and we want to assure our National Youth Assembly leader, Cde Bvondo, that we will give our President, Cde Morgan Richard Tsvangirai, 25 000 votes from Norton come 2018", promised Her Worship the Mayor of Norton, Cde Precious Mufahore, who is an MDC-T young woman in local governance.

Meanwhile the MDC-T-led Norton Town Council is facing a lot of opposition from estranged and ZANU Pf prodigal and independent legislator, Peter Temba Mliswa, who ascended to the throne on October 22 in 2016 after a by-election poll which he grabbed through the support garnered by close to 6 500 MDC-T  members and a few ZANU Pf supporters.

Opposition parties have been holding talks with the ZEC over the format of the 2018 elections. But negotiations ended in acrimony in March, when ZEC chairwoman Rita Makarau walked out, accusing the opposition of unfairly targeting her.

The National Electoral Reforms Agenda (Nera) wants the current ZEC board to be dismissed, and new electoral commissioners appointed ahead of the vote, and wants the United Nations Development Programme to oversee the procurement of biometric voter registration (BVR) equipment to update the country's electoral register.

Opposition leaders have been quoted in some sections of the media arguing they feared the ruling party would seek to rig the voter registration process in favour of Mugabe, who at 93 is the world's oldest non-royal head of state. Tsvangirai warned that supporters of his Movement for Democratic Change would carry out mass protests if their demands were not met, the BBC reported.

ZANU-PF has already nominated Mugabe as its presidential candidate for the 2018 vote.

Zimbabwe's economy is struggling, with high unemployment and the government introducing a quasi-currency, known as bond notes, in 2016. The country is also suffering from a drought affecting several countries in southern and eastern Africa.

Rising youth unemployment is one of the most significant problems facing the Zimbabwean economy today. MDC-T has refused to participate in Elections since 2013 and demanded significant electoral reforms to be effected by Zanu Pf's administration before they can participate in any election. Mugabe promised 2, 2 million jobs when he came into power but ironically lost 15 billion dollars is an allegedly top Mugabe Administration Illicit Financial Flow (IFF) Marange diamond deal. Still, millions of youth have been reduced to mere street vendors surviving on less US$1.25 per household per day.

Despite the minority, Zanu Pf bigwigs amassing wealth, progress and economic growth, inequalities and poverty persist in Zimbabwe. The few youth who are working in Zimbabwe, are in vulnerable employment. Attaining decent work is a significant challenge for youth. Life is very hard especially very unbearable for young women who is found on the margin of trading her body for a morsel of bread.

"I'm encouraging the youth in Norton to vote for change because Cde Tsvangirai will be President of Zimbabwe next year. It is, therefore, wiser that your Councillors, Member of Parliament and Senator are all from your MDC-T party so that it will be easy for development to happen in Norton because there will be leadership compatibility", added Cde Happymore Chidziva.

The campaign is targeted at ensuring that all people register to vote and that parents or guardians must encourage their dependants or children within the voting age, to register for the 2018 watershed elections.

The move will see the inclusion of young girls and boys so that for the first time in 2018, the youth can exercise their right to vote and participate in choosing the leaders they want to lead Zimbabwe.

Mr Samuel Matemera sponsored the MDC-T youth launch. Norton Constituency has a population of 70 000 with 30 000 eligible voters.