Zimbabwe 2018 elections presidential debate

Harare - The International Commission for National Debates, or ICND in short, is a non-partisan non-profit organization registered as a Trust in the Republic of Zimbabwe.

ICND was established by concerned Zimbabwean citizens to promote dialogue among Zimbabweans in order to strengthen democracy in the country and promote a violence-free society.   

Research conducted by some scientific researchers outside Zimbabwe has proved that debates can significantly reduce violence in polarized communities.  In light of previous elections that were marred by politically-motivated violence,  we as ICND, have decided to make the giant step of using a scientifically tested mechanism of debating in an attempt to reduce or totally eradicate violence by ensuring that Zimbabweans start to use dialogue as a tool.

Our major aim is to create a platform for Zimbabweans to openly discuss topical socio-economic and political issues that affect their day to day lives with a view to finding permanent solutions thereby creating a prosperous nation where the leadership is accountable to its people. This can only be achieved when the Zimbabwean people start to engage themselves.

Inspired by the desire to see a just and democratic Zimbabwe where citizens will engage the national leadership and holding them to account for their deeds of misdeeds, ICND is pleased to announce that it is organizing various debates in all the country's 10 provinces and will also engage in other activities that form part of our founding pillars. 

To this end, we are pleased to announce that we are going to be hosting town-hall debates with local government and parliamentary candidates in various provinces as well as three presidential debates ahead of this year's general elections that will feature all presidential candidates that would have filed their nomination papers with the nomination court.

We are happy to inform you that we have already signed some Memorandums of Agreement with most of the presidential candidates and we will soon be making those names public once this process has been completed. Our aim is to not to exclude any presidential candidate in the presidential debates so that the electorate can make informed decisions before casting their ballots in this year's polls.

Thus far, we are pleased to announce that we have already made engagements with Zanu PF's presidential candidate and current head of state, His Excellency Emmerson Mnangagwa through his office, MDCT leader and presidential candidate Advocate Nelson Chamisa, People's Rainbow Coalition presidential candidate and National People's Party's president, Honorable Joice Mujuru, Renewal Democrats of Zimbabwe and Coalition of Democrats presidential candidate Honorable Elton Mangoma, and National Patriotic Front presidential candidate Retired Brigadier General Ambrose Mutinhiri, among others.

There are many Zimbabweans who will not be able to be physically present when these debates are going to be held as some will be in communities far away from the venue of the debates while some are domiciled in the diaspora. In order to ensure that all Zimbabweans concerned with the affairs of their country participate in these debates in one way or the other, ICND has created social media platforms where they submit their questions in advance and during the debates as well as feedback after the debates have been conducted.

We are also partnering with some local and international media houses to ensure that the live presidential debates reach as many Zimbabweans as possible across the globe.

I thank you

Frank Chikowore