Tsvangirai launches manifesto and election campaign

By Tichaona Sibanda
25 February 2008

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has set into motion his party’s campaign programme, which will see him criss-cross the country until election day on 29th March.

Addressing over 30 000 supporters at Sakubva stadium in Mutare on Saturday, Tsvangirai said once voted into power the MDC will prioritise a new people driven constitution as the foundation for a new Zimbabwe.
He also launched the party’s manifesto, which showcases what an MDC government would do in critical sectors such as the economy, land, communications, transport, health and education.

Tsvangirai said; ‘The MDC manifesto puts the issue of the constitution at the centre of our struggle. The autocratic state in Zimbabwe has vandalized and abused its citizens and created weak institutions. We therefore need a new constitution to articulate a new dialogue and discourse. A constitution that will engender trust and confidence amongst our brutalized people.’

He added; ‘We believe the Zimbabwean economy is an enclave economy that is uneven, unequal and virtually dead. The challenge of the MDC is to craft an alternative, human centred, sustainable economic program that is based on domestic demands and use of local resources’.

Poking fun at Mugabe’s failures Tsvangirai, whose speech was at times drowned by the vociferous crowd, added that the regime seemed satisfied with the highest inflation rate in the history of mankind ‘because they have not done anything to try and sort out the mess’.

‘They are satisfied in cities without electricity, and farms without crops.
They are satisfied that a million have died and three million have fled. The people are not satisfied. The people are hungry. The people are hungry for jobs. We are hungry for education. We are hungry for justice. We are hungry for change. We are hungry for hope. We are hungry
for land. We are hungry,’ he said.

Urging people to vote MDC, Tsvangirai pointed out that this year’s election was about dealing with political challenges, where people should understand that the poll was a referendum on Mugabe’s misrule; ‘The rule of law leads directly to our next point, the end of corruption.

Government should serve the people, not steal from them. Zanu is a
kleptocracy. That’s a fancy word that means a government of thieves. An MDC government will rebuild our medical system and bring our doctors, nurses, and other health professionals back from the diaspora.’