14-02-2020
A repository of fearlessness and courage himself, Dr Morgan Tsvangirai would always encourage young people to take the destiny of the country’s politics and economics into their own hands.
In one of our meetings with Dr Tsvangirai at his home in Highlands, Harare sometime in 2017, he nailed it through the old adage, “mutambirwi gwinyawo” to a group of youths who had come to lobby for represention quotas in the party.
Loosely translated the adage meant to encourage those with a keen interest on something to take the initiative by leading from the front.
A firm believer in youths, Dr Tsvangirai taught us that young people can lead.
From Learnmore Jongwe to Nelson Chamisa, Dr Tsvangirai’s MDC had young faces in position of leadership right from the party’s inception in 1999.
As history will rightly record, the Youth Quota which sought to have youths in decision making positions was Dr Tsvangirai’s legacy too!
Probably the biggest political master class of Dr Tsvangirai was his appointment of Nelson Chamisa as the leader of the newly born of MDC Alliance at a time when he was unwell late in 2017.
Again this was a show of confidence in young people in top leadership positions.
Nelson Chamisa was exactly what the doctor ordered!
Just at 39 about to turn 40 in February of 2018, Dr Tsvangirai’s young and most trusted lieutenant took the nation by storm as he outpaced ZANU PF’s old and tired candidate, Emmerson Mnangagwa enroute to victory in the 2018 General Elections.
Three years on after the demise of Dr Tsvangirai on this day, the National Democratic Movement faces incessant attacks from Mnangagwa’s military dictatorship working in cahoots with black market judicially reconstituted opposition.
At the receiving end of persecutions by Mnangagwa’s evil regime are MDC Alliance members and youths.
Three of our female youth leaders were abducted and sexually abused and are still facing persecution by prosecution in captured courts.
Since 07 December 2020, one of our own, Alan Moyo has been languishing at Harare Remand Prison pre-trial!
Stinking unbridled corruption and poverty authored by Emmerson Mnangagwa’s evil regime is threatening to expunge and devour our very own existence as a generation.
Worse than Covid-19, this military regime is threatening to wipe out our very existence because of unchecked looting at the expense of the people.
It is time we take heed of Dr Tsvangirai’s timeless advice- ‘mutambirwi gwinyawo’.
It is time we take the bull by its horns and take Mnangagwa’s dictatorship head on!
Freedom has never been served on a plate like sadza hence we must be prepared to fight for it.
Dr Tsvangirai and those of yesterday taught us to fight for our rights and freedoms.
“We don’t want this movement to be a one generation movement”, Dr Tsvangirai challenged us to keep National Democratic Struggle alive.
It is time we defy the status quo if are to survive!
Our choices are very much limited, either we defy or die!
DefyOrDie
Stephen Sarkozy Chuma
MDC Alliance Youth Assembly National Spokesperson
