Tinashe Sambiri|The MDC Alliance South Africa Province has declared that Zanu PF has no right to block the diaspora vote.

This follows Zanu PF official Patrick Chinamasa’s declaration that Zimbabweans in the will not be able to vote until sanctions have been removed.

Read the MDC Alliance South Africa statement below:

DIASPORA VOTE IS OUR RIGHT – MDC-A SOUTH AFRICA PROVINCE

As MDCA South Africa Province we feel Zanu pf’s position on diaspora vote as spelt out by Patrick Chinamasa can not go unchallenged.

His utterances are mischievous,frivolous,barbaric,uncalled for and misinformed.

Zanu pf cannot deny Zimbabweans in the Diaspora the democratic right to vote on cooked up allegations.

It is every Zimbabwean’s right to vote as enrished in the Zimbabwean constitution.If Mr Chinamasa,Mr Chiwenga or Mr Mnangagwa are under travel bans(sanctions) they are not Zimbabwe and they do not represent the country.

The sanctions gaffe is a myth.Zimbabwe as a country is enjoying international trade and most of her goods are imported.

Let Zimbabweans exercise and enjoy their rights,one of these is the right to vote.The only sanctions that Zimbabwe is under are those imposed on them by the Zanu PF regime.These include,human rights abuse,plundering of state resources,rigging of elections.And we demand Harare to stop these forthwith.

Zanu pf has active political structures in Britain, USA ,Canada and South Africa. It is not banned from carrying out its campaigns in these countries. So, zanu pf’s excuse for not extending voting rights to citizens in the diaspora is unacceptable and comes across political skulduggery.

Less than 100 zanu pf leaders and their military enforcers are under targeted economic sanctions. Several zanu pf leaders can travel unhindered to any of the countries they claim to have imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe. Surely, sanctions do not stop zanu pf from campaigning in these countries.

The majority of Zimbabweans in the diaspora are in South Africa, Tanzania,Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi. These countries have not imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe. Therefore, Mr Patrick ‘Binman’ Chinamasa’s argument for denying Zimbabweans in the SADC region the right to vote is hollow, fallacious, and smacks of outright arrogance,typical of a party scared of being voted out of power.

It is double standards that the zanu pf government admits to receiving millions in US dollars remittances from the Diaspora yet it doesn’t want the same people propping it to have the right to vote. Zanu pf wants diasporans’ money but it doesn’t want to grant them the right to vote.It is the same as wanting honey but doesn’t want bees.That’s undiluted voter disenfranchisement. It is sad that SADC and the AU do not chide zanu pf for such undemocratic practices.

Zimbabwe has embassies and consulates in the EU, Britain and the USA which offer passport and I.D. registration services. The same embassies and consulates must be used for voter registration and voting purposes too by the Zimbabwean diaspora.

As MDC-A SA, we call on the Harare regime to put people first before pursuing power retention schemes.Zanu PF should not impose voting sanctions on Zimbabweans in the diaspora.Its ruinous economic and economic policies drove many into the Diaspora,therefore they should not punish us for being out of the country yet they are the author of our emigration.

Diaspora vote should be granted like yesterday to all Zimbabweans outside the country.

#Change that delivers
#CCC

Inserted by

Innocent Nsingo
MDC Alliance South Africa Province Communications Secretary
0731355093
[email protected]