Ladies and gentlemen, Honourables, Friends and the Nation at large, We, as UDM have noted the continued slide into oblivion of the nation of Zimbabwe mainly due to bad governance, corruption, politicking and the non respect of the rule of law.

The situation that Zimbabwe is in right now is a product of years of continued operation of the above listed vices. Without corrections to the above, the future of our people will surely be in tatters.

Zanu Pf has been the ruling party forming the government since 1980 and the sorry state we find ourselves in is a result of their poor governance and as UDM we are asking the government of this day to put people first and address the socio-economic decay in the country.

These are the challenges that our provinces, our districts and our villages are facing on a day to day basis which we are asking the government to address urgently

Hunger and starvation

It is not a secret that the haphazard fast track land reform programme ushered in the under utilisation of the land since the late 1990s. Since then Zimbabwe has perennially faced food shortage mainly the staple maize. Partnered with the Covid 19 that we are currently facing our people are in dire need of food aid.

The Government has failed to provide any food aid to the people. Only a few NGOs are assisting in this regard and we propose that government come up with a fund that is meant to feed both rural and urban households. We have also noted with concern the politicisation of food aid by Zanu pf where food is distributed along party lines.

This is grossly inhuman and should be dismissed with the contempt it deserves. All food aid should be non partisan and politicians should not be part of the distribution committees.

Education

The education sector in Zimbabwe need to be restructured. The product we are putting on the job market is both not ready and practically dull. The education sector should be highly practical than theoretical.

During the last campaign Zanu Pf promised free primary education and today, now that they are the ruling party are silent about it. Education should be affordable to all. We have also noted with concern the poor remuneration of teachers and lectures in the education sector.

ZANUPF prioritises their campaigns more than education in Zimbabwe. This is really sad and should never happen in our country. Today schools are closed due to Covid 19 and the government lacks a plan of how learning should proceed in the country.

It has become a norm that the government is always caught unaware and without a plan. We propose that weeks of how education in the country should proceed. In this era of technology, surely the government should take the route of e-learning.

Covid 19 response

Whilst we should applaud the government of quickly putting the country on lockdown to fight the pandemic, we are deeply saddened by the lack of plan to take care of citizens under lockdown. Since the lockdown started citizens are starving and this has led to a number of citizens breaking Covid 19 regulation in search of food.

As UDM we have also noted that Zanu Pf as a party have hijacked some of the donations meant for the majority to fatten their own pockets. We urge our government to feed the citizens whilst still on lock down.

As of now, the cases of Covid 19 are rising sharply as the country receives citizens from hard hit countries like South Africa, Britain and the United States.

The government should therefore engage in quality testing and isolation for those positive and mandatory quarantine for all returnees. News of citizens absconding quarantine centres should be thoroughly investigated as there are reportedly underhand dealings between security manning these centres and citizens in quarantine centres.

Political Capture of the Justice System and State Apparatus

As UDM, we have noted the systematic capture of the judiciary system by ZANU.PF which has been going on for quite some time and more strongly during the lock down period where the ruling party has taken advantage of the ban on gatherings.

While this has been very specific that the party under attack is the MDC Alliance, as an opposition party, we are worried that this can happen to any of us also and therefore should be dismissed with the contempt it deserves.

We have noted that whilst other people with an alignment to ZANU PF can be allowed to move and congregate at the late Tsvangirai grave without practising social distancing or the wearing of masks, others are arrested for being close to the Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House.

The same judiciary system which noted that The MDC Alliance is a Party today now says it is not. The police and army have also been dragged in assisting the ruling party to strengthen political power by weakening the opposition.

This is against the constitution of Zimbabwe which clearly spells that the police and army should never be political players.

Market and Pricing

We expected prices of goods and commodities to be fair and reasonable as the nation is under lockdown and what we have experienced is the total opposite.

The price madness currently taking place clearly shows the government has no solutions at hand to stop the unjust increases of goods and commodities. At one point, the government ordered suppliers and industry to go back the pricing of precovid 19 era of 21 March 2020 and all this fell on deaf ears.

Its testament to the saying that the market determines the economy not ZANU PF or any politics. ZANU-PF has failed in this regard and whilst they can rig the politics of the day, they can never rig market forces. Prices are now being quoted in USD yet salaries continue to be paid in RTGS. Is this Sustainable? Only Zanu Pf knows

CONCLUSION and RECOMMENDATIONS

As UDM we are pro-citizen and we are urging the government to have a human face. For Zimbabwe to move forward, polarised politics should be stopped with immediate effect.

There should be political engagement with all political players and the selection of who to engage with should be dismissed. It is very clear that MDC Alliance is a big political player and their absence from any talks of engagement will have a very big effect with any product of engagement that comes out.

It is therefore important that they should be one of the many political players that should take in political engagements. It is quite clear that as a nation we have reversed the gains made during the GNU era of 2009 to 2013.

The pact brought some sort of order in the country and if we are serious as a nation, we should take that route and engage for order in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is rich yet its citizens are poor.

Its time we balance the equation.

UDM information department. twitter : @UDMUnited facebook page: UDM2023, email: [email protected]