‘We Can Form The Next Gvt’-Democrats of Zimbabwe (RDZ) ‘Elton Mangoma’

RENEWAL Democrats of Zimbabwe (RDZ) are not just another political party making up the numbers, but are a genuine contender to become the next government, party president Elton Mangoma has said.

Addressing journalists at the Harare Press Club on Friday, Mangoma said he was presenting an alternative political party to Zimbabwe, which has gone 35 years under the rule of one party, Zanu PF.

Mangoma was flanked by his party members Fortune Munyonga (Youth President), Noleen Chiweshe (Women’s Assembly Organiser), Tichaona Munyanyi (National Organising Secretary) and Ephraim Matarirano (deputy chairman, Harare Province).

“We are modern nationalists who believe that everyone is entitled to a pierce of the pie in the country, not the current situation where only a few are benefitting while the majority are wallowing in poverty,” Mangoma said.

“We are social democrats and our stand is that people have a right to choose their own leaders, not be forced to put in office someone they do not like.

“We say elections start from within, and if members of one’s party vote someone out of office, it behooves on the leader to follow the voting public’s wishes.”

This was in apparent reference to MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai, whose party Mangoma left last year after calls for the former to step down resulted in a split.

Mangoma quit with former secretary general Tendai Biti to form their own MDC Renewal party, but the marriage was short-lived as the two later split to form their own separate organisations.

Values and principles

Mangoma said Renewal Democrats of Zimbabwe were also Pan Africanists who believe that Africans must be able to solve their own problems without the involvement of the outside world.

The RDZ leader said his party had adopted 10 values and principles which guided their operations. Among these were; team leadership, no to violence, tolerance, humble and servant leadership, and freedom, among others.

“As social democrats, we believe there is a need for us to empathise with others who might be in a worse off position than ours,” he said.

“We must learn to feel for others, and this is one value we will cherish and promote in RDZ.”

The former energy minister said as part of empathizing with others, his party would, once it came into power, give reparations and compensation to people who suffered under different government programmes like Gukurahundi, Murambatsvina, the blitz on vendors and Operation Mavhotera Papi. source-newzimbabwe

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