Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai today lamented the poor status of workers in the formal sector and called on Zimbabweans to make “Election Day” next year the real Workers’ Day by voting in a new government that will bring back the dignity of the ordinary Zimbabwean.
In a statement to mark Workers’ Day today, Tsvangirai who led the country’s workers for a decade, said it was sad that the formal sector had been totally decimated by the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front government and the real workers today were those in the informal sector.
“To the millions of vendors now eking out an honest living on the pavements of our streets, I salute you; to the men and women in the villages working hard to feed your families, you are my heroes; to the artisanal miners slugging it out beneath our soils and the farmers those tilling the land, we revere you; to all those of my countrymen and women in the Diaspora working hard to send a dime to the families back home; this is your day!” he said.
Tsvangirai, however, reminded Zimbabweans that they could change things if they voted in the right people next year.
“Fellow Zimbabweans, this being Workers Day, we must remember that as a nation we have our work cut out for us as we brace for next year’s watershed polls,” he said.
“Yes, we have serious work to do next year and that great work starts by registering to vote as soon as the voter registration exercise is rolled out in the coming days.
“My fellow countrymen and women, given our circumstance and all these visible signs of collapse around us, the real Workers Day is the day of the next election; when we must all turn out in our huge numbers to vote and make a huge statement about the Zimbabwe we want.
“We have real work to do at the next election and I urge all parents to encourage their children to participate in the politics of their country.
“I urge all the youth to come out in their numbers and determine, defend and secure the future that they want by participating in the next election.
“They certainly cannot outsource or contract out the determination of their own future to anyone.
“There must be no doubt in the mind of every Zimbabwean that next year’s election provides us with a rare opportunity—a chance that comes once in every five years— to correct things in our country by voting in a new government that will bring back the dignity of the ordinary Zimbabwean.”
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