United Movement for Devolution (UMD) president, Lovemore Moyo, has urged political parties in Matabeleland to unite ahead of the crucial general elections slated for next year to avoid the splitting of votes in favour of the ruling ZANU-PF party.
The former Speaker of Parliament and MDC-T national chairman was speaking recently on a daily online programme – the Breakfast Club – hosted by CITE.
“I have always made my position clear in public on that note that unity is the way to go,” said Moyo.
“How we unite is another question, but what I have always said is that: we need to unite the people of Matabeleland for the simple reason that we are confronted with common problems: the problem of underdevelopment, the problem of marginalisation, the problem of discrimination and the problem of tribalism. All that is affecting the people of Matabeleland and therefore it is imperative that the political organisations in Matabeleland come together to work towards as a collective in order to avoid a situation of splitting votes.”
He was however quick to point out that while that was desirable, uniting politicians has always been a challenge in the past.
“That’s a desirable position but of course, you know politics is not formalistic, people have different thinking and it’s not easy to get them to work together and to agree on the form and structure of a coalition or whatsoever collaboration we may agree on but as UMD and in my own personal conviction is that unity is key.”
