The MDC joins the rest of Africa in celebrating Africa Day, amid renewed hope that the continent will take its rightful place among the family of nations as the true bastion of progress, peace and development.

This year’s theme, Promoting Peace through Sport, is befitting considering that the continent is hosting the whole world to the greatest football tournament to be held in South Africa next month. We want to congratulate South Africa, which has been a stable democracy, for showing that it can be possible to promote peace through sport.This is our chance to exhibit true African hospitality and to show that we are a united continent which has survived a chequered past but is determined to forge a bright and prosperous future for its citizens. 

As a party, we stand for and respect African institutions and African values. After all, we are a party borne from the aspirations of the ordinary African people of Zimbabwe who wanted to complete the unfinished business of the liberation struggle. The founding spirit of our African legends to create a peaceful and democratic environment continues to be the compass that guides us through the hailstorm of violence and abuse by those bent on creating a negative stereotype of African governance and African leadership.

Ours is a party borne from the collective wish of the people of Zimbabwe to usher in a new culture of peace and democracy so that we create the necessary political environment for national development. Achieving true peace and development is the only path to achieving and fulfilling the dreams of the founding fathers and the founding mothers of this great continent.

One of the basic tenets of our African culture is our celebration of diversity. From Rabat to the Cape of Good Hope, from Libreville to Mombasa, this great continent is a pot-potpourri of diverse cultures and religions. As Africans, we are united in our diversity; and there is no reason why we should be killing each other or burning each others’ houses simply because we belong to different political parties. The chaos in Sudan’s Darfur is a serious blot on the image of our great continent. Civilization started in Africa. There is no better way to celebrate this great day than to debunk stereotypes and myths about Africans and African leadership.

The MDC salutes the great people of Africa, particularly the African Union and SADC, who in the true African spirit, pledged to be the guarantors of Zimbabwe’s transitional government as we seek to find each other and create a new Zimbabwe; a new nation where the fires of justice, freedom and hope continue to light the path of our collective journey to achieve real change.

Zimbabweans share the collective hope that the people of Africa will continue to support our delicate transitional process. Our call on this great day for Africans is for the African Union to urge all parties in our inclusive government to implement the Global Political Agreement. We need a clear roadmap to free and fair elections so that a legitimate government can begin to transact the business of the nation. Zimbabwe should become another shining example of a successful African solution to an African problem.

Let the African drum-beat of democracy and good governance beat louder for the benefit of the ordinary people of Africa.  Let it beat louder in Zimbabwe, in Kinshasa, in Maputo and Mogadishu. Let the congas of peace and development reverberate in Kenya, Libya and the Central African Republic. That is the only befitting tribute we can give to the founding fathers of our great continent .

Courtesy: MDC.