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NewsDay

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Opinion:There’s still hope for a better Zimbabwe

Opinion & Analysis
YESTERYEAR music legend Jimmy Cliff’s lyrics in one of his best songs — Better Days Are Coming taken off his album Better Days Are Coming — would do well to thaw the siege mood currently obtaining among Zimbabweans, especially in light of the seemingly endless circus in the political and economic circles.

YESTERYEAR music legend Jimmy Cliff’s lyrics in one of his best songs — Better Days Are Coming taken off his album Better Days Are Coming — would do well to thaw the siege mood currently obtaining among Zimbabweans, especially in light of the seemingly endless circus in the political and economic circles.

Part of the song goes:

Better days are coming by and by Don’t you get down hearted, don’t you cry Troubles will be over, all our joys come over Better days are coming by and by It can’t be this way always A train must come, a train must come There must be some brighter days We’ll have fun, we’ll have fun, yeah Things get rough, your friends get few Don’t you cry, don’t you cry Change your flock, we’ll come for you We’ll get high, we’ll get high, yeah…

It’s no secret that the poor state of the economy and discord on the political arena — both in President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu PF party and opposition camp — appear to dash any hope of better days to come. But as the old English adage goes, the darkest hour is just before dawn, Zimbabweans need not lose heart, for there is still hope of a silver lining beyond the dark cloud.

The current dark cloud should serve as a reminder that something ought to be done, and done now. The citizenry need to take advantage of the on-going biometric voter registration exercise and register en-masse and change the course of their lives by voting in good governors in next year’s crunch polls.

It’s no use boycotting national processes like general elections and cry foul when those voted in by default ride roughshod over people’s rights. We urge all citizens, regardless of their perception of electoral processes, to partake in the remaking of Zimbabwe’s history by taking to the ballot box in next year’s plebiscite. After all, we are our own liberators.

True, election results can be tampered with, intimidation tactics could come into play, the electoral field might be uneven and worse still, the parties and candidates themselves might appear disorganised until the day of the polls, but that’s no excuse to boycott the process.

On their part, political players need to play ball and put their house in order so as to win people’s hearts and restore the nation’s hope in the electoral system. It’s time for real, people-centred parties and candidates to stand up and rally people behind them to the promised land of milk and honey.