Most Zimbabweans are retreating into despair and placing their fate before God as the country’s economic fortunes continue to take a downward knock after the 2013 general elections won by President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party, research has showed.
BY Everson Mushava
A survey conducted by the Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI) and international research body Afrobrarometer shows that most Zimbabwe’s think that the period of the inclusive government was much better than Mugabe’s sole rule.
The research, conducted in June and November last year and targeting a sample size of 2 400 Zimbabweans from all the country’s 10 provinces showed that most people think that the government’s failure to curb corruption, create employment and improve on public service delivery as well as public infrastructure was the biggest cause of public discontentment.
“For most participants, the only option left was to surrender everything in the hands of God,” MPOI principal researcher Stephen Ndoma said.
Zimbabwe is currently experiencing serious economic challenges that have resulted in government struggling to pay its workers as the tax base shrinks due to company closures.
He said most Zimbabweans cited a gnawing deflation, failure by the Zanu PF government to deliver on its election promises that included job creation, among others, after being promised heaven and earth ahead of the July 2013 elections has caused lamentable frustration among citizens.
Ndoma said corruption was thought to be the biggest stumbling block to economic revival. He also said most people felt Mugabe had failed to deal with the scourge which most of his party supporters were using to amass wealth.
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“Two thirds of adult Zimbabweans believe the level of corruption in the country has increased over the past year,” Ndoma said. He also said most Zimbabweans though they were not enjoying their political rights although the personal security situation has improved considerably from the era of the unity government between Mugabe and the MDCs led by Morgan Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube.
The research also showed that most people were losing faith in elections as a democratic process, were unaware of parliamentary processes and the contents of the constitution which they claimed were driven by politicians.
MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu urged MPOI to factor in the margin of terror in their research as most people were afraid to express their independent minds due to fear.
MDC Renewal Team said the fact that the MPOI report showed that the view of the citizens that standards have dismally declined from the time that the government of national unity (GNU) ended, was a vindication their call for a change of the governance and leadership order.
“Our party is, however, against the idea of GNU2 as experience has shown that decision-making is highly polarised in such a set up therefore reducing the government capacity to stabilise the bleeding economy,” the MDC Renewal Team said in a statement.
