ZVAKWANA

Zvakwana-Sokwanele

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

Movement for Democratic Change

(MDC)

The MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) was first formed in 1999 as Zimbabwe’s official opposition party to Mugabe’s government. It was formed out of the need to oppose the ZANU-PF existing government that was growing more and more corrupt.

It was among the working class of Zimbabwe that the dissatisfaction with Mugabe’s regime was so strongly felt. It was the ZCTU (Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions that led to the formation of the MDC political party when ZANU-PF refused to respond to the people’s call for government change

Morgan Tsvangirai, former secretary general of the ZCTU was elected president of the MDC in 2000 with Gibson Sibanda elected as his vice-president (former union president of the ZCTU).

The formation of this political party was a big step forward for Zimbabweans. The MDC's existence was solidified in June of 2000 when they won 57 out of 120 seats in parliament.

In the recent April 2005 elections, which the MDC considers fraudulent, they managed to win back only 41 seats, down from the 57 seats they had won in the first election they participated in, much to their disappointment.

While the MDC is the first opposition group that has posed as a real threat to Mugabe’s government in its 25 years of existence, the Zvakwana grass-roots, resistance group no longer feels that the MDC has the potential to make a change in government without more help.

The Movement for Democratic Change hopes to turn the government around by encouraging Zimbabwe’s people to non-violently protest the current oppressive regime.

Created by Caitlin Sloan