President Tsvangirai
MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday 28 November won a pro-democracy award at Moroccan political-economic forum in the Mediterranean, known as MEDays.
"The 2008 MEDays prize for political dialogue has been awarded to the head of Zimbabwe's opposition for his efforts to promote democracy in his country," said the vice-president of the Moroccan think-tank that organised the forum.
Bellow is President Morgan Tsvangirai's acceptance speech upon receiving the award:
I am humbled by the honour you have bestowed on me through this award. I want to dedicate this award to the people of Zimbabwe and therefore wish to say that I am receiving this award on their behalf.
As I speak, our country is consumed by a man-made humanitarian crisis with a recent outbreak of cholera so far having claimed more than five hundred lives. The food situation is our country is deplorable; more than 5.5 million people in our country will need food aid, which is more than half the people still residing in the country.
The international community has tried to help through the World Food Programme but have not been able to access all the people – particularly those that are in the rural areas – due to political interference by Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF.
Mr Chairman may I use this platform to appeal to the rest of the world to move with speed to assist us address the humanitarian situation in the country as it has reached catastrophic levels.
Following our victory at the polls on the 29th of March 2008, and the aborted runoff of June 27th 2008, the African Union at a summit in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt, made a resolution calling for Robert Mugabe and me to form a unity government. We have been engaged in these negotiations since then and signed a global political agreement on the 15th of September 2008.
However, owing to the lack of sincerity on the part of ZANU PF we are still in negotiations to conclude four key issues:
1 Amendment number 19 to our constitution which is designed to bring the global agreement into legal effect.
2. The issue of provincial governors.
3. Senior appointments in government.
4. Portfolio allocation.
We in the party the MDC will do everything in our power to ensure that this agreement is implemented consistent with the wishes of the people as expressed on March 29th 2008. We have been on this path of peaceful democratic resistance for the past ten years; a path we do not intend to abandon.
Our vision as a party is to set a precedent on our continent: a precedent of fighting dictatorships through democratic means. This I believe will make Africa a better place and indeed set it on a path of development.
Mr Chairman, I want to thank you and your organisation for recognising us, the people of Zimbabwe, through this prestigious award.
I thank you. – ZimOnline
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