Harare, Zimbabwe (News of the South) – Zimbabweans in the diaspora have expressed anger and bemusement at the government stance to refuse them a right to vote in the 2018 elections and are agitating for a reciprocal punitive action.
Caught thousands of kilometres away in foreign lands, their dilemma is how do they punish a government that is running around creating the Diaspora Policy as a catchment mechanism for remittances but does not like their input in political affairs?
For Stanley Mudawarima its obvious.
“No diaspora vote no diaspora remittances should be the rallying cry as we move towards 2018”, he says.
Madhlenkosi Gijima also concurs with that.
“The gvt needs foreign currency as we speak believe me just let all diasporians stop sending money to their families for one month”
The Zanu PF government has always appeared afraid of the diaspora vote knowing very well, that section of voters is mostly filled with people who fled the harsh economic conditions the party bred here.
Very few out there hold any electoral sympathy for the party that overturned a breezing cart, upending everything out into the mud.
Writing on social media former Education Minister David Coltart stated that “Jonathan Moyo admits that it is ruining party policy 2 deny #Zim citizens in diaspora the vote -they r happy to take your money but no vote!”
Minister Moyo is also on record stating that Zanu PF would never “reform itself out of power”.
For the diaspora community this has provided a dilemma for them. They want to support their families back home but they don’t want to support the forex-strapped government.
What should be the middle road then or even is it existant?’
For some their is no way around the problem.
Bee Sibanda says “i can’t sacrifice my family just bcoz someone wants political power after all they are the same”
This kind of attitude will surely please Mugabe’s government which is running a broke system operating on a hand to mouth basis and according to former Finance Minister Tendai British ” eating what it did no kill”.
As the 2018 elections draw near the issue of the diaspora vote will remain a sticking point.
According to the government records its estimated that 3 million Zimbabweans are living in countries such as United Kingdom, South Africa, US, Botswana, Australia, Canada, New Zealand among others.
In 2009 diaspora remittances stood at $294 million, increased to $552 million in 2011, $788 million in 2013 and peaked at $935 million in 2015.
The $935 million remitted in 2009 represented 6,7% of the country’s GDP which however pales in insignificance in comparison with other nationalities.
Lesotho diaspora remittances in the same year, against the GDP stood at 17%, Liberia at 24,6% and Moldova at 26,2% according to the World Bank.
However for Zimbabwe such peaks will remain a far fetched dream as long as the sticking point of the diaspora vote remains.
People in the diaspora are questioning how they are expected to contribute to only fiscal affairs and not political ones.
Save for the fact that they want to help their families back home, they would just hold back their much needed foreign currency and watch the broke government squirm.
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