Engagement central to election manifestos
Providence Moyo
With elections fast approaching, stakeholders have called for community engagement to be at the centre of election manifestos.
The call came during a virtual Election Series 101 discussion that was held on Saturday organised by Tsepang Nare in partnership with Community Podium and Signs of Hope Trust, under the theme ‘How should an inclusive manifesto look like?’
Speaking during the discussion, journalist Nkosikhona Dibiti said manifestos should be informed by community engagements as community members rub minds with election candidates and articulate issues affecting them.
“Community engagements are crucial and should be the foundation of any manifesto because as communities we have different skillsets and we know our challenges more than anyone and therefore, are best positioned to articulate issues that affect us. This is not to undermine or challenge the candidate or party but to assist them in coming up with relevant strategies that resonate with the aspirations of the people on the ground.
Inclusiveness must also be a practical step in involving people from all walks of life, be it in terms of language or capacitation of locals to be part of the electoral system where we have for example, a visually impaired individual representing the section so that no one feels left out,” he said.
Action Aid Zimbabwe youth inspirator Diana Harawa said inclusive manifestos should address the fundamentals in communities.
“Genuine dialogue will bring up inclusive manifestos as communities speak out on their challenges rather than having a scenario where politicians create their own manifestos. Each section of citizens must be included through language understandable to locals and issues that echo community struggles and wishes. This would help enhance feedback and accountability because politicians and communities will be engaging,” said Harawa.
In an interview with Community Podium, Member of Parliament for Bulawayo central under Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) Nicola Watson said in her party, a manifesto is a result of collective engagement between politicians and communities where the stakeholders deliberate on the manifesto and together work on solutions.
Zanu PF director for Information, Tafadzwa Mugwadi said his party thrives on consultation and that it has scaled up its consultation efforts in light of the upcoming elections.
“As a party we have set up structures for consultation purposes even at village levels so our manifesto is built upon the real challenges that are faced by communities and we intend to cut across all members of the public even in the remote areas,” said Mugwadi.
Election Series 101 is a Twitter Space platform aimed at tackling electoral issues in the run up to the 23 August harmonised election that was launched on Saturday and will be a regular feature on Twitter every Saturday at 16:30 PM.
