Zim seeks $145m from China for new parliament:

Doctors were on strike due to paltry wages, teachers are going on strike for the same reason and we have the GNU setting to borrow and make comfortable an elite group of parliamentarians to the tune of US$145 million. This we believe is an unnecessary comfort zone being created to plunge morale not only for the civil servants but the majority of ordinary people in and out of Zimbabwe. In MDC we were clamoring for a reduction in cabinet posts and this GNU monster has seemingly changed all that. We now have the biggest cabinet in the world, imagine bigger than America. We need to refocus and know whether we are serving the interests of the people or we are now so obsessed with power that we forget where we came from.

We have MDC at heart and we hope this criticism will be taken as a genuine concern for what we believe is a betrayal of the principles at the formation of this movement. In fact before most such big projects are even embarked on, there is supposed to be consultation with the people of Zimbabwe meaning all stakeholders involved from day one. If we remain mum on such issues we will become irrelevant to our constituencies. We think it will be wise to forget about this project for a long while. We have serious issues to deal with as a nation. If we pour that money to improve our health sector it will go a long way to saving the one important sector that is almost collapsed and the biggest benefit is, it will be enjoyed by all Zimbabweans.

Time has come for us as Zimbabweans to be actively involved in making the hope for a better tomorrow. We in the MDC-USA believe that there are better prospects for a future in Zimbabwe but to remain focused on the founding principles. We need to pay our teachers let us borrow and educate the nation, pay the doctors to save lives, let us borrow to do that and I do not see anyone who would go against that. Do we honestly need all these cabinet positions? It is almost costing US$ 1 million to house each MP in that new parliament proposal. Food for thought.......

Yours truly,

James Charlie-secretary mdc-usa
E-mail: jcharliej@yahoo.com