A Pan-African research organisation, Afrobarometer has delivered a damning verdict on the President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) initiative with its latest survey showing weak support from citizens.
According to the research network most Zimbabweans prefer a national dialogue that includes other stakeholders such as the church and civic society.
“A new Afrobarometer survey shows that most Zimbabweans think that the national dialogue process should go beyond political parties and include participation by other stakeholders, including businesses, churches, and civil society. But only about one in four citizens endorse the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) framework as the only viable option for bringing stability and development to Zimbabwe, while almost half of citizens do not offer an opinion on the POLAD framework,” said Afrobarometer.
The research group says findings from their survey shows that the call for an inclusive national dialogue is predominant among rural residents.
“Almost three-fourths (73%) of citizens say the national dialogue process in Zimbabwe should go beyond political parties to include other stakeholders, such as businesses, churches, and civil society organizations. The call for an inclusive national dialogue process is more prevalent among rural residents (76%) than urbanites (68%) and among men (78%) than women (68%).
“It is also more common among MDC-Chamisa supporters (85%) than among ZANU-PF adherent (67%). About one in four citizens (28%) say that the ongoing POLAD framework is the only option for bringing about national stability and development in Zimbabwe. Almost as many (23%) disagree with this assertion, while almost half (47%) neither agree nor disagree, “don’t know,” or refused to answer the question.
“Among those who offer an opinion on POLAD, citizens with post-secondary education are least likely to see it as the only option (42%, compared to 60% among those with primary schooling or no formal education). This view is dominant in Harare (70%) but far less common in Mashonaland Central (31%) and West (35%),” added Afrobarometer.
