This is a rhetorical question, which you probably expect me to say that Zimbabwe will remain the same as Robert Mugabe will remain president with a majority in parliament and the MDC will contest the elections saying they were rigged, they will go to court and people will riot for a bit and all is bad will end bad, right? NO!

I would like to express a bit of hope for Zimbabwe. From what I can gather the MDC is claiming to have won both the presidency and parliament by a reasonable margin. But the official results from the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission (ZEC) show the MDC with a slit lead in parliamentary elections only, no other results are out. So if the Movement for Democratic Change wins, will there be change in Zimbabwe? I hope so. Firstly, the people would have their choice in leadership. That would be a victory for democracy and I think a confidence booster for democracy in Africa after the Kenya fiasco. The people of Zimbabwe will hopefully have a new and refreshing style of leadership. This will hopefully lead to a much needed economic turn around. More so the huge shadow Robert Mugabe had cast on Zimbabwean politics since the 1970s will somewhat shrink and hopefully disappear. The people of Zimbabwe for the first time will have new political leadership. Most of the young and old of Zimbabwe have only experienced two leaders, Ian Smith of Rhodesia and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. I think there is a desperate need for new faces, polices and ideas in Zimbabwean politics.

A new political dawn for Zimbabwe would have massive economic and social results. Firstly on the economic front, I think Zimbabwe would hopefully get a huge boost in investor confidence and therefore money. The Zimbabwean Dollar would loose its ‘toilet paper money’ status and would rejoin other real African currencies. Secondly on the social front, I think it would help restore a sense of pride and self respect for the Zimbabwean people who have suffered enormous hardship for the last 10 years. Zimbabwean would not only associate Zimbabwe with hardship but with hope for a better future.
Zimbabwe would hopefully regain its seat amongst Africa’s most promising democracies. It would build on the foundations people like Joshua Nkomo left in the 1980s and those that Mugabe built before he led Zimbabwe done this disastrous road. Zimbabwe has some of the most potential in Africa for strong economic growth and political leadership in Africa. It has one of the highest literacy rates in Africa. It has a very educated work force and it has a developed Secondary and Tertiary sector, which may be expended on the back of its massive mineral resources (It should be noted that Zimbabwe is only second to South Africa in the largest Platinum and Chrome resources in Africa). Even with a 10-year old economic meltdown, Zimbabwe still has reasonable, although dilapidated infrastructure, which can be redeveloped quicker than starting again.

I guess this may sound like a fantasy to some of you. It feels like one to me but I can only hope that these elections can usher in a new dawn for the people of Zimbabwe, I think they deserve some good news.