Mlondolozi Ndlovu
Despite the economic meltdown that the country is currently facing, which is characterized by power shortages, liquidity crunch, high unemployment and a vast other challenges, Zimbabweans still trust President Mugabe as their leader, a research institute has established.
Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI) has noted that despite the fact that the majority of those interviewed noted that the country was going in the ‘wrong direction’, they still had trust in President Mugabe’s leadership qualities.
The findings which were informed by a research conducted between 6 to 8 July 2015 noted that;
“Of all key institutions and key individuals considered in the current survey, religious leaders are the most trusted. Trust for the President is high among the adult population and comes second after religious leaders with 62%.” read the research findings presented at the media centre on Tuesday.
Ironically the research further revealed that while Zimbabwean interviewed for this particular public poll said they would vote for Zanu PF most of them said they feared to criticize him, which analysts like DR Ruhanya questioned.
“This has a lot of contradictions, how can Zimbabweans accept that the country is in the wrong direction yet they say they trust the leader of the country. It’s like saying someone wants to drag you to the sea and you trust that person”
Ruhanya however said it could be true that Zimbabweans prefer the devil they know than the angels they don’t know since the largest political party in Zimbabwe (MDC-T) was confused.
“I agree with MPOI, the people of Zimbabwe cannot trust the opposition political parties. How do you trust a party which engages in a no reforms, no elections campaign. Look how they will lose the Nkulumane seat (after the death of Thamsanqa Mahlangu) a place which is known to be their stronghold. How do they explain that to the electorate, surely they can’t be trusted’ he said.
Most of the journalist and civil society members who attended the survey presentations explained concern that the findings could be as a result of the fear of the unknown among Zimbabweans, saying most of the respondents could have feared victimisation.
The research was conducted among 1200 Zimbabweans in all the country’s provinces in both rural and urban areas.
