Pro-democracy activist and founder of #ThisFlag Movement Pastor Evan Mawarire yesterday addressed claims that he has fallen too far by running for council. Speaking to H-Metro after the launch of the People’s Own Voice (POVO), a coalition of independent candidates who will be running for Harare City Council seats, Mawarire said,
People must understand that this is not about building interest in an individual. It’s about service. I have served Zimbabwe. The last two years for me have been about serving Zimbabwe. Speaking up for those who are oppressed, those who are living under the corruption, the injustice and the poverty that the governance that we had in the country brought to us. So for me this is a continuation of the journey, it’s not starting afresh. It’s not as if I have lost anything at all. If anything, I have gained, gained the opportunity to serve people so for me it’s about picking a place where I will be most effective in serving people. I am a community organizer, that’s what I love doing and council provides me with that opportunity to think about the kind of solutions that we need.
…MP for me is not something that I wanted because I wanted to devote my time and my energies to council. On the ground, grassroots, organizing, listening to people, bringing local solutions to local problems.
Speaking on Twitter, Mawarire added,
We must never be defined by what our oppressor did to us. Whilst Challenging Mugabe was necessary, it is not the height of leadership in Zimbabwe, instead serving the least of us is. We must not tire to go where the need is greatest and the help is least. People’s Own Voice #POVO
More: H-Metro