AS Zimbabwe gears for a watershed election slated for July 30, 2018, the stage has been set by the recent outcome of the nomination court.
Many candidates have thrown their hats into the ring.
After nearly 18 years of stagnation, the electorate wants candidates to proffer potent campaign narratives detailing the architecture for a better Zimbabwe.
That we have at least many divergent viewpoints in a country of under 15 million people is a boon for democracy, but uninspiring for national unity which is an essential ingredient for development.
Weeks into the campaign, I think my view resonates with the bulk of the electorate when I say that opposition messages which are at best termed diatribes lack substance.
Simply put, no opposition candidate has provided a grand vision for the future of Zimbabwe.
Talk is cheap, dirt cheap and the opposition is big on talk and small on action.
Their front runner, Nelson Chamisa, has thus far proven to be a comedy of errors.
From his monumental faux pas at campaign rallies that betray his sexism and disdain for his audience to his social media boobs, he is hardly inspiring.
Internal strife which has often turned nasty does not befit one vying to be handed the levers of power.
The general consensus around the current crop of opposition candidates, from north to south, east to west, is that they are uninspired at best.
None of them has provided brilliant ideas.
We don’t hear wide-ranging reforms from these candidates.
Instead, we hear whining about electoral reforms and promises anchored on delusions of grandeur.
Thus far, it’s been completely style over substance.
Listening to Chamisa’s and all opposition speeches at rallies, one would think Zimbabwe is still in the politics of attrition. They only speak of the country’s painful past without necessarily charting a course for the future.
Chamisa and his cohorts are living in the past and are out of sync with reality and today’s challenges.
They are still caught up in a time warp.
The opposition has nothing to offer to the masses.
David Mpofu.