Funding for the Struggle

We are receiving funds into the SA account and this is helping with the struggle here in Zimbabwe. I thought I would remind you of the details so that if you think you can help you could send funds to the SA account - no matter how insignificant. 10 pounds will pay for one delegate to go to Congress. US$500 will pay for a bus or for fuel for a truck to carry delegates. We have to move up to 15 000 people to Congress and then feed them and get them home again.

We have cut our budget to the bone - no T-shirts, no caps or bandana's. The cost of printing documents for Congress has been taken up by one donor and we have about half the food we need. The stats are just enormous - nearly 100 000 meals will be served, thousands of copies of the policy document, new constitution and the reports. The transport bill alone will be at least Z$30 billion.

We have told delegates they must get to Congress on their own steam and rural folk are selling goats and cattle to raise the funds. They are borrowing the cash from their communities and I must tell you that if you come from Binga - your personal transport costs will exceed Z$6 million. If you break these huge numbers down to US dollars they seem manageable - US$140 000 would pay for all the delegates for example.

My own District has rented a truck and they will get up in the early morning and travel to Harare some 600 kilometers away. When they get there they will camp to save money. They will pass through armed roadblocks on the way and face possible harassment and detention. This does not deter them in the slightest and our problem is space - we could have doubled the number of delegates.

If you live in Zimbabwe you can help with food - maize meal, beans and meat are all needed. You could also help with fuel - at Z$200 000 a litre this will cost a bomb. If you live in Harare why not offer to accommodate delegates? We have not been able to allocate a cent to this and are going to ask all delegates from out of town to sleep at the homes local Harare members.

If you live outside the country - send your donations to the following account:

ZIMFUND
Account Number 1589406079
Branch Code 158952
Bank - Nedbank, South Africa
Swift Code NEDSZAJJ

Every bit helps. A similar account is being opened in London but will not be ready in time for Congress. There are no administrative charges or overhead to this operation - it is entirely managed by local members of the MDC who are totally reliable. They will give you a receipt if it is requested and we can even tell you what your gift was spent on.

After Congress we start the campaign for a new constitution - we hope this will be short and effective. It simply will not work if we do not have the funds. If you live outside Zimbabwe this is the one way you can have a direct impact on events here. Many people are sitting on their chequebooks because of the recent split ion the Party - we have put that behind us and you should to. We have the future to capture and this is now in our hands, not Mbeki, not the UN or the USA or the EU - OUR hands. Yours and mine.