Mak turns to Mac in race for State House

Mak turns to Mac in race for State House

INTERNET CRAZE: Simba Makoni’s Facebook account (click here)

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By Lebo Nkatazo

THE internet age might be felt more keenly in western countries where technology has advanced, but that is not stopping Zimbabwean presidential candidate Simba Makoni from tapping into the mobilising power of the internet.

With virtually no media coverage of his campaign activities in Zimbabwe’s strictly controlled state media, Makoni, who is running as an independent in presidential elections on March 29, has set up a website Simbamakoni.com and another account on the social utility network site, Facebook (see).

A common thread on both websites is a rallying call to millions of Zimbabweans based outside the country – estimated at over 4 million – “to call your relatives and tell them to vote Makoni, and in time”.

Makoni’s Facebook account, only registered on February 18, had already attracted close to 1000 supporters in two weeks. His supporters, young and old, white and black, come from all corners of the globe – from Cape Town, South Africa, to Portsmouth on the South Coast of England.

Political commentator Dr Alex Magaisa says the exiled Zimbabwean community’s role in influencing a vote is underestimated.

He said: “While you have to appreciate the limited effect the internet might have in rural Zimbabwe, internet mobilisation is a useful thing to have if only because most people in the Diaspora have access to it.

“If you successfully reach out to this global audience of Zimbabweans, and you convince them to influence voters back home who are beneficiaries of their financial support… that’s a gain. Every vote matters.”

Makoni, having waited until February 5 to announce he was running, is relying on a strategy of “quick, swift and immediate impact”, Magaisa observed, “and the internet, if used strategically and skilfully, can raise a candidate’s profile and momentum.”

CANVASSING: Makoni campaigns on a roadside in Esigodini, Matabeleland South last Sunday

Magaisa says the success of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in grabbing the attention of a global audience in the last decade has been partly through the utilisation of friendly international bloggers and Zimbabwean websites to maintain its momentum.

“Ultimately, the success of an internet mobilisation strategy is how it influences communication between the Diaspora and the home community. In future elections, we are likely to see more and more focus on Zimbabweans based outside the country’s borders,” he observed.

Makoni’s employment of the internet, his supporters say, also has a focus on the post-election period, should he win.

Launching his manifesto, the former finance minister, 58, who faces Robert Mugabe, 84, and opposition MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, 56, in the presidential race, promised to “establish a frameworks for the Diaspora to play an important role in support of industrialisation as both active participants and investors”. He also vowed to “attract back skills from the Diaspora to strengthen service provision”.

WEB PRESENCE: Presidential candidate Simba Makoni’s official website (click here)

In countries like the United States, the internet has been playing a major role in influencing the fortunes of presidential candidates.

Ross Mayfield, writing in the New York Times, said blogs will likely transform the way presidential candidates campaign in much the same way that radio did for Roosevelt in the 1930's and TV for J.F. Kennedy in the 1960's.

“From news coverage to fundraising, political satire to smear campaigns, pep rallies to polling, blogs to email, the rules of Presidential campaigning have been rewritten on and by the web,” Drew Neisser, president and CEO of Renegade Marketing Group observed recently.

Zimbabwe might still be a long way off from those heady days, but Makoni’s novelty could be the start of a new phenomenon that could come into play in future elections, if not this one.
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