VOA常速英语2008年-Zimbabwe Campaigns Use New Technologies to Reac

By Loirdham Moyo
Mutare, Zimbabwe
25 March 2008

Zimbabwean political parties are using innovative¹ methods of attracting prospective² voters for the March 29 presidential elections. For example, they provide the undecided with text messages about their platforms, or use slogans and jingles³ to assault their opponents. From Mutare, reporter Loirdham Moyo says some of texts amuse and infuriate members of the public, but sometimes fail to convince them.

 

The three main candidates are using technology to their advantage, by text messaging the most important aspects of their campaign to supporters.

 

At the same time, ordinary Zimbabweans are forwarding humor about the presidential hopefuls to one another.

 

One of the most popular messages, at the moment, among Mutare residents is one that reads "President Robert Mugabe should be sent to farm, while Morgan Tsvangirai of the opposition⁴ movement For Democratic Change should be sent to school... And [former ruling party finance minister] Simba Makoni must be allowed to rule."

 

The message is believed to the brain child of Makoni's backers.

 

Their play on words reminds members of the public of president Mugabe's controversial land reform program, while making fun of Tsvangirai's educational background. Of course, being Makoni supporters, it's clear they believe the former finance minister's charisma⁵ speaks for itself.

 

While sending text messages is a relatively⁶ cheap - and direct -- campaign tool, the three major cell phone providers have acknowledged many messages have not been delivered because system crashes. A Telecel official, who requested anonymity⁷, says many customers who complain they're not able to make calls can however send messages.

 

Another of makoni's campaign messages doing the rounds tackles the failing power supplies (also called "simba" in the vernacular).

 

The "sms", or text message, reads "There is no power is Zimbabwe: water has no power. The currency has no power. Everything in Zimbabwe has no power, so vote for someone with power... Vote Simba (Makoni)."

 

Considering the mounting challenges faced by Zimbabweans, some say at least the text messages bring a smile to their face.

 

Some of the MDC's songs have been turned into ring tones by the party faithful. Some songs available on compact disks ask "have you not suffered enough, why continue voting for [the ruling party] ZANU PF ?"

 

ZANU PF's ring tones and screen savers (for cell phones) are more conventional. Many feature efforts to mechanize farming, including images of tractors and harvesters. Ring tones have the following messages "give land to the people", "Vote President Mugabe", "President Mugabe the revolutionary and visionary leader" and "Zimbabwe will never be a colony again".

 

Kudakwashe Maposhere of Mutare says the messages are influencing opinion.

He say, "The messages and ringtones on cellphones have an impact depending on who is sending them.  They play a major role in trying to sway people's behaviour in an election."

But another resident, Pedzisai Marange, disagrees.

 

The 35-year-old says the hype surrounding text messages won't have any impact on voting behaviour...

 

"I do not know much about these messages," he says, "and in any case these will not make any impact on us. We will not be swayed as we already know where we are going to vote for. What is important is to ensure there is change of government."

His view is shared by the Center for Research and Development's Farai Maguwu. He says many are already convinced of which party they're going to vote for. Maguwu says modern technology only helps in terms of creating light-hearted moments at a time when there's very little for Zimbabweans to laugh about.

1 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

2 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

3 jingles   

叮当声( jingle的名词复数 )； 节拍十分规则的简单诗歌

参考例句：

• Can I give Del and Mr. Jingles some? 我可以分一点给戴尔和金格先生吗？
• This story jingles bells for many of my clients. 这个故事对我许多客户来说都耳熟能详。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 charisma   

n.(大众爱戴的)领袖气质，魅力

参考例句：

• He has enormous charisma. He is a giant of a man.他有超凡的个人魅力，是个伟人。
• I don't have the charisma to pull a crowd this size.我没有那么大的魅力，能吸引这么多人。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。