Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has been arrested four times in the past seven days, will make an impassioned plea this week to young people around the world to mobilize in order to help the humanitarian and political crisis in Zimbabwe. The MDC leader was speaking in advance of the upcoming leadership run-off election between President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), scheduled for 27 June 2008.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with pan-African entertainment network, MTV Networks Africa and US campus TV network MTVu, Tsvangirai will urge young people of all nations to take an active role in issues affecting Zimbabwe in order to secure a brighter future for Zimbabweans of all ages.

MTV base meets Morgan Tsvangirai was shot at a secret location in Johannesburg with MTV base VJ Sizwe Dhlomo just minutes before Tsvangirai was due to fly back into Zimbabwe after six weeks self-enforced exile in neighbouring South Africa. MTV was approached by the Dispatch Foundation, a charity created by the US acoustic trio Dispatch with the aim of providing humanitarian resources to the people of Zimbabwe, to highlight the issues currently affecting Zimbabwe.

During the course of the 30-minute interview, Morgan Tsvangirai speaks about the potential of Zimbabwe’s youth in driving transformation in that country and his vision for a democratic Zimbabwe. He also discusses the recent xenophobic attacks on Zimbabwean refugees living in South Africa, and the personal risk he faces in returning to Zimbabwe ahead of the elections. The devoted husband and father-of-six also took time to reflect on the bright future he forsees for his own 14-year old twin sons. During the course of the interview, MTV provided a platform for four African youths from Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Angola and Uganda to pose testing questions to the presidential hopeful on issues ranging from corruption to the stance of South African president Thabo Mbeki on the Zimbabwean crisis.

Commented Alex Okosi, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, MTV Networks Africa, ‘“MTV meets” is a great platform that provides our audience with an opportunity to interact with the leaders shaping our continent. We are delighted that Morgan Tsvangirai was able to give young Africans his honest and candid view of the Zimbabwe situation, and hope that it inspires young Zimbabweans to head to the polls on 27 June.”

MTV base meets Morgan Tsvangirai will air in Zimbabwe and across the rest of sub-Saharan Africa on Sunday 15 June at 14:30 CAT on MTV base via the DStv satellite platform (DStv Channel 322). The programme will be repeated on Monday 16 June at 22:00 CAT. PSAs based on excerpts from the interview will also air on a coalition of MTV networks in the USA including Emmy award winning network mtvU, MTV, MHD, VH1 and VH1 Soul and VH1 Classic, asking viewers to petition South African President Thabo Mbeki, the South African Development Committee and other African leaders to help ensure there is a fair runoff in Zimbabwe at the end of the month. To watch the full interview with Morgan Tsvangirai, go to http://zimbabwe.mtvu.com/.

To view the PSAs on the Zimbabwe election please go to http://zimbabwe.mtvu.com/run-off/, http://zimbabwe.mtvu.com/apartheid/ or http://zimbabwe.mtvu.com/the-youth/.