 Former Finance Minister Simba Makoni to contest in presidential elections set for March 29. Related Articles Makoni making wine from political grapevine Third Way: A force in the political parallel market
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06 February 2008
By Fortune Tazvida
Chemistry graduate and former finance minister Simba Makoni has announced plans to contest in presidential elections next month after his Zanu PF party blocked him from contesting in primary elections that would have enabled him to run for a parliamentary seat.
The surprise u-turn came despite the former SADC Executive Secretary having met President Robert Mugabe at state house and assured him he would not form a breakaway Zanu PF party. How things change in politics!
"Following very extensive and intensive consultations with party members and activists countrywide and also with others outside the party, I have accepted the call and hereby advise the people of Zimbabwe that I offer myself as candidate for the office of president," Makoni told a press conference at the Rainbow Towers in Harare.
"Let me confirm that I share the agony and anguish of all citizens over the extreme hardships that we all have endured for nearly 10 years now. I also share the widely held view that these hardships are a result of failure of national leadership and that change at that level is a pre-requisite for change at other levels of national endeavour,' Makoni added.
His announcement immediately met with suspicion that the ruling party has deliberately deployed him to split the opposition vote in the urban areas while leaving Mugabe to amass votes in his rural heartlands. Zimbabweans across the globe were locked in heated debates over Makoni's decision and its implications for the coming elections. Reports say Arthur Mutambara a leader of the smaller MDC faction is thought to be weighing the possibility of stepping aside and allowing Makoni to run in return for positions in a possible government of national unity.
Nehanda Radio was not immediately able to get comment from the two factions of the MDC but understands Gabriel Chaibva from the Mutambara camp attended Makoni's press conference. In another dramatic development retired Major Kudzai Mbudzi has warned the country's state security organisation against launching a terror campaign against 'their candidate (Makoni) saying they would deal with any such individuals one by one. Mbudzi was suspended from Zanu PF's Masvingo province after criticising the party leadership.
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