Makoni’s bold hope

Presidential candidate Simba Makoni used the word ‘renewal” a total of 13 times during an exclusive interview with the Mail & Guardian, saying Zimbabwe needed fresh leadership to ‘heal the wounds” of 28 years of President Robert Mugabe’s rule.

Makoni, who declared his candidacy recently, predicts a landslide win against Mugabe based on a campaign platform of reviving the battered economy and restoring political freedoms and property rights. The biggest tasks, he said, will be to lift Zimbabwe out of its deep economic crisis and ‘national despair”.

Makoni disclosed how he confronted Mugabe at a meeting in January over his refusal to allow a ‘renewal” of Zanu-PF, but again gave no real details about the top Zanu-PF officials he claims will rally to his support.

‘I told the president that that there was need for renewal. A renewal of the leadership in the party and the country,” Makoni said, hours after he announced details of his strategy to capture power from Mugabe. ‘I told him that there had been suggestions that I stand as president and that I was prepared to stand.”

Asked how Mugabe reacted, Makoni said the president only ‘acknowledged” the challenge.

Makoni said he took the decision to contest the presidency after Mugabe, at a meeting of his central committee in March last year, blocked all debate about his succession and declared himself the Zanu-PF candidate.

And as Mugabe unleashed war veterans on to the streets to intimidate his rivals into backing down from their demands for reform, Makoni began to ‘consult widely” among key figures inside the ruling party and among ‘the ordinary people”, he said.

‘What I am offering is the chance for hope,” said Makoni, who earlier unveiled his campaign’s symbol, a rising sun.

But Makoni has faced stern scrutiny after he failed to unveil any top-level associates, as was widely expected.

Since speculation about Makoni’s candidacy began in early January reports have linked him to top former and serving army figures. Notable among them are retired generals Solomon Mujuru and Vitalis Zvinavashe.

Last week, as tension within the party soared after Makoni’s announcement, war veterans briefly barred the two men from entering the Zanu-PF headquarters. But Dzinashe Machingura, a war veteran and former army major who backs Makoni, denied this week that Mujuru is directly involved in Makoni’s bid for the presidency, while still claiming that Makoni has ‘Mujuru’s sympathy”.

State media reported this week that the senior Zanu-PF figures that backed Makoni’s bid had ‘developed cold feet”.

Makoni kept up his rhetoric about broad support within Zanu-PF for his candidacy, but he declined to name the Zanu-PF men he claims back him.

‘I never said I was going to parade people. I consulted not only within Zanu-PF but with the ordinary people of Zimbabwe. I have experienced their daily pain. These are the people who will deliver a resounding verdict come March 29,” Makoni said.

With new divisions emerging inside Zanu-PF over primary elections, Makoni has seen an opportunity to reach out to his former comrades.

He said: ‘I particularly invite those compatriots who have been pushed into despair and despondency, but have the qualities of leadership, to please enter the race. I also invite those in Zanu-PF who share our yearning for renewal to contest the election as independent candidates under our banner. The time for decision has come. Jump off the fence. Climb out of the false comfort zones.”

And amid threats from war veterans and charges by other opposition groups that conditions remain unsuitable for free and fair elections, Makoni still predicts that he will garner a huge victory over Mugabe.

‘From what we have gathered from the voter registration centres, the excitement is real. I do not see anything less than a landslide win for us.”

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, which runs the elections, reported an increase in the number of new voter registrations this week. Makoni claims credit for the surge.

Zimbabwe has the fastest-shrinking economy in the world, with inflation officially put at 26 000%, but estimated by the International Monetary Fund at 150 000%. But Makoni believes a quick recovery is still possible.

‘This economy can still be turned around. We are not beyond repair. What we need to do is restore the confidence of our people, to re-engage them around the cause for national renewal,” he said.

Makoni is building his bid on a strategy he claims will ‘restore our peoples’ independence, dignity and confidence”.