Launching his election manifesto in Harare Wednesday, opposition leader, Simba Makoni, pledged to undertake immediate and urgent tasks to resolve the food, power, fuel, water and sanitation problems’ affecting the country.
Makoni said he would crush the black market by removing the structural distortions in the economy. He also expressed need for the independence of the central bank and said he would stop the RBZ from dabbling in quasi-fiscal policies.
He promised that his government would initiate a people-driven constitution making process. He also highlighted the need to re-engage the international community as well as bi-lateral and multi-lateral lenders to access desperately needed balance-of-payments support.
An ex-Finance minister in Mugabe’s government, Makoni is hoping to channel discontent with the state’s worsening economy into votes in the election on March 29.
He knows the hazards of doing this.
Pedzisai Ruhanya of Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition said Makoni’s manifesto was bankrupt and content free adding there was nothing new in the manifesto.
 Makoni accused Mugabe and his ruling party of ruling through fear and vote buying, alleging farming implements were being used as part of a stimulus package on the eve of the election.
Makoni said: The Zimbabwe of today … is a nation full of fear, a nation in deep stress, a tense and polarised nation, a nation also characterised by disease and extreme poverty. However, we believe that solving these problems will not be intractable once we remove these barriers and impediments that bar the expression and pursuit of our common interest and common purpose.
The centre-piece of Makoni’s manifesto is a declaration that he would institute a process of national healing and reconciliation.
Makoni reportedly has the support of senior figures in President Mugabe’s government. He said he invited his compatriots who have been pushed into despair and despondency, to join him in 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, Makoni said.
Realising the hazards of challenging the iron-fisted ruler in the March 29 poll, Makoni said: Let this not be a contest of fists, a contest of stones, knives and guns, but let it be a contest of ideas, a contest of vision and commitment to the people. No one is worth killing for, nor dying for, not Mr Mugabe nor Simba Makoni.
In a chilling warning, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai chronicled the hazards of opposition politics at a press briefing in Jozi.
Tsvangirai said: Opposition leaders in Zimbabwe face arrest, beating, tear gas, treason trials and the shock of seeing their candidates and supporters murdered. Dr Makoni knows this, he has seen it from the safety of the Zanu (PF) politburo. He may soon experience it first hand
Post published in: News