I am partly to blame for Zim crisis, Makoni

Leadership failure to blame … Ex-Finance minister, Simba Makoni

Makoni gave an analogous description of what has come to be known as the Zimbabwean crisis.

He said: “If I were a medical doctor I would say this patient is in critical condition in terms of care. The people are fearful, despondent, suffering; and the people can’t see the future.

“The landmass is also distraught, you see potholes on the road, gullies in the countryside, buildings deteriorating and were last painted 20 years ago; forests are being denuded.

“So, the landmass is comparable to the state of Zimbabwe the people; it’s characterised by pain.”

The Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn leader made these remarks in an interview with the BBC Monday, independent Zimbabwe’s 36th anniversary.

Asked if, as a former Zanu PF member, he felt responsible for Zimbabwe’s current situation, Makoni said: “Yes, quite clearly because I have been among the leaders of this nation right from its foundation.”

“When I left Zanu PF the statement I made on February 5, 2008 was that the condition that Zimbabwe finds itself in is a result of failure of leadership. So, how can I absolve myself? If it has been a failure of leadership and I have been a leader clearly, I must accept partial responsibility.”

Makoni then traced the country’s problems to the days of the liberation war, saying the purpose of the struggle was never clearly articulated then, allowing greed to hold sway.

He said: “We never defined clearly what the purpose of the struggle was. If you follow what our leaders were saying during the struggle it was all about democracy; about the people and the welfare of the people but the reality of the matter is that it became a quest for power and material accumulation, that’s what went wrong.”

On whether there was hope for Zimbabwe? “Yes, definitely,” said Makoni.

He then elaborated on his patient-Zimbabwe analogy.

“It’s a like condition that has been allowed to fester but there are medicines and there are procedures and we may even include surgeries. I don’t think Zimbabwe’s situation is difficult to correct.

“What needs to be done is not very hard. The capacities to do it are there if we had the right direction and if those in leadership behaved in the interest of and for the good of the people rather than in our interests and for our good.”