News / National
Mugabe blasts Simba Makoni
22 Feb 2014 at 07:23hrs | Views
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe made a scathing attack on his former Finance minister Simba Makoni, describing him as academically gifted, but politically "foolish".
Speaking in a pre-recorded interview broadcast on ZTV on Thursday ahead of his 90th birthday celebrations yesterday, Mugabe also accused the Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn (MKD) leader of attempting to topple MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai when the two parties forged a loose alliance in the run-up to the July 2013 polls.
Mugabe said the decision by his former Zanu PF politburo member to dump the party and establish his MKD project was not only "foolish", but ill-advised.
"Did the people admire him?" Mugabe said sarcastically, while also dismissing the MDC-T as ideologically bankrupt.
Makoni broke ranks with Zanu PF a few months before the 2008 polls, but lost the race to Mugabe after contesting as an independent.
"He thought he could stand there and make the whole population of Zimbabwe as his party. They would vote for him to win, then select the people he wants to work with from other parties. That was his strategy. It doesn't work here," Mugabe said.
The Zanu PF leader said in the 2013 general elections, after realising that MKD was not a viable project, Makoni partnered Tsvangirai hoping to rise up the MDC-T ladder and eventually assume its leadership.
But Makoni dismissed the remarks as Mugabe's personal opinion. "It's not a fact. The reasons I left Zanu PF are known and the reasons I also worked with Tsvangirai are known. I don't see sense in what he is saying. After all, it's not a big issue and it's not important to Zimbabwe," Makoni said.
Speaking in a pre-recorded interview broadcast on ZTV on Thursday ahead of his 90th birthday celebrations yesterday, Mugabe also accused the Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn (MKD) leader of attempting to topple MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai when the two parties forged a loose alliance in the run-up to the July 2013 polls.
Mugabe said the decision by his former Zanu PF politburo member to dump the party and establish his MKD project was not only "foolish", but ill-advised.
"Did the people admire him?" Mugabe said sarcastically, while also dismissing the MDC-T as ideologically bankrupt.
Makoni broke ranks with Zanu PF a few months before the 2008 polls, but lost the race to Mugabe after contesting as an independent.
"He thought he could stand there and make the whole population of Zimbabwe as his party. They would vote for him to win, then select the people he wants to work with from other parties. That was his strategy. It doesn't work here," Mugabe said.
The Zanu PF leader said in the 2013 general elections, after realising that MKD was not a viable project, Makoni partnered Tsvangirai hoping to rise up the MDC-T ladder and eventually assume its leadership.
But Makoni dismissed the remarks as Mugabe's personal opinion. "It's not a fact. The reasons I left Zanu PF are known and the reasons I also worked with Tsvangirai are known. I don't see sense in what he is saying. After all, it's not a big issue and it's not important to Zimbabwe," Makoni said.
Source - NewsDay
