Bob stuck in 70s, can’t embrace 21st century

via Bob stuck in 70s, can’t embrace 21st century 07/05/2014 NewZimbabwe

OPPOSITION Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn (MKD) leader, Simba Makoni says he will not join the Tendai Biti proposed coalition of opposition forces but would be part of his envisaged  “grand coalition” of all political actors and non-politicians.

Addressing a media briefing in Harare Wednesday, the former Finance Minister accused both President Robert Mugabe and MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai of presiding over what he termed big man politics.

Makoni said he has not yet been approached by Biti’s renewal group on the formation of a coalition, but said he will not be part of an arrangement that seeks to exclude certain individuals from it.

This comes after MDC leader Welshman Ncube reportedly expressed interest to join forces with the “expelled” MDC-T secretary general on condition that his nemesis, Tsvangirai was out of the picture.

Makoni said he envisaged a grand coalition that would bring together Zimbabweans from politics, churches and business in a bid to remedy the country’s deteriorating political, social and economic crisis.

“We must have capacity to work with everybody. MKD is not looking to working with Welshman Ncube and not Tsvangirai,” he said, “We are looking to working with both of them.

“MKD is not seeking to exclude Zanu PF because there are good people in Zanu PF who can contribute immensely to solving the problems of our country. They are not only capable of destroying although they have in the main, destroyed; they are also capable of building.”

The former Zanu PF politburo member said he has since met the feuding MDC-T politicians over their split but both have blamed each other for the crisis.

He said he was not convinced the MDC-T differences could not be bridged, adding that local politicians must learn to abandon their narrow political ambitions and focus on nation building.

Makoni did not spare Biti either, whom he said had rushed into making far-reaching decisions before he and his comrades could fully comprehend the problem at hand and the solutions thereto.

Makoni ditched Zanu PF on the eve of nomination in February 2008 to challenge his former boss President Mugabe, in a presidential election he later came a distant third.

He had no kind words for Mugabe whom he said no longer had any capacity to solve the country’s multi-pronged crisis.

“I think where we are now, with due respect, and l respect President Mugabe a lot, as a father … l have a lot of issues with what he is doing to our country and its people.

“I think the creation of the future of Zimbabwe that some of us are dreaming of is beyond President Mugabe’s capacity not just because he is 90 years old but l think even his mind-set is not able to look at the future.”

Makoni continued, “But he (Mugabe) would have a role to play in facilitating that those who are capable of creating the future can go ahead and do it and the first thing would be to free his comrades to act on their convictions.

“He should unshackle the comrades in the politburo, the comrades in the central committee so that they can act on what they believe in.”

The Mavambo leader added, “There are some comrades who are so much stuck in Chimoio that to jump into Zimbabwe in the 21st century would prove difficult.

“If he (Mugabe) was capable of envisaging a Zimbabwe in the 21st century, he would not be doing some of the things that he has done in the last decade and a half.”

Makoni said all leaders in Zimbabwe, including himself, have failed the people and must be blamed collectively as opposed to singling out Zanu PF for the rot.