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Mugabe says Makoni is intelligent academically, but very foolish politically

President Robert Mugabe today said former Finance Minister Simba Makoni was intelligent academically but very foolish politically. In an interview marking his 90th birthday Mugabe said Makoni, who was once one of the front-runners to succeed Mugabe, was foolish and ill-advised to leave the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front in 2008 to contest for president. “Simba Makoni thought he was above everybody else and he did not need to have a party in order to win. Did the people admire him? He thought he could stand there and make the whole population of Zimbabwe as his party. They would vote for him to win then mushure imomo wozosarudza vanhu vaanoda vanenge vahwina kunemamwe maparty. That was his strategy. It doesn’t work here…. So they rejected him, Simba Makoni. After his rejection, ah, in this last election, well mid-way he tried to form his Mavambo and his friends deserted him. But to go to elections this time he thought he was too naked in 2008; he must dress up and then Mavambo, it’s not adequate dress. NaTsvangirai has problems nanaBiti uko. If l go to Tsvangirai and say let’s go together, Tsvangirai will agree in the hope that should he win there he could then, in due course, take over from Tsvangirai. Kuhwandira munhu uku aneparty yake zvake. That did not work too; poor Makoni. Intelligent academically, but very foolish politically.”

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Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

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