Former Industry and Trade Minister, Nkosana Moyo, says he is seriously considering to run as an independent candidate in Zimbabwe’s 2018 presidential election.
In an interview with Studio 7 in Bulawayo on Wednesday, Moyo said he shall “in a few weeks” make an announcement regarding his political ambitions.
Moyo said two opposition parties, ZAPU and the Zimbabwe People First (after the internal strife that saw former vice president Joice Mujuru forming another party), have asked him to contest the presidential election.
But Moyo, who turns 66 in August this year, said he is considering to run as an independent because the history of African politics shows that political leaders fail their citizens because they are often partisan, seeking to satisfy only their party supporters and ignoring the rest
of the populace.
Asked for his take on Moyo’s ambitions, director Pedzisai Ruhanya of the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute, speaking as an independent analyst, said while it is Moyo’s democratic right as a Zimbabwean citizen to aspire for the highest political office in the country, he does not
think Moyo would succeed.
Ruhanya cited former cabinet minister Simba Makoni’s performance as an independent presidential candidate in 2008 and pointed out that in Zimbabwe as well as globally, people are used to voting for political parties and not individuals.
Ruhanya also said it is the folly of many technocrats that because they are experts in certain fields they think they can easily succeed politically.
He noted that politics is a “different ball game.”
Moyo, now based in South Africa had flown into the country to take part in a discussion on the reindustrialization and economic revival of the country.
During the meeting, Moyo also said youth should not sit back and watch while the situation in the country continues to worsen.
He implored the youth to “refuse to be abused”, take responsibility and lead in helping bring about the desired change in the country.
Claris Madhuku of the Platform for Youth Development, shared Moyo’s sentiments, adding that all eligible youth should register to vote and take advantage of the fact that they are the biggest
demographic group in Zimbabwe to bring change in the country.
Moyo, who once worked with the African Development Bank, sits on the boards of a number of blue chip companies as well as being the founder and director of the South African based Mandela Institute for Development Studies.
Moyo, a holder of a physics doctorate and also a career banker, was once appointed by President Robert Mugabe as a trade and industry minister but his tenure was short-lived as he resigned almost immediately after the appointment.
He revealed that this was because he disagreed with the policies espoused by President Mugabe and his ruling Zanu PF party and said that contrary to some press reports at the time claiming that he had resigned after having run away to South Africa, he had had time to discuss his impending departure with the president.