I’m ready to lead Zim – Mujuru

By Helen Kadirire

Former Vice President and now leader of the opposition Zimbabwe People First (ZPF), Joice Mujuru, says she is ready to stand as a presidential candidate in the eagerly-awaited 2018 national elections.

Speaking in an interview with the Daily News yesterday, Mujuru said if Zimbabweans were willing to support her, she was not afraid to stand against any other contestant as the country’s first female presidential candidate.

Mujuru was sacked from President Robert Mugabe’s warring Zanu PF in the run-up to the party’s sham “elective” congress in December 2014, together with other then senior ruling party officials who included its former secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa and spokesperson Rugare Gumbo, who are now part of her team at ZPF.

“I am very confident of what I am doing and if the people of Zimbabwe see that I am good enough to support, I am ready to stand. I have come a long way fighting for the women’s cause and this is the last leg that I should show this country that here we are, and we can also do things.

“I am asking you (women), are you ready to vote for me? We are in the majority. I have women who are supporting me now and will be having sessions with young professional women who will take me to task about their expectations, needs and wants,” Mujuru told the Daily News.

She said the electorate should not be taken for granted as Zimbabweans could make their own independent decisions without being compelled to go a certain way.

“I have always been telling people since I was in Zanu PF that you do not need to be violent to get votes from the electorate because when I am in the ballot booth, I will be alone and will vote for whoever I want.

“All you have to do is convince people why they should vote for you and not intimidate them. They (Zanu PF) did it in Norton (using violence) and what did they get? Nothing.

“They inflated those figures they got because they got well less than what they said. You can buy or beat people but once they have decided on what they want, you cannot change them,” she added.

Last month, Zanu PF was humbled in the Norton by-election when its little-known candidate, Ronald Chindedza, was beaten hands down by the party’s former Mashonaland West provincial chairman, Temba Mliswa, who contested as an independent candidate.

This was also despite the fact that the Norton by-election had been marked by violence, the controversial parcelling out of residential stands and the holding of mega rallies by vice presidents Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko, among other prominent Zanu PF politicians, as they drummed up support for Chindedza.

Mujuru said Zimbabwe could not afford to hold violent elections, imploring all Zimbabweans to refuse to be used by politicians to foment violence against perceived opponents.

“If we claim that we are a democratic nation, why do we act otherwise? It is like a husband and wife situation. If a man beats a woman, it shows they have no brains to convince their spouses on whatever they want done,” she said. Daily News