Zim can’t afford another five years of Mnangagwa failure: Kasukuwere
Exiled former cabinet Minister Saviour Kasukuwere who wants to challenge President Emmerson Mnangagwa in the upcoming presidential elections, said Zimbabwe cannot afford another five years of failure under the Zanu-PF leader.
With the nomination court sitting tomorrow to formally register aspiring candidates ahead of harmonised general elections to be held in August, Kasukuwere is expected in the country in the next few hours to officially launch his bid to remove Mnangagwa.
The former Zanu-PF political commissar fled the country in November 2017 during a military coup that ousted the late former President Robert Mugabe.
Addressing Zimbabweans through a widely circulated letter, Kasukuwere said he was coming to Zimbabwe to stand as an independent presidential candidate.
“I humbly write to you on the eve of the sitting of the nomination court to inform you that I have considered your plea for my return home to participate in our 2023 electoral processes, I accept the call to run for the Office of President of the Republic of Zimbabwe,” read the letter.
“My decision to stand as an independent candidate, painful as it is, arises out of two missed opportunities. Both in December 2017 and September 2022, our party Congress failed to allow fair competition for the Presidency.
“As a result, it failed to unite the membership, forgive the past, and reconcile for the future of our glorious revolution.
“Unfortunately, to this day, notwithstanding a promise to let “bygones be bygones” post-November 2017 and a pledge to “restore the legacy” and values of our liberation movement, we continue to witness exclusionary politics; persecution of members who loyally served the people, the party, the government, and the late founding President, Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe.
“It is unacceptable that the so-called new dispensation has exiled myself and many other comrades over one key disagreement about how the internal succession process ought to have been handled.
“Our position was and remains clear, that without intimidation, and abuse of state institutions, Cde Mnangagwa could never have won and cannot win any leadership position in a fair and open political process.
“Post-November 2017, together, we all gave the “new dispensation” leadership space to govern and to make responsible decisions in uniting the party and the country.
“In his 2018 campaign, Cde Mnangagwa promised to deliver health care for all, electricity, he promised the youth jobs, he promised educational reforms; he promised modern railway system; he promised to mechanise, modernise and grow the economy; he promised to conduct social and security reforms that predicate our international reengagement needs. On all counts, he has failed on his own promises.”
Kasukuwere accused Mnangagwa of failing to run the country adding that the Zanu-PF leader did not deserve another five years leading Zimbabwe.
“The question for the party is whether Cde Mnangagwa must be allowed to fail for another five years at the expense of the people of Zimbabwe?
“The country cannot afford another five years of toxic political differences, a failed economy, and social strife. It is time to settle this by throwing this matter back to the people through this election for them to make a choice between fear and hope.
“His conduct as party leader and state president is averse to the core values of the liberation movement of inclusive, open, and transparent politics. His tenure and leadership style so far have left our party structures the Main Wing, the Women’s League, and the Youth League – badly exposed and threatened by corrupt, foreign, hero-worshipping “for ED” structures, which undermine elected national, provincial and district leaders and are disrespectful to our traditional leaders.
“In his own words, he advised President Mugabe that “the party is not your personal property nor that of your family” and let alone the country,” Kasukuwere wrote.
