Simba Makoni slams political corruption & greed at party launch

By Alex Bell
01 July 2009

Former Finance Minister Dr Simba Makoni on Wednesday slammed political corruption and greed during the official transformation of his Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn (MKD) movement into a political party.

A strong contingent of diplomats, media representatives and activists from MKD gathered for the official launch in Mbare, under the theme: ‘Real Change.’ The theme was decided as an ironic spin-off from the MDC’s campaign slogan - ‘Change you can trust,’ which the new MKD says is a promise that the MDC has not delivered on.

At Wednesday’s launch, Dr Makoni criticised the unity government for ushering in ‘fake change,’ while ‘bickering for vehicles’ and fighting internally for power and jobs. He accused the government of not taking the interests of the people to heart, but insisted that MKD was prepared to assist the government if it proves otherwise.

The MKD’s interim chairman, Godfrey Chanetsa during his opening speech lamented the lack of real change in Zimbabwe since the formation of the unity government. He said there was a real need for a third party to ‘rescue Zimbabweans from misery.’

Real change in the country has been pegged as the ultimate test of the unity government’s sincerity, particularly that of ZANU PF. But change has been slow to come. Media freedom is still restricted (evidenced by the barring of unaccredited journalists from the Comesa summit), arbitrary arrests are still taking place, peaceful protests are still violently dispersed, unemployment is rampant and there are still accounts of retributive violence prompting fear.

At the same time, according to an MKD statement, three video production teams refused to film Wednesday’s launch, saying they were afraid of reprisals and that their companies would be closed down.

Dr Makoni is launching the new party in the wake of his own corruption-linked controversy. The transformation of MKD into a political party has been delayed three times this year after his former colleagues in the movement, Ibbo Mandaza and Kudzai Mbudzi, deserted him and accused him of financial impropriety and maladministration.