Popular former presidential candidate, Simba Makoni, is now into commercial farming and spoke to Trevor Ncube about farming and politics :
Key Points
1. He farming wheat, cotton, beef and maize
2. Command Agriculture is part of contract farming and it is not ideal but necessary.
3. Shortage of inputs is a major issue in Zimbabwe Agriculture.
4. Makoni says we need to get Zimbabwe working normally.
5. Relations between leaders and the led, companies and clients, such that citizens can pursue their daily chores without impediments. Zimbabweans are facing too many hurdles.
6. Zimbabweans are operating under a hostile environment, that has been created over the past 40 years.
7. There is a lot of work to be done by everyone who claims to be a leader at every level.
8. Zimbabweans are no longer as honest as before.
9. Zimbabweans like to pass the buck.
10. The first step is for Zimbabweans to accept that we have a myriad of problems. We have to help ourselves.
11. The age two types of Zimbabweans, ones that are in denial and ones that admit that we are in serious problems.
12. Among the leaders, the denial is more entrenched than among the ordinary Zimbabweans, all leaders.
13. Those of us who accept our current state must do more to convince those who don’t accept the reality.
14. We should talk to our young people so that they don’t grow up in this denial state.
15. It’s not easy, but anything that is labeled work is not easy.
16. The environment is very hostile, everyone wants the easy life.
17. This should not deter us from tying.
18. If we don’t try, we are condemning future generations.
19. Makoni says he is talking about the Zimbabwean society as a whole church, politics, sport and every day life.
20. It is the same on opposition and ruling party, the toxic politics of command.
21. Makoni regrets that we have taken our country and people down this path.
22. We had an. Opportunity to create a heaven on earth.
23. Makoni studied chemistry and he said his ambition was to work in a lab.
24. At a young age, when he was appointed Finance Minister, he said he felt gratitude.
25. When the government was formed he was out of the country, to represent the patriotic front.
26. He said he talked to Mugabe who told him that he had selected him because he was the best man for the job.
27. Makoni regrets that he did not pursue his dream to extract medicine from herbs.
28. However he is grateful that he did not box himself.
29. In 1989 when Geoff Nyarota published Willogate, thats when he realised Zimbabwe was going down the wrong road.
30. When Mugabe landed at the airport, Mugabe said this was a minor Scandal.
31. Now corruption is pervasive growing from that moment.
32. Zimbabwe ‘s leadership is pre occupied with accumulation.
33. When he came back from SADC in 1994.he began to see that ZANU-PF was sliding.
34. Many others who believed that they could make a change from within.
35. By 2000, he saw that the change he was trying to make from within was not possible.
36. In 2000 he decided to run as a candidate.
37. In the annual conference of 1994, that is the first time when comrades in the conference began to vocalize the direction in which we were going as a country.
38. Every year, we believed we could make change. At the policy level and at the leadership level.
39. Mugabe declared that there was no vacancy.
40. 2006 held promise for change at the Goromonzi Conference. There was a feeling that sufficient progress had been made to allow a new leader of the party to take over and form a new leadership team.
41. It needed what happened in 2017, that there be a strong force in the party but fear and intimidation came into play and this is when the plan was derailed.
42. Our people live in all kind of fear, including loss of life.
43. There were times when people were meeting an army truck, black dog or driving into a ditch. This fear was and is still present.
44. People were also afraid of losing their privileges.
45. It’s a whole range of fears.
46. The ordinary man on the street is afraid that they may lose their bay At Mbare Musika.
47. Makoni says his relationship with Mugabe was very good.
48. He used to have very good conversations with Mugabe, especially in the earlier years.
49. Mugabe liked to be challenged interlectually.
50. He spent a lot of time speaking with Mugabe at Lancaster. Makoni ‘s Son Takura was born at the time and Chipo was with the women.
51. It was a good cordial relationship.
52. When he left the Ministry of finance, Mugabe went on ZTV and explained that Makoni left by his own choice.
53. There are a few times when he managed to change Mugabe’s mind.
54. Mugabe was not convinced that he ZANU PF was not delivering.
55. In 2008, he had a no holds barred conversation with Mugabe. He told Mugabe that they would lose if they don’t put a new lineup.
56. When Mugabe rejected that on February 5, he announced that he was running as an independent candidate.
57. Makoni said he was not surprised by the way Mugabe reacted.
58. Makoni said he never said a lot of people were going to follow him.
59. Makoni says Mugabe did not take lightly to the fact that Makoni has openly challenged him.
Please watch the video above for more details.
