ZIMBABWE:Zimbabwe's veteran leader, Robert Mugabe, had his re-election hopes dealt a significant blow this week when a member of his own party entered the race to become the country's next president.
Simba Makoni, a former finance minister and senior member of the ruling Zanu-PF party, told reporters in Harare on Tuesday that he had resigned his party membership and put himself forward as a candidate in next month's presidential election.
The 53-year-old was finance minister until 2002 when he was sacked by Mr Mugabe, who called him an "economic saboteur" for suggesting the country's currency should be devalued to ease economic hardships that had begun to grip the country. The move has been hailed as one of the boldest challenges to Mr Mugabe's reign since he came to power in 1980, when the country won its independence from British colonial rule following 15 years of war, because it has come openly from within his own party.
Mr Makoni, who is said to be untainted by the brutality associated with the ruling party, has the backing of a significant number of Zanu-PF's senior members as well as a breakaway faction of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Those said to be behind him include the country's current vice-president Joice Mujuru.
"I know I will not be in this campaign alone. There will be many of us, a great many of us," he said before adding that he shared "the agony and anguish of all citizens that we have all endured for nearly 10 years". However, it is already clear that Mr Makoni has taken on one of the most dangerous jobs in Africa at the moment following threats made against him yesterday by veterans of Zimbabwe's liberation war, who have remained loyal to Mr Mugabe despite the current economic hardships.
Joseph Chinotimba, deputy leader of the war veterans, told a state-run newspaper that Mr Makoni was a political turncoat who would suffer a humiliating defeat in the March 29th general election.
"We are now going to campaign vigorously for President Mugabe. I feel sorry for Makoni; he has lost the political plot," Mr Chinotimba told the Herald.
He added: "From today [ Wednesday] to the nomination date we will have finished with them. Traitors should know that Zanu-PF has a history of dealing harshly with their kind."