'Tsvangirai wanted Mthuli Ncube in 2018 Cabinet'

Published: 3 hours ago

ZIMBABWE'S opposition once identified current Finance minister Professor Mthuli Ncube as a potential candidate for the same portfolio in a prospective MDC Alliance government ahead of the 2018 elections, former opposition spokesperson Nkululeko Sibanda has revealed.

Speaking at a press conference in Bulawayo on Monday, Sibanda said the late opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had begun assembling a team of technocrats and policy experts he believed could form a functioning government in the event of an electoral victory over Zanu PF.

The remarks offer rare insight into the opposition's pre-2018 election strategy and preparations for a possible transition to power before Tsvangirai's death in February 2018.

Sibanda said he personally identified Ncube, who was then an academic at the University of Oxford, as a suitable candidate for the Finance ministry.

"I ‘hired' that guy for the Finance minister role in Oxford," Sibanda said.

"Tsvangirai, at the time, was a good friend of mine. He came to me and said we are hoping to form a government in 2018 and ministries are important."

Professor Ncube later joined President Emmerson Mnangagwa's administration after the 2018 elections, taking up the Finance minister post.

According to Sibanda, the opposition's approach at the time centred on building a credible economic team capable of stabilising the economy and implementing reforms if elected into government.

He said discussions around a transitional administration and a national reform agenda had reached an advanced stage before Tsvangirai's passing.

Sibanda argued that Tsvangirai's death significantly disrupted the opposition's readiness for governance and weakened its electoral strategy.

"What we said was that we had seen that it was going to be impossible to get everybody together or to win against a manipulated election," he said.

"The strategy was very simple going into 2018."

He added that the opposition intended to move political debate away from personalities and focus instead on policy-driven governance reforms.

During the same event, Sibanda also criticised politically connected businessman Wicknell Chivayo, questioning the source of his wealth amid worsening public service delivery.

"For as long as I'm going to a hospital that has no medication and Chivayo is meant to sit next to (South African President Cyril) Ramaphosa, then something is wrong," he said.

He accused Zimbabwe's political and economic elite of benefiting from state-linked wealth while ordinary citizens faced deteriorating infrastructure, healthcare shortages and economic hardship.

Veteran journalist Tapfuma Machakaire, who also spoke at the event, called for a shift away from personality-driven politics, urging greater emphasis on institutions and citizen participation in governance.
- newsday