Moyo slams Zanu PF 'politics of patronage'

Moyo slams Zanu PF 'politics of patronage'

MOYO

• PROFILE: JONATHAN NATHANIEL MOYO

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By Staff Reporters

ZIMBABWE'S sacked Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said on Sunday that he was better off as an independent election candidate than a "hostage to the whims and caprices of the politics of patronage".

A day after President Robert Mugabe fired him from his cabinet, Moyo said in a statement that he accepted the decision "with humility and respect" and that it came as no surprise.

Mugabe announced that Moyo has been fired from both the government and the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) because he had broken party rules by flagging himself as an independent candidate in the March 31 elections.

"I had come to accept that it was sunset, and the letter from the president ... was most definitely on the way," said Moyo in the statement published in the state-run Sunday News.

"I had also come to understand and appreciate that it is far better to be with the people and to work for them than to be hostage to the whims and caprices of the politics of patronage.

"After deep-seated soul-searching and having taken into full account all the relevant personal and national pros and cons of the matter, I have, with a clear heart and a clear mind, freely resolved to accede to the overwhelming wishes and pleas of the people of Tsholotsho who have nominated me to stand as their parliamentary candidate on 31 March, 2005.

"I wish it known that my decision is not, by any stretch of imagination, a statement of defiance of anyone or anything but fundamentally a principled expression of respect of the clear and present wishes of the people of Tsholotsho," he said.

In his statement Moyo chronicled developments since November last year when he was accused of organising a secret meeting to push for a rival candidate to the powerful post of Zanu-PF vice president.

He accused Zanu-PF heavyweights of blocking him from running in the election even though his supporters wanted him to stand.

Moyo boasted that he helped save a sinking ship over the five years he served Mugabe's government and party.

"I am sure history and posterity will record the fact that my service to the president started at a time when the presidency, the ruling party and our nation were individually and collectively facing an unprecedented onslaught from a number of hostile foreign interests and powers.

"I am very pleased that I had the honour and privilege to be one of the very few ... who played pivotal roles in the fight to preserve, defend and protect Zimbabwe's sovereignty and democracy," he said.

The former university lecturer, who made a dramatic about-turn from fierce critic to Mugabe's loudest cheerleader, rose rapidly through party ranks to become one of the president's closest advisers and spin doctors.

Moyo is considered the architect of Zimbabwe's restrictive media laws adopted in 2002, barring foreign journalists from working in Zimbabwe and tightening controls on domestic media - Sapa-AFP-Staff Reporter
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