FORMER Finance minister Simba Makoni has moved up a gear in transforming his Mavambo/Dawn/Kusile movement into a fully-fledged political party after his national management committee last week adopted the proposed party’s constitution, policies and principles.
Sources told the Zimbabwe Independent that at a joint meeting of the national co-ordinating and management committees, Makoni said the party, to be called the National Alliance for Democracy (NAD), would be launched before year-end. The sources said the NAD constitution spells out that the party should be rooted in nationalism and Pan-Africanism.
“The ideology and principles of the party are more or less similar to those of Zanu PF, but make it clear that leadership should be renewable,” one of the sources said.
“The constitution sets a two five-year term limit for the president and also espouses the goals and objectives of the party.”
Makoni left Zanu PF in February to form the movement claiming that President Robert Mugabe’s endorsement during last December’s extraordinary congress in Harare was unconstitutional. He said Mugabe had manipulated party structures into closing the door for leadership renewal.
Makoni contested the March 29 presidential election as an independent candidate against Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and came out a distant third in the poll.
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Denford Magora, the movement’s spokesperson, confirmed last week’s meeting, adding that the adopted draft constitution and the proposed policies and principles have since been taken to the country’s 10 provinces for “further consultation and input” from Mavambo’s supporters and members.
He said all provinces, including the three in Matabeleland that threatened to leave the movement, attended the meeting.
“We are being methodical in our approach because this new party is owned by the people, just as Makoni himself is owned by the people of Zimbabwe,” Magora said. “We must all play our part in ensuring that Zimbabwe becomes a truly stable democracy, eliminating all risks that may see us fall back into a situation where one man can hold the entire nation to ransom.” – Staff Writer.
