ZIMBABWE’S opposition once considered Finance minister Mthuli Ncube for the same role in a potential MDC Alliance government ahead of the 2018 elections, former opposition spokesperson Nkululeko Sibanda said on Monday.
Speaking at a Press conference in Bulawayo, Sibanda said the late opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had started assembling technocrats and policy experts he believed could run the government if the opposition defeated Zanu-PF.
The comments provide fresh insight into the opposition’s preparations for a transition to power before Tsvangirai’s death in February 2018.
Sibanda said he personally identified Ncube, then an academic at the University of Oxford, for the Finance ministry position.
“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.”
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Ncube later joined President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government as Finance minister after the 2018 elections.
According to Sibanda, the opposition strategy focused on building a team capable of stabilising the economy and implementing reforms.
He said discussions around a transitional government and a national reform agenda were at an advanced stage before Tsvangirai’s death in February 2018.
Sibanda argued that Tsvangirai’s passing on disrupted the opposition’s preparedness for governing 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 said the opposition intended to shift political discourse away from personalities and focus more on policy and governance issues.
During the discussion, Sibanda criticised politically-connected businessman Wicknell Chivayo, questioning the source of his wealth amid worsening public services.
“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.
Sibanda accused the political and economic elite of enriching themselves, while ordinary Zimbabweans faced deteriorating healthcare, poor roads and failing public services.
He reiterated his opposition to Zanu-PF, citing corruption and inequality.
Speaking at the same event, veteran journalist Tapfuma Machakaire urged Zimbabweans to move away from personality-driven politics and embrace broader citizen engagement and community dialogue.
Machakaire said national politics had become too centred on individuals rather than institutions and public participation.