ZIMBABWE finds itself in the mess that it is currently in because of leaders who have overstayed, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs minister Eric Matinenga has said.
REPORT BY TATENDA CHITAGU
In an apparent reference to President Robert Mugabe, Matinenga said good rulers should know when to pass on the baton.
Mugabe (89), who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, is the Zanu PF presidential candidate for this year’s harmonised elections.
According to the draft constitution set to go for referendum this month, the Zanu PF leader is free to rule for another 10 years if he wins this year’s decisive elections.
“If we (leaders) did not stay long in power, the country would not have been in the mess that we are in,” Matinenga said on the sidelines of a Copac publicity awareness campaign at Masvingo Civic Centre Hall on Monday.
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Matinenga was responding to journalists who had asked him if he would reconsider his decision to quit active party politics and seek re-election in his Buhera West constituency following the recent death of his preferred heir apparent John Makumbe.
Makumbe, who died last month, had been tipped to take over as MDC-T candidate for Buhera West after Matinenga indicated that he would not seek re-election.
“My position has not changed. I am not seeking re-election. I will not get back. Buhera West is bigger than Makumbe, we will get somebody,” he said.