10 things we learned from Dr Nkosana Moyo's Interview with Ruvheneko
In case you missed, 2018 Presidential Candidate, Dr Nkosana Moyo’s interview with Ruvheneko Parirenyatwa on Wednesday, here are just 10 of some of the things we learned.
1. Why he is running
Dr Nkosana Moyo said that his decision to run for President was in response to calls from many people to come and serve his country. He said that for the past 3 months, people have been asking him to come and play his part. He added that he was not the only person that people had asked to come and lead them. Econet founder Strive Masisyiwa had also received the same call.
2. Why launch at Meikles
Dr Moyo said that he would have preferred to launch his party in Highfield where he would have been more accessible and had actually planned on using Jennings Hall in Highfield but he knew that the Zimbabwe Republic Police was not going to grant him permission to do so. He added that security agents from the Central Intelligence Organisation had gone around intimidating people beforehand.
3. State Institutions
Dr Moyo said that the Central Intelligence Organisation, the army, the police and the judiciary were supposed to be institutions of the Zimbabwean State, but were now acting as appendages of Zanu-PF. He said that if elected he would make sure that they act as state institutions and actually serve the interests of all Zimbabweans, saying that the leader of the country is the one who determines the culture of those institutions.
4. National Cohesion
He said that he was going to prioritise unifying all the citizens and building cohesion saying that for any country to succeed the people need to feel that they are one nation. This can only be achieved through servant leadership which works for the benefit of the people. He added that to run a successful country, everyone should be able to compete regardless of age.
5. Role of Government
Dr Moyo said that the main role of government was to create a robust and growing economy. The government should only create a good business environment but should never be both a player and a regulator in the business sector.
6. Forming party with Shingi Munyeza, Evan Mawarire, Trevor Ncube
Dr Moyo dismissed all claims that he had been secretly working with Shingi Munyeza, Pastor Evan Mawarire and Trevor Ncube to launch a new political party. He said all that the information on this issue was false although he did admit that he was willing to work with any Zimbabwean
7. People not registering to vote or not voting
Dr Moyo disputed that Zimbabweans had voter apathy and did not believe in the electoral process. According to him people want to vote but have refrained from doing so because they were not satisfied with the options that were available to them. He added that he believes that Zimbabweans would go out to vote if there was a candidate who addressed their issues.
8. Endorsing Mnangagwa
Moyo denied that he had ever endorsed Vice President Mnangagwa to succeed President Robert Mugabe in an interview with online publication Zimeye. He said that he had only responded to a question on whether Mnangagwa would do things differently from President Mugabe. However, he emphasised that he had never said give Mnangagwa a chance.
9. Land Redistribution
Dr Moyo said that land redistribution should promote productivity by giving the farmers title to the land. That way they can access capital and be more productive.
10. Command Agriculture
Dr Moyo said that he did not support Command Agriculture because of the government’s involvement. He said that the government should only be involved in farming through Agricultural Extension services. He added that the private sector could support farmers without the input of government.
11. Gukurahundi and Unification
Dr Moyo did not address the issue of Gukurahundi expressly. However, he pointed to his own background saying that he has a Ndebele mother, a Karanga father and a Manyika wife and because of this he identified himself with all of Zimbabwe. He said one of the first ways of unifying the country was to choose a cabinet with gender, racial and tribal balance which people would see and not merely be told of.
12. Cabinet
According to Dr Moyo, the current cabinet is bloated and if elected his cabinet would have a maximum of 20, with no deputy ministers. The deputy ministers would be replaced by junior ministers who will all be young people who also sit in cabinet.
