by SAVIOUS KWINIKA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – AN aspiring Zimbabwe presidential candidate has launched his campaign by castigating some rival opposition politicians for calling for sanctions against the country.
Joseph Makamba Busha, also a businessman based in neighbouring South Africa, in what is apparently a veiled criticism of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said any politician who invites sanctions against his country was not worthy leading Zimbabwe.
MDC has two factions, one belonging to Nelson Chamisa, and the mother body belonging to Douglas Mwonzora.
In interview with CAJ News Africa in Johannesburg, where he held his rally, the Free Zimbabwe Congress president said the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA) enacted by the United States did not achieve its intended objective of punishing the ruling elite but negatively impacted on the ordinary people.
“Any political leader who invites economic sanctions against Zimbabwe is not worthy to lead the country. Nowhere in the world have such sanctions ever yielded intended results,” Busha said after the rally held at Sandringham High School, north of Johannesburg.
The US enacted ZIDERA in 2001 when it imposed economic sanctions on Zimbabwe, allegedly to provide for a transition to democracy and to promote economic recovery.
MDC, then a united opposition party before its multiple splits in the latter years, has been criticize for allegedly campaigning for the imposition of sanctions.
“It’s irresponsible for any Zimbabwean politician to call for sanctions against their own country,” Busha said.
Busha, who met hundreds of Zimbabweans in Johannesburg, meanwhile called upon the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to provide for the Diasporan vote.
It is one of the most divisive electoral issues in Zimbabwe.
Busha confirmed FreeZim Congress would participate in the by-elections scheduled for March.
“While our main focus will be on the 2023 harmonised elections, we however have a parliamentary candidate to contest in Marondera central constituency,” Busha said.
The FreeZim Congress leader will be having whirlwind meetings throughout South Africa where his main mission will be targeting the Diaspora vote.
Busha and his party will also extensively campaign throughout Zimbabwe to ensure their message of rescuing the country from alleged economic mismanagement by the ruling ZANU-PF was emancipated.
Busha came fourth in the last presidential elections, held in 2018.
He finished with 0,37 percent of the total vote as president Emmerson Mnangagwa (51,44 percent) won his first term, months after the removal of Robert Mugabe (now late), in a coup.
– CAJ News