SIMBA MAKONI: ZIMBABWE'S MAGIC POTION?

Simba Makoni, a senior member of Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party, has announced he is to challenge Robert Mugabe for president.

Could Simba Makoni put a smile back on Zimbabweans' faces? With a PhD in chemistry, his supporters say he has the magic formula to reverse Zimbabwe's economic collapse and end its political stalemate. He has long been seen as a possible compromise candidate, with backers both in Zanu-PF party, as well as plenty of admirers in the opposition.

And he has variously been described as a moderniser, a technocrat and a "young turk". His supporters note that he has a good understanding of orthodox economics and yet he comes from the Zanu-PF party which delivered independence from Britain in 1980 and which does not want to relinquish power.

He could appeal to those voters who are desperate for some improvement in their daily lives but do not quite trust the opposition. His soft tone could also help heal the country's bitter divisions and end the years of political lambast and name-calling.

But his critics dismiss him as a political lightweight who is unable to compete with the political hardball played by the rest of his party - especially President Robert Mugabe, who will be his main opponent in the March elections. He was brought in as finance minister in 2000 but was sacked 18 months later after losing an argument about economic policy with President Robert Mugabe. He called for a devaluation of the currency to try and boost exports.

Mr Mugabe later said those who wanted a devaluation were "economic saboteurs". Until he announced his candidature for the elections, he remained a member of Zanu-PF's policy-making body, the politburo and so must share some of the blame for the country's economic woes.

But he tried his best to distance from the critics. "Let me confirm that I share the agony and anguish of all citizens over the extreme hardships that we all have endured for nearly 10 years now," he said.

SIMBA MAKONI
Zanu-PF moderniser
1980: Named deputy minister aged 30
2002: Sacked as finance minister after argument with Mugabe
2002: Went to South Africa
Possible support of Zanu-PF heavyweight Solomon Mujuru
Trained chemist

And despite saying he would have preferred to stand as a Zanu-PF candidate, he strongly criticised its leaders. "I also share the widely-held view that these hardships are a result of failure of national leadership and that change at that level is a pre-requisite for change at other levels of national endeavour."

But he is believed to have the backing of Zanu-PF heavyweight Solomon Mujuru, whose wife Joyce is vice-president. Mr Mujuru is a former army chief, long seen as Zimbabwe's king-maker. Friends and critics alike agree that he is extremely clever, has a reputation for integrity and is ready to laugh.

While still in the cabinet, he jokingly told friends that his phone number could be found in the phone book "under minister without finance". This willingness to laugh at himself and the country's situation are rare among his fellow ministers. At just 57, he comes from a different generation to the octogenarians currently running the country and its ruling party.

While the party old-guard were fighting the 1970s guerrilla war of independence, Mr Makoni was studying chemistry in Britain. But he also found time to represent Zanu in Europe and clearly made an impression. When the first post-independence government was formed, he was appointed deputy minister of agriculture at just 30. Over the next four years he served as minister of energy and of youth before abruptly leaving government.

"He was too hot to handle," one long-time associate told the BBC. "He was too clever and too young for the older members of the party. They wanted him out of the way." Mr Makoni was down but far from out. He became Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community, (SADC), a job which he says required "a fine balance between high principles and pragmatism".

As, in effect, the most senior civil servant in the organisation at a time when regional and world attention was focused on ending apartheid in South Africa, Mr Makoni gained a great deal of international experience and exposure. "He learnt a great deal," says one colleague. "He returned to Zimbabwe a far sharper and more polished performer."

Whether he has learnt enough to give Robert Mugabe a run for his money remains in doubt.
BBC NEWS REPORT.