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Simba Makoni
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Simba Makoni
Simbarashe Herbert Stanley Makoni (born 22 March 1950) is a Zimbabwean politician and was a candidate for the March 2008 presidential election against incumbent Robert Mugabe. He was Minister of Finance and Economic Development in President Robert Mugabe's cabinet from 2000 to 2002. He faced strong opposition during the Economic Change in Zimbabwe in the early 2000s as his policies contradicted those of the rest of the ZANU-PF party.
Makoni trained as a chemist in the UK during the Second Chimurenga years. During his studies, he represented the Zimbabwe African National Union in Europe. He earned his BSc at Leeds University and a PhD at Leicester Polytechnic in medicinal chemistry. He also owns a farm in Headlands, Zimbabwe.
Makoni was appointed Deputy Minister of Agriculture at Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, when he was thirty years old. In 1981, he was moved to the position of Minister of Industry and Energy Development, where he remained until 1983.
In 1983, Makoni was elected as the Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), serving in that post for ten years. A $25,000 scam that rocked SADC in 1993, resulted in the dismissal of three financial officers, who implicated Makoni. He accepted full responsibility as executive secretary, but denied any personal wrongdoing. Leaving SADC in 1994, Makoni became managing director of Zimbabwe Newspapers until 1997.
Makoni returned to the Cabinet as Minister of Finance by Mugabe on 15 July 2000, following the June 2000 parliamentary election. As Finance Minister, he supported the devaluation of the Zimbabwean dollar, a policy that was not favoured by Mugabe, and he was replaced by Herbert Murerwa in the cabinet named on 25 August 2002.
From as early as 2003, was reported that Makoni was favoured by some in ZANU-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, as well as African mediators, as a potential replacement for Mugabe. In January 2008, the BBC reported that Simba Makoni might be nominated to run against Mugabe in the March 2008 presidential election. Makoni attempted to run in the concurrent 2008 parliamentary election as ZANU-PF's candidate for the House of Assembly from the constituency of Makoni Central, but he was barred from standing in the party primary (in which he would have faced then Justice Minister and current Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa); it was judged that he had submitted his curriculum vitae too late to qualify.
On 5 February 2008, Simba Makoni held a press conference in Harare where he stated that he was challenging Robert Mugabe to become the next President of Zimbabwe. Up to that point he had remained a member of the ZANU-PF Politburo and the party's Deputy Secretary of Economic Affairs.
He told reporters, flanked by Ibo Mandaza and Retired Major Kudzai Mbudzi:
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Simba Makoni
Simbarashe Herbert Stanley Makoni (born 22 March 1950) is a Zimbabwean politician and was a candidate for the March 2008 presidential election against incumbent Robert Mugabe. He was Minister of Finance and Economic Development in President Robert Mugabe's cabinet from 2000 to 2002. He faced strong opposition during the Economic Change in Zimbabwe in the early 2000s as his policies contradicted those of the rest of the ZANU-PF party.
Makoni trained as a chemist in the UK during the Second Chimurenga years. During his studies, he represented the Zimbabwe African National Union in Europe. He earned his BSc at Leeds University and a PhD at Leicester Polytechnic in medicinal chemistry. He also owns a farm in Headlands, Zimbabwe.
Makoni was appointed Deputy Minister of Agriculture at Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, when he was thirty years old. In 1981, he was moved to the position of Minister of Industry and Energy Development, where he remained until 1983.
In 1983, Makoni was elected as the Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), serving in that post for ten years. A $25,000 scam that rocked SADC in 1993, resulted in the dismissal of three financial officers, who implicated Makoni. He accepted full responsibility as executive secretary, but denied any personal wrongdoing. Leaving SADC in 1994, Makoni became managing director of Zimbabwe Newspapers until 1997.
Makoni returned to the Cabinet as Minister of Finance by Mugabe on 15 July 2000, following the June 2000 parliamentary election. As Finance Minister, he supported the devaluation of the Zimbabwean dollar, a policy that was not favoured by Mugabe, and he was replaced by Herbert Murerwa in the cabinet named on 25 August 2002.
From as early as 2003, was reported that Makoni was favoured by some in ZANU-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, as well as African mediators, as a potential replacement for Mugabe. In January 2008, the BBC reported that Simba Makoni might be nominated to run against Mugabe in the March 2008 presidential election. Makoni attempted to run in the concurrent 2008 parliamentary election as ZANU-PF's candidate for the House of Assembly from the constituency of Makoni Central, but he was barred from standing in the party primary (in which he would have faced then Justice Minister and current Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa); it was judged that he had submitted his curriculum vitae too late to qualify.
On 5 February 2008, Simba Makoni held a press conference in Harare where he stated that he was challenging Robert Mugabe to become the next President of Zimbabwe. Up to that point he had remained a member of the ZANU-PF Politburo and the party's Deputy Secretary of Economic Affairs.
He told reporters, flanked by Ibo Mandaza and Retired Major Kudzai Mbudzi: