Zimbabwe's former finance minister Simba Makoni pledged on Wednesday to heal the southern African country's wounds as he unveiled his strategy to end President Robert Mugabe's 28-year rule in polls next month. While the country's main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai again ruled out an alliance at the ballot box, Makoni expressed confidence of toppling Mugabe after accusing him of engendering fear and despair. "The Zimbabwe of today ... is a nation full of fear, a nation in deep stress, a tense and polarised nation, a nation also characterised by disease and extreme poverty," Makoni said at the launch of his manifesto in the capital Harare.
If elected, Makoni promised to "address national issues that separate and divide us as a nation and institute a process of national healing and reconciliation".
Having been kicked out of Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF, Makoni is standing as an independent in joint presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for March 29. The elections are taking place against a backdrop of economic meltdown in Zimbabwe, which has an official inflation rate of more than 26 000% - the highest in the world.