'Zim needs $10bn'
23/02/2008 20:28  - (SA)  

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Mugabe to launch re-election bid Demo crashes Mugabe's party Zim opposition launches campaign

Zimbabwe Special Report  Latest Zimbabwe Stories

Mutare - Zimbabwe's main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai launched his election campaign on Saturday pledging to revive the country's moribund economy and mend strained relations with the West.

Tsvangirai, who is taking on long-ruling President Robert Mugabe for the presidency in March 29 general polls, also promised a new constitution for Zimbabwe within two years if elected into power.

"We believe the Zimbabwean economy is an enclave economy that is uneven, unequal and virtually dead," Tsvangirai told thousands of supporters gathered at a stadium in the eastern border town of Mutare.

Zimbabwe is reeling under an economic crisis with annual inflation officially at 100 580% - the highest in the world - and chronic shortages of basic commodities like fuel, cooking oil and sugar.

At least three million of its citizens, among them highly skilled professionals, have migrated to neighbouring South Africa, the United Kingdom and Australia.

"We are not going to patch up the tattered economy," Tsvangirai said. "The economy has been destroyed to such an extent that we need to start afresh."

"Zimbabwe is one of the world's great humanitarian crises. We need food, drugs and medical care. The nations of the world are helping but we need more.

"Beyond the humanitarian aid, we need the help of the world to rebuild our economy, but more than anything, we must look after our own."

He said $10bn would be required to revive the economy, including resuscitating companies that have folded and establishing a trust fund to woo back professionals who have left the country.

In its election manifesto, the opposition party said that if elected, it would provide free primary education and healthcare for people living with HIV/Aids, crack down on corruption, pare down the cabinet and launch an audit targetting land, a highly sensitive issue.

Once a force which posed the most serious challenge to Mugabe's nearly three decade rule, the MDC was torn into two factions following a row over a decision about whether to boycott or contest senate elections in 2006.

A bid to patch-up and forge a united front against Mugabe flopped three weeks ago when the factions disagreed on the allocation of constituencies.

- AFP

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