Ex-Zimbabwe minister enters race to unseat Mugabe in 2018 polls

A former Zimbabwean Minister of Industry and International Trade, Nkosana Moyo, has entered the race to unseat his former boss, President Robert Mugabe.

At a press conference to announce his candidature for the 2018 presidential elections, 65-year-old Moyo said he will run as an independent candidate under the Alliance for the People’s Agenda (APA) banner.

The physicist and banker served under Mugabe in 2001 but resigned citing differences between him and Mugabe.

In trying to de-link himself from the ruling Zanu-PF party, Moyo said he served under the Zanu-PF government but was never at any point a member.

If he is passed by the elections body after filing nominations, he will face Mugabe and possibly a united opposition candidate in the elections. Former veep, Joyce Mujuru and former Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, have announced a coalition with other small parties.

They are yet to agree on a candidate for the elections. Moyo rejected the position that he was going to split opposition votes and cause Mugabe to stay on beyond 2018. He said he was not going to join any coalition because he represented the voters who considered current options ‘unattractive.’

Moyo – a one-time vice-president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has a PhD in Physics from Imperial College (University of London) and an MBA from Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield University in the UK.