Instead of elections, help Mugabe write a book - Ex-Zimbabwe Vice PM

Former Zimbabwean Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara has challenged ruling Zanu-PF party factions to help President Robert Mugabe write an autobiography instead of contest in elections if they truly love him.

The 51-year-old professor made this statement on Wednesday when he launched his autobiography before government and Zanu-PF party officials in the capital Harare, local media report.

“Robert Mugabe is the most interesting person in the country. I didn’t say important; interesting … From 1960, he was at the front edge of Zimbabwean politics to today … Those are interesting stories but they are not happening because there is no writing culture in the country and because G40 insists he must run for elections next year. Shame on you!,” the retired politician said.

“We need to see a book next year, not an election … 57 years of interesting insights and there is not even a pamphlet, not even a little book … If you love President Mugabe, please allow him to do an autobiography so we can learn from his many experiences,” he added.

Mutambara, who served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2009 to 2013, presented the political revolution in the country and the gradual loss of interest in the one-party state championed by Mugabe since independence.

The opposition party member also questioned the readiness of leaders in the Zanu-PF party to succeed Mugabe including the president’s wife Grace Mugabe who has expressed interest at several functions.

93-year-old Mugabe has been endorsed as the ruling ZANU-PF party’s presidential candidate for the 2018 elections to continue the presidency he assumed since independence.

The frail looking president left the country last month for medical check-up in Singapore. That was his second trip within two months.

The last condition his aides said the nonagenarian was suffering from was eye cataract. The opposition has, however, insisted that the president was battling cancer, a claim Mugabe’s handlers have refuted.