Dabengwa Backs unity government proposal and Tsvangirai

By Tererai Karimakwenda
June 16, 2008

For the first time ever, the Former Home Affairs Minister Dumiso Dabengwa reportedly spoke in favour of the possibility of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai being the head of state in Zimbabwe. This was surprising because the former ZANU-PF cabinet member supported Simba Makoni for president in the March 29 elections.

Speaking on Friday at a regional meeting of the Kusile/Mavambo project that was initiated by Simba Makoni, Dabengwa first championed the idea of a government of national unity. Our correspondent Lionel Saungweme, who spoke to Dabengwa on Sunday, reported that the veteran leader suggested that if the idea of unity between Mugabe and Tsvangirai fails, people should vote for Tsvangirai.

A report in the weekly Standard newspaper confirmed Dabengwa’s comments at the Mavambo conference. He is quoted as saying: "We have tried to push for the cancellation of the run-off because Zimbabweans spoke loudly that no candidate could go it alone and there was a need for a government of national unity." He reportedly added that the MDC and the Zanu PF officials that they spoke to had agreed to unity talks, and but none of the ZANU-PF members did not have the guts to approach Mugabe with the idea.

The Standard paper concluded that “This is likely to boost Tsvangirai's campaign as the bulk of Makoni's eight percent of the vote came from Matabeleland after Dabengwa ended up as the only Zanu PF heavyweight to openly support the former finance minister.”