Towungana says God told him to run for President

By Tererai Karimakwenda
18 March, 2008

“To be President doesn’t require a very big man. What is needed is a person who has got the people at heart. A person who has compassion.” These are the words of Langton Towungana, the presidential candidate running against Robert Mugabe, Simba Makoni and Morgan Tsvangirai. Speaking to SW Radio Africa for the first time, the relatively unknown resident of the town of Victoria Falls said it was his spirits that told him to run. He described these spirits as the feeling inside him that said God wanted him to help end the suffering of the people.

The last man to join the race, Towungana admitted that there was not enough time for him to campaign and get his message out to people around the country. His explanation was that radio interviews would make up for that and God was on his side. “It’s the only thing that can give us salvation. God, not man can give us direction.” he added.

The hardships that Zimbabweans are facing added to this feeling that he must act. He said; “Everyone is on their knees. There is no food in the shops. Everybody is crying. In the rural areas there is no sugar. There is no bread and there is no mealie-meal.” Using his own brand of English, he said politics had failed to solve these problems and it was now time to try God. “As a man of God I thought I must run in this race for President.”

Surprisingly for a presidential candidate, Towungana said he had no political experience at all. He explained that he was a teacher in the rural areas and was running several businesses in Victoria Falls. These included a milling company and one focused on tourism. But the tourism business has died, he said, because the government is isolating Zimbabwe through its policies.

Towungana said he would try to form a government of national unity that would bring together officials from different parties who care about the people. He believes that in Zimbabwe the President has too much power and it should be shared equally with a Vice president.

Regarding the suggestion that he was a ZANU-PF creation brought about to split the opposition vote, Towungana said: “Mugabe is surprised with me. He does not know who I am. I am not a stooge. I am not ZANU-PF and I am not associated with any party.”

Towungana said the country is no longer enjoying its glory and it lost its identity some time ago. Again he returned to religious references, urging voters to look for a sign of the cross on the ballot box. He said: “When voting look for the sign written Jesus, pane muchinjiko, that is the person you vote for.”

Observers have dismissed Towungana’s candindacy saying he stands no chance whatsoever of defeating Mugabe, Tsvangirai or Makoni. But the man talked quite confidently of his own chances, repeating time and again that he was a man of God, and that alone will take him far. He said: “Although it is late, the most high God is the driver of this thing.”