Simba Makoni was Minister of Finance and Economic Development in President Robert Mugabe's cabinet from 2000 to 2002.
17 Facts About Simba Makoni
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Simba Makoni faced strong opposition during the Economic Change in Zimbabwe in the early 2000s as his policies contradicted those of the rest of the ZANU-PF party.
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Simba Makoni earned his BSc at Leeds University and a PhD at Leicester Polytechnic in medicinal chemistry.
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Simba Makoni was appointed Deputy Minister of Agriculture at Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, when he was thirty years old.
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In 1983, Simba Makoni was elected as the Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community, serving in that post for ten years.
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Simba Makoni accepted full responsibility as executive secretary, but denied any personal wrongdoing.
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Simba Makoni returned to the Cabinet as Minister of Finance by Mugabe on 15 July 2000, following the June 2000 parliamentary election.
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From as early as 2003, was reported that Simba Makoni was favoured by some in ZANU-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, as well as African mediators, as a potential replacement for Mugabe.
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In January 2008, the BBC reported that Simba Makoni might be nominated to run against Mugabe in the March 2008 presidential election.
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Simba Makoni attempted to run in the concurrent 2008 parliamentary election as ZANU-PF's candidate for the House of Assembly from the constituency of Simba Makoni Central, but he was barred from standing in the party primary ; it was judged that he had submitted his curriculum vitae too late to qualify.
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On 5 February 2008, Simba Makoni held a press conference in Harare where he stated that he was challenging Robert Mugabe to become the next President of Zimbabwe.
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Simba Makoni told reporters, flanked by Ibo Mandaza and Retired Major Kudzai Mbudzi:.
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Simba Makoni said that he would have liked to run as ZANU-PF's candidate, but since he could not, he was running as an independent.
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The Herald newspaper denounced Simba Makoni as being a pawn of the United Kingdom whose candidacy was being used in hopes of splitting the ZANU-PF vote so that Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change could win the election.
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Simba Makoni said that the ZANU-PF constitution did not provide for self-expulsion and that still considered himself a member of ZANU-PF until and unless he is expelled from the party through due process.
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ZANU-PF spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira subsequently sought to clarify the matter by saying that Simba Makoni was expelled from the party, in accordance with party rules providing for the expulsion of a member who challenges a designated ZANU-PF candidate in an election, and he said that anyone who supported Simba Makoni would be expelled as well.
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When Simba Makoni announced his candidature, he stated that many in ZANU-PF particularly the political "heavyweights" would publicly announce their support for him.