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(NEWZIMBABWE) Ncube clarifies 'education' comments

Ncube clarifies 'education' comments
20/09/2011 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

Ncube spoke after comments attributed to him appeared to suggest Tsvangirai’s limited education would be a hindrance to his leadership of the country – if ever he becomes President.

“Business has collapsed, factories ruined and schools have all but collapsed and these require a leadership with vision and capacity, which only this party has, not a tea boy,” Ncube was quoted as saying at a rally in Redcliff by the NewsDay newspaper.

“Tsvangirai cannot perform miracles and solve problems of our nation. That era ended with Jesus who performed them a long time ago.”

The story drew an unprecedented 381 comments on New Zimbabwe.com, and Ncube wrote in to clarify his comments.

He said: “For the record, during a rally over the weekend I quoted a statement made by a number of business people that I had met with at Mzinyathini during the week.

“These business people, who were formerly detained by Rhodesians, said that when the nationalists met to plan and fight colonialism, they realised and decided that they needed to find leaders from amongst them with the intellectual and technical capacity to take on the colonialists and bring about freedom for Zimbabweans.

“I then said that is not ironic then that if the nationalists understood that the challenges ahead would require capacity to lead and an understanding of the complexities of economics and governance, how much more do we today -- given the much more complex environment -- require a team of leaders with huge capacity?”

The Industry and Commerce Minister Minister and law professor added: “At no point did I mention President Mugabe or Prime Minister Tsvangirai or anyone else. At no point did I call anyone names.

“My point, however, remains that we need people with the intellectual and technical capacity to take us forward as a country. And if the people who wrote the article then decided to fit the shoe that fits to whomsoever, then that is another matter altogether.

“If you want to fly from Harare to Bulawayo, as much as you may have someone who is popular but only has the ability to ride bicycles, their popularity will not help them to fly that plane. You need someone with the capacity to fly planes. That is my point and that of the nationalists that I quoted and on that I stand by my words knowing the validity in them.”

Ncube insisted that “capacity” does not mean a certain level of education “though that sometimes helps”.

He added: “What we need in Zimbabwe is men and women with the capacity, integrity, honesty, consistency and the will to take us to a free, fair and prosperous Zimbabwe.

“I do believe Zimbabwe is not lacking in such men and women. Change will come as they take their roles in all sectors of our country to build a better Zimbabwe for future generations.”

Ncube's comments had ignited an old debate in Zimbabwe about the level of formal education required for a presidential aspirant. Presently, the constitution is silent on education.

A requirement for the president to have a degree was contained in a draft constitution which was rejected in a referendum in 2000.

Labels: MDC, WELSHMAN NCUBE

posted by MrK @ 3:41 PM