Zimbabwe President Mugabe :He will not retire

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe said on Saturday he will not retire as long as the country faced threats of re-colonization from Western countries. Closing the 12th Zanu PF Annual National People's Conference in Bulawayo, Mugabe said for him to retire when the country was under siege from Western countries would be a betrayal of those who fought and died to liberate Zimbabwe. Western countries, led by the country's former colonial power Britain, are aggressively seeking to re-colonize the country through puppet political parties they are helping to take over power, he said. "Sometimes the call comes to retire. I will do that when I reach a stage where I think those who departed will be satisfied that the party is moving ahead without any interests but not when the West is still working to effect regime change and when we are still in the inclusive government," he was quoted by New Ziana as saying, referring to the coalition government which runs the country. Mugabe said retiring, in the face of the threats, would be an act of cowardice on his part. He said he was committed to serve the party and country diligently as he has always done, starting from the days when he was incarcerated by colonial regimes. Mugabe, 87, was unanimously chosen at the conference to stand as ZANU-PF's presidential candidate in next year's planned elections. He has attracted the wrath of the West after he drove off white farmers from the country's prime farmland, to pave way for the resettlement of landless peasants. The fury of the West has been exacerbated by President Mugabe's decision to order foreign companies to transfer 51 percent shareholding in their businesses, particularly in the mining sector, to locals. This was the focus of the Bulawayo conference, and already some of the country's biggest mining companies have complied with the government's new indigenization and empowerment drive.