Mugabe launches manifesto and calls rivals charlatans

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabedenounced his opponents as charlatans and witches as helaunched his election manifesto on Friday and promised to givestakes in foreign-owned mines to locals.

Zimbabwe is in the grip of severe economic crisis, withinflation at 100,000 percent, but the opposition's failure tounite behind a single candidate has strengthened the84-year-old's chances of re-election on March 29.

Mugabe faces former ally Simba Makoni, standing as anindependent, and Morgan Tsvangirai, a long time rival of themain opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

"Let the people's voice thunder across the whole country,rejecting once and for all the British stooges, the politicalwitches and political prostitutes and the politicalcharlatans," Mugabe told supporters.

"This is the official start of our march to anotherelection victory ... We certainly are going to win, it is themargin we are trying to build," he said.

Critics accused Mugabe of wrecking Zimbabwe's economy, buthe blames Western sanctions for the world's highest inflationrate, high unemployment and shortages of fuel, food andelectricity.

Mugabe said his government would boost agriculturalproduction by continuing to equip those farmers who hadbenefited from his seizure of white-owned farms to resettlelandless blacks.

He also promised to build more roads and schools and toequip collapsing public hospitals, which have been strained byhigh numbers of people suffering from the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

MINES

Mugabe said that after winning the election, his governmentwould carry out its plan to force foreign owned mines to sellmajority stakes to Zimbabweans.

The veteran leader has accused some mines of not remittingforeign earnings to Zimbabwe as required by law.

"There is lots of externalisation in the sector. After ourelection victory we want to supervise the sector ... we willsee to it that 51 percent of the equity is ours," Mugabe toldthe crowd, which included senior defence forces chiefs.

The opposition MDC says Mugabe has fraudulently wonprevious elections and unleashed violence against oppositionsupporters.

Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence fromBritain in 1980, denies the charges and says next month's votewill silence the opposition and shame Western critics whoaccuse him of rights abuse.

Official media said on Friday that the head of Zimbabwe'sprison service had ordered his officers to vote for Mugabe andsaid he would resign if the opposition won.

The world's second biggest platinum producer, ImpalaPlatinum (Implats), is the foreign mining firm with the mostoperations in Zimbabwe, while Rio Tinto has diamond interestsand the world's top platinum producer Anglo Platinum(Angloplat)

is developing a mine in the country.

(Editing by Matthew Tostevin)