Figo no Zimbabwe

2013-09-08 Controversial millionaire Gayton McKenzie made a rock star entry into Zimbabwe on Thursday, pulling a stunt that could have won admiration from Zanu-PF. He brought along international football legend Luis Figo, who maintained a low-key presence until football fans noticed the Portuguese national. During the short visit, Figo and McKenzie toured a gold-mining project at Fort Rixon, a mining area about 77km northwest of Bulawayo. McKenzie has business interests in Zimbabwe and Figo was looking to invest there. “I am a businessman. If I see an opportunity I take it up. I am very much interested in investing in Zimbabwe,” said Figo at the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo airport in Bulawayo before leaving for Johannesburg. Figo’s visit to Zimbabwe has since drawn the interest of the Zimbabwe Football Association. And McKenzie said he would soon line up matches featuring international superstars, including Lionel Messi and Zinedine Zidane. McKenzie also gave the thumbs up to President Robert Mugabe’s farm invasions and indigenisation programme. “Mugabe is the only leader in Africa who has balls, by taking farms and giving them to his people ... If South Africa doesn’t learn from this, we will be in trouble 20 years from now,” he said. In July, Mugabe won an internationally disputed but SA Development Community-endorsed presidential election and vowed to press on with farm grabs and indigenisation programmes.