Bulawayo , Zimbabwe ( CNN ) -- Zimbabwe 's prime minister Thursday said the country will hold an election in `` 12 months '' and he wants an outcome that ca n't be contested . `` In 12 months time we have an election in this country . Let it be free and let it be peaceful , '' said Morgan Tsvangirai , speaking in Bulawayo -- about 450km south-west of Harare -- to his Movement for Democratic Change ( MDC ) party supporters ahead of a congress set for Friday . At the congress new MDC leadership will be elected to prepare for general elections in which Tsvangirai will lock horns with President Robert Mugabe . Tsvangirai predicted the MDC will win , ending the coalition government that has ruled Zimbabwe since 2009 . `` We are the next government of this country responsible to deal with unemployment which is over 85 percent . We have to resuscitate the economy and make it one of the best in Africa , '' added Tsvangirai . Tsvangirai and Mugabe formed a fragile coalition government in 2009 after a disputed , violent election in 2008 . But the coalition has been marred by disagreements between the former political foes . `` People 's will must be respected ( in the next elections ) . The outcome of the polls must not be contested , '' said Tsvangirai . `` Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF took this country to its knees in 30 years . We have a duty in the next government to bring it back , '' added Tsvangirai , critical of his coalition partner and his party . Zimbabwe experienced a decade of negative economic growth before the formation of the coalition government , he noted . Mugabe has indicated that he wants an election this year to end the coalition government . But earlier this week , the country 's finance minister said the economy was not performing well enough to finance an election this year . Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga is expected to attend the MDC congress on Friday as `` the guest of honor '' . Odinga , a fierce critic of Mugabe , was Kenya 's opposition leader before joining President Mwai Kibaki in a 2008 power-sharing deal following contested elections that sparked tribal violence in that country . A similar deal was later agreed to in Zimbabwe by Tsvangirai and his long-time rival Mugabe . This will be the first time that Odinga has visited Zimbabwe since being appointed prime minister .
Tsvangirai seeks end of current coalition government . Zimbabwe 's finance minister says the country 's poor performance can not finance elections this year . Tsvangirai says his party will form the next government and resuscitate the economy .