EMMERSON MNANGAGWA: NEW HOPE RISES FOR ZIMBABWEANS
By Collins Ughalaa
“During the Mugabe era we were very oppressed. Everywhere
there were spies and you could not discuss anything in public. There was
no justice, no equality. When Mugabe committed a crime it was not a
crime. He was a liar and a thief", said Toka Manzi, a 23-year-old
Zimbabwean labourer.
Since early November 2017 the attention of the whole world
has been fixed on a South African country of 16 million people called
Zimbabwe. The former President of the country that has been ravaged
economically for decades, Mr. Robert Mugabe, resigned from office after a
bloodless coup d'etat which was described by the United Nations as the
legitimate expression of the will of Zimbabweans, given way for his
estranged former VP and strong ally, Barr Emmerson Mnangagwa, to emerge
his successor.
Zimbabweans have been happy for the removal of Mugabe who
did not handled the country well as a leader, despite that he led his
country to independence from British imperialism. This perhaps explains
that not everyone who is involved in or leads the struggle to
independence is good at leadership or possesses the requisite leadership
credentials to transform the potentials of his people to their joys and
development. African leaders are guilty of this, though late Nelson
Mandela of South Africa and very few others have proved that not only
were they warriors of their people, they are also leaders. But in the
mould of Mugabe is the outgoing President of South Africa, President
Jacob Zuma, who though been amongst the people that led his country to
end apartheid has not proved his mettle at leadership, per se.
The joyful mood of the people of Zimbabwe over the removal
of Mugabe is very symbolic in many ways. It was like the mood of
Nigerians when the Maximum ruler, General Sani Abacha, died while making
plans to perpetuate himself in office. But as represented by Toka
Manzi's comment quoted at the beginning of this article, the people of
Zimbabwe feel that Mugabe was an oppressor. And his removal by the
Zimbabwean Army, his subsequent resignation and the swearing-in of
Mnangagwa as President represents new hope for the best educated
Africans, that at last they have a fresh window of opportunity to get
things right.
I have heard many posit that the removal of Mugabe and
installment of his former Vice President and strong ally during the
Rhodesian Bush War, Emmerson Mnangagwa, is another mistake by the people
of Zimbabwe. According to them, President Mnangagwa was Mugabe's VP
since 2014 and he brokered the power sharing deal in 2008 when the
presidential election put the country on the edge, and so was part of
all the mis-governance and atrocities that was committed by Mugabe in
power. People in this school of thought believe that Zimbabweans may
have made another mistake. They also add that though Mugabe has been
ousted the system in Zimbabwe has not changed as the Army which was a
great parcel of the Mugabe's repressive regime still holds sway. They
posit also that since the Army is still around in Zimbabwe's leadership,
there is nothing much to expect from the new President.
Many people do not agree with this. Personally, I believe
that the Zimbabweans have been presented with a fresh opportunity to get
things done well and climb up the ladder of development. Do I expect
that things will change 100% within a period of 2 years or four years or
five years? No. What I believe is that Zimbabweans have the rare chance
to rewrite their history, and history will record all their effort to
get things done. Getting this done will require so much and I have hope
that Mnangagwa will change a lot for Zimbabweans.
The whole world is watching Zimbabwe and their new
President. For me, what is more important is having the opportunity and
getting started. I don't expect to see Mnangagwa accomplish all the
dreams of his 16 million people in four years. That would amount to
expecting magic to happen. What I expect him to do is to start the
process which will be built upon by successive governments in order to
achieve the Zimbabwe of their dream. There might be mistakes and
temptations along the way, but with clear vision, commitment and
transparency, the people of Zimbabwe will be placed on the path to
greatness and bliss. Also, I expect that the new President will pluck
what Nigerian politicians call the low hanging fruits that would solve
some immediate problems and relieve his people and reassure them that
they can believe in him.
One of the things I would like to see in Zimbabwe is
electoral reforms. Granted, the new Zimbabwean President has on Friday
during his swearing-in on Friday before 70,000 people promised to
deliver free and fair elections and that the peoples' voice would be
heard. This gives fresh hopes for the peace and political development of
the people, especially as they prepare for the general elections next
year, 2018.
The imperative of having free and fair elections in
Zimbabwe as promised by President Mnangagwa was expressed by Elias
Mudzuri, the Vice President of the opposition party, MDC, when he said
on Friday: “It is important that we go into elections and the people are
allowed to express themselves".
Born on September 15, 1942, President Emmerson Mnangagwa
had played several roles in Zimbabwe, apart from being a strong ally to
Mr. Mugabe. He was Minister for Rural Housing in 2005 and became Vice
President in 2014. And as Minister of State during the Gukurahundi
massacres that claimed thousands of lives of the people from Nebele, he
courageously put the blames on the laps of the Zimbabwean Army. Add
these to Mnangagwa's power sharing deal of 2008 to save his country from
precipitation, you would see an honest and courageous man.
As a lawyer with huge political experience, honesty, vision
and courage, which are political capital, I expect to see sweeping
economic and judicial reforms delivered to the people of Zimbabwe. The
hope of reforms in the economy was highlighted by the new President when
he told his people that he would initiate land reforms to correct
Mugabe's land policies that led to the violent seizure of thousands of
white-owned farms from 2000. He said he would not reverse it but
promised to compensate those affected. This will no doubt stimulate
economic activities and restore hope and confidence in the people and
their government.
The new hoped-for economic activities that will accomoany
the economic reforms will create jobs for Zimbabweans, because no
meaningful economic reforms would make sense if it cannot deliver jobs
for the millions of Zimbabweans roaming the streets due to Mugabe's
anachronistic policies.
The new Zimbabwean President is not aloof. He understands
that job creation and meaningful employment is a critical factor in
galvanizing the people to a great Zimbabwe. He has accordingly promised
he would create jobs and make efforts to attract foreign investors to
rejuvenate and grow the economy that has been stifled for decades.
Related to this is the hope that the new President will run
an efficient fiscal regime that would see the advancement of their
currency so that the people will have a good exchange rate and drive the
economy. The economic reforms will also not make sense if the people
are not empowered to drive the economy.
There is also the need to tackle head on the skyrocketing
inflation in Zimbabwe that has defied Mugabeism. The people will have
faith in their economy the day they begin to witness good exchange rate
for their currency and gradual and steady decline in their inflation
statistics to allow local participation.
As President Mnangagwa settles down for business, he is
expected to build on the quality of education in Zimbabwe and ensure
that the quality does not go down. May God help him to select efficient
and dynamic cabinet members that will hell him deliver.
But like the thirsty Zimbabweans, Imo people who have
suffered anachronistic policies under Governor Okorocha's regime are
yearning for a vista of opportunity in 2019 to reject everything
associated with the Governor. This will include rejecting his son-in-law
Uche Nwosu or any other person he may anoint to succeed him. Despite
the differences in political leanings, Imo people agree that they do not
want the Governor's inlaw. They are not also amused by the succession
politics of the Governor and therefore do not want any succeasor he
might anoint.
This is the only way to truly rescue Imo State and chart a new course for the people of the state.
