Zimbabwe: When our clan no longer acts like one

[Disir]

Did I know – he asked – that behind Mahere, Advocate Mahere, was a white person called Sean Mullens? Of course I didn't, I who knows my own history, my company.

Zimbabwe: When our clan no longer acts like one | The Herald

It won't let me copy any part out and it is a bit tedious in the beginning. It isprobably the closest you will get to an alternative view of Pastor Evan Mawarire and whom and where his support comes from.

 

[waltky]

What next for Zimbabwe?...

Mugabe has gone, but will Zimbabwe change?
22 November 2017 - Up to the moment itself the extraordinary session of parliament had proceeded along expected lines. Speaker after speaker rose to denounce the excesses of the president and his wife.

A female MP was speaking of how her constituents were suffering when we saw the messengers approach the speaker. They handed him a letter. A jolt of energy swept the hall. At first there were cheers of anticipation. The speaker rose. The next 10 minutes will remain engraved in my memory. We strained to hear the speaker through the muffled public address system. But the words "statement of resignation" were clear. And the wild cheering, the thumping of tables, the dancing and singing told all of us who were present that the age of Robert Mugabe was over. From the corridors outside where Zanu-PF activists had gathered, the MPs could hear loud cheers and singing mingle with their own celebrations. On the floor of parliament - a hotel ballroom specially converted for the session - I watched MPs and senators dance, arms around each other, as the solemn procession of mace bearers left the chamber.

Among the more bizarre experiences was finding ruling-party legislators offering themselves for interview to the BBC. A week ago most foreign journalists were banned from the country. One party stalwart, MP Keith Guzah, told me he believed real democracy would now take root in Zimbabwe. "He has gone and I am happy, happy, happy for my country." Another MP told me her greatest joy was that Zimbabwe had managed the transition "without the shedding of blood." It was a comment that ignored the bloodshed and pain inflicted by her party during the decades of Robert Mugabe's rule. Leaving parliament I moved up through the city towards Africa Unity Square, the heart of Harare, pausing several times as I was enveloped by ecstatic crowds. A man fell to his knees and raised his arms to the sky. A young woman, wrapped in the national flag, shouted: "Do you see this you guys? Do you see this? It is history in the making."

On the square I ran into Ben Freeth, a farmer who lost his land and whose family were brutally tortured during the land invasions. Like so many others he was struggling to believe that the moment of Mr Mugabe's departure had arrived. "He was going, going, going and now he's finally gone," he said. As we spoke a group of revellers approached. Suddenly we were surrounded by embracing arms. "And you can see," said Ben, "we are in this together!" Will this spirit of unity, this freedom from fear, endure under a new dispensation? I cannot be at all certain. The presumptive new leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa, is mired in the excesses of the Mugabe era. He was the deposed president's loyal henchman for decades and only struck against him to prevent Grace Mugabe from succeeding to the presidency. This was not a revolution to bring liberal democratic principles into government. It was about power. That said, there are significant pressures on the new leader to embark on a programme of meaningful change. The corruption and tyranny of the past will not attract the international financial aid and investment that is needed to rescue the nation's shattered economy.

People power

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Zimbabwe needs immediate economic reforms, warns IMF
23 Nov.`17 - Zimbabwe must act quickly to dig its economy out of a hole and access international financial aid, the International Monetary Fund has warned.

Government spending and foreign debt are too high and it needs structural reform, Zimbabwe mission chief Gene Leon told Reuters news agency. The country's incoming leader Emmerson Mnangagwa has pledged to grow the economy and provide "jobs, jobs, jobs". The once-thriving economy is now seen as a regional basket case. "The economic situation in Zimbabwe remains very difficult," Mr Leon told Reuters. He said high government spending should be reined in and Zimbabwe should address the large international debt it has defaulted on. "Immediate action is critical to reduce the deficit to a sustainable level, accelerate structural reforms, and re-engage with the international community to access much needed financial support," Mr Leon said.

Incoming new leader Emmerson Mnangagwa has promised "jobs, jobs, jobs" but analysts say rescuing Zimbabwe's economy is a huge challenge​

Robert Mugabe, who led Zimbabwe for 37 years, stepped down earlier this week under pressure from the military and his own Zanu-PF party. His policies, including disastrous land reforms and printing too much money, are blamed for the calamitous state of Zimbabwe's economy. On Thursday, Zimbabwe's main opposition called for deep-rooted political reform to dismantle the repressive apparatus that sustained Mr Mugabe's regime. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said it was cautiously optimistic that a Mnangagwa presidency would not "mimic and replicate the evil, corrupt, decadent and incompetent Mugabe regime", reported AFP news agency. It is unclear whether Zanu-PF will govern alone ahead of scheduled elections next year, or whether a coalition government of national unity that includes opposition groups will be formed.

Economic slide

Zimbabwe's economy is half the size it was at the turn of the millennium. Zimbabwe has not had a currency of its own since 2009, when the old Zimbabwean dollar buckled under hyperinflation - which is said to have reached 231 million per cent, worse even than the notorious levels in Germany following World War One. Cash shortages mean Zimbabweans can often be seen queuing at banks. Economists say Zimbabwe needs a cash injection, but it has been barred from borrowing internationally since it began defaulting on its debt in 1999.

With bribe-taking police replaced - at least for the time being - by the military, some Harare residents report a fall in crime​

Some residents of the country's capital, Harare, say they have already seen an improvement in their daily lives since the army came into the streets and Mr Mugabe was forced from office. One benefit, they say, is the absence of police road blocks on the streets where officers demanded bribes from those travelling around. "There used to be so many police roadblocks, with the driver having to pay $1 or $2 (75p-£1.50)" Spiwe Azvigumi, 31, an unemployed mother of three, told AFP. "With the police off the roads, crime is actually down - they were so corrupt and now we are living free."

Zimbabwe must act now on economy - IMF

Related:

Zimbabwe's New Leaders Are None Other Than Mugabe's Former 'Enforcers'
November 21, 2017 - Jubilant crowds filled the streets of Zimbabwe’s cities on Tuesday, after the country’s speaker of parliament announced that President Robert Mugabe had resigned after decades in power.

Just shy of a week ago, Zimbabwe’s military took power in the capital and detained Mugabe in his home. Since then, the military and the ruling ZANU-PF party steadily increased pressure on the longtime ruler to leave office until it seems he finally relented. But while Zimbabweans express their joy and relief over what appears to be the end of Mugabe’s 37-year authoritarian rule, the nature of his downfall and the ruthless past of his successor are troubling signs for a country that has seen years of repression.

‘These People Were Mugabe’s Enforcers’

The military and ZANU-PF will soon install Mugabe’s former deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa, as Zimbabwe’s new president. The development has human rights groups deeply worried, as both Mnangagwa and the military that backs him have been key players in the country’s past abuses. “These people were Mugabe’s enforcers for the last 37 years,” said Dewa Mavhinga, the Southern Africa director at Human Rights Watch. In the 1980s, Mnangagwa served as national security minister and controlled the Central Intelligence Organization under Mugabe. Mnangagwa has long-standing ties to the army as a result, including sharing culpability for some of the government’s worst atrocities. “The military has been implicated in some of the most serious human rights abuses in Zimbabwe’s past,” Mavhinga said.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, seen here during elections in 2008, is poised to become Zimbabwe's new leader.​

Mnangagwa was security minister at the time of Mugabe’s “Gukurahundi” campaign that, from 1983 to 1987, saw security forces kill thousands of people whom the ruling government perceived as political opponents or accused of fostering dissent. In 2008, the military launched yet another crackdown in which armed forces killed or disappeared at least 200 opposition supporters during the country’s election. Mnangagwa is reported to have been a key go-between for the military and ZANU-PF in orchestrating those attacks. There has been no accountability for these abuses, according to Mavhinga, and since many of the officials active or complicit in carrying them out now stand to rule Zimbabwe, it seems extremely unlikely that they will answer for their actions anytime soon. “It’s a change in leadership of individuals, but the authoritarian system remains intact,” Mavhinga said.

Fears For The Future Of Zimbabwe

The army’s takeover has so far seen a reshuffling of the country’s elite power brokers, but massive reforms are needed to change a political system with an entrenched history of human rights abuses and authoritarianism. Rights groups fear that there’s no guarantee the military coup will lead to much-needed transition toward free and fair elections, and could instead further deteriorate democracy and the rule of law in the country. The ruling ZANU-PF party’s chief whip, Lovemore Matuke, said on Tuesday that Mnangagwa would stay on as leader until elections in 2018, but it remains to be seen whether that vote is conducted fairly and without a crackdown on political opposition as there has been in the past. “Zimbabwean elections for many years have relied on limiting the number of people who are allowed to participate,” said Piers Pigou, senior consultant for Southern Africa for the International Crisis Group think tank.

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