via Will Mnangagwa be king? – NewsDay Zimbabwe 6 November 2014 by Vince Musewe
It’s quite obvious to some of us that President Robert Mugabe had no clue on the potential of this country when we inherited it from Ian Smith.
A couple of months back, I conjectured that Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa would not necessarily be bad as President of Zimbabwe moving forward. I still hold that view because I think that, despite his sordid past and his alleged hand in fraudulently prolonging Mugabe’s reign, which, of course, has been disastrous for all of us, he does have some gravitas to be the Head of State.
Given the dearth of leadership within Zanu PF, we may have to accept him for now. The question we must ask is whether this will be good for Zimbabwe or not.
In my opinion, Zimbabwe needs a paradigm shift in the President’s Office. I am convinced that, on coming into office in 1980, Mugabe had no clue on, first, what we inherited, and, second, on the unimaginable upside potential of this country.
I doubt whether to this day he can fathom how much potential he has arrested merely for political expediency.
In order to appreciate this, one only has to look at the decimation of agriculture, the opportunities in the mining sector, the underperformance of our tourism sector, the destruction of our State enterprises, the dilapidated infrastructure, the under-utilisation of our industrial capacity as a country and the huge diverse skills base that we once had.
Zimbabwe has a mindboggling potential because of what we inherited from Smith. As far I am concerned, our country is a miracle waiting to happen and I somehow believe that someone like Mnangagwa, being the businessman he is, would appreciate that and, at least, move this country onto a better developmental trajectory.
However, in order for us to unleash the potential of this country, we will not only have to take a different path than that taken by Mugabe since independence, especially on agriculture and indigenisation, but we will also have to attract our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora back home.
We do have the potential to even surpass South Africa, especially when it comes to productivity, literacy, skills base, work ethic and low crime levels; there is no doubt about that in my mind.
However, in order to do that, we cannot afford to prolong our predator politics. We must accelerate the creation of a developmental State.
The erratic winds of political change seem to be pointing in Mnangagwa’s direction and the momentum is certainly gathering. I am sure if he prevails, we are going first to see a more disciplined government, the purging of deadwood and government parasites, thieves and delinquents, improved human rights, simply because he must exonerate himself from the ghosts of the past, and a more pragmatic informed approach to international relations. That would be my advice to him.
I doubt that we shall see as much transparency within government in the short-term, but I think we are certainly going to be in a better position than we have been since 2000.
I also suspect that he will try and address the Mugabe historical legacy with the British establishment and, hopefully, begin to address the land issue, particularly with regard to maximum utilisation of land assets, food security and the removal of conflict on land.
He will, of course, want to win 2018 elections, there is no doubt about that, and that could be his Achilles heel. You see, Zanu PF are most unlikely to win any free and fair election in Zimbabwe simply because the injury done to that brand by Mugabe, regardless of who might be at the helm in the future, is irrecoverable.
Given Mnangagwa’s hand in past elections, especially the 2008 and 2013 polls, I remain worried and doubtful that we will see the election standards that we want. We will, therefore, have to create the necessary pressure.
So in the event that Mnangagwa becomes king, we ought to consider how we can take advantage of the leadership change and encourage him to take an inclusive approach when it comes to issues of national interest, especially economic recovery, better resource management, the fight against corruption, poverty alleviation and the rebuilding of the country’s capacity to produce in both the private and public sectors.
My advice to him would be as follows:
First, he should ensure that our laws are aligned to our new Constitution as a matter of national priority. We must see our MPs being more serious on this issue;
Second, we need to create jobs urgently, and this can only happen if we attract investors back into the country;
Third, he must be tough on corruption within government and within State enterprises. No investor is going to invest in entities where there is no transparency and accountability;
Fourth, I would definitely want to see some ministers go especially in key sectors such as agriculture, energy, ICT,
environment, local government, transport, education and health;
Fifth, for our economic recovery, the revival of agriculture is key. The land audit must be completed and we must plan and rationalise our land use, land tenure, including the resolution of the dispute on land assets.
That would certainly indicate that things have changed at the top; and,
Last, I would encourage him to take a more inclusive approach and engage with all democratic movements within the country to build consensus on the future of our country, it must be clear to him that Zanu PF can no longer go it alone nor can they afford any political arrogance that we have seen to date.
If he were to do only the above things up to 2018, I would call it progress.
COMMENTS
Vince your thinking might be in the correct path but like a lot of us you seem to be resigned to what you believe is your destiny. I have said before that any country that wants to move forward needs leaders who will lead and serve a population. The mindset of saying KING although I know you might not mean it in it’s true definition I find very defeatist. Munangagwa and Mugabe can never ever be King. Mugabe thinks he is. He is just a nasty dictator with Munangagwa being a co conspirator. The various definitions of KING are 1)the male ruler of an independent state, especially one who inherits the position by right of birth. 2)a male monarch of a major territorial unit; especially : one whose position is hereditary and who rules for life.3) a male monarch who rules a kingdom or the person who is considered most important.4): a paramount chief. As I said I know what you are trying to say but both these men will never be KING. Munangagwa will as you rightly point out have to rig the next election. He will not hesitate to do so. He would also not hesitate to use violence to achieve his goals. God help us all if he is ever successful. He might even be worse that Mugabe.
Vince I can see you don’t know Mnangagwa at all. Mnangagwa should never be considered to be President of Zimbabwe because the guy is ruthless. He is guy behind the massacres in Matabeleland and the Midlands in the 80s and also the 2008 terror campaign. He is the kind of person who will not stop at anything to meet his goal. God forbid that he be president of any country let alone Zimbabwe under any circumstances.
With regards to him as a businessman , I would like to point out that ,he was the boss of all the Zanu companies. The money disappeared and Zanu is now bankrupt and survives on soliciting money from the povo.
You usually write sensible pieces.are you perfectly sure the dirty old boy didnt reach you with his golden handshake?
Mukoma Vince before we start to think of a post-Mugabe era we must ask ourselves what the construct of this era was-Political violence,looting of national resources and economic decline- We then have to ask who were the players in this new era? Mnangagwa is chief Architect of Zanu pf’s violent machinery such that i would equate him to Apartheid’s Hendrik Verwoed. He is a man directly implicated in our worst post independence human rights failures the Gukurahundi massacres, he is also directly implicated in the 2008 election terror. Are we saying this is the man we would resign our fate to as president? No what i see in a Mnangagwa led era is at the least a continuation of the current status quo save for a purging of his political opponents within and without Zanu pf…We must attend the Zanupf congress and ensure that our fate is not resigned to the wrong man.
Wabaya dede nemukanwa Vince. IN Ndebele they say Waitshaye Khaleni I think.
People should note be distracted by the image that ED has had over the years. For me, the post of president is like a big gun that needs to be held buy someone who is strong enough to point it in one direction and we know where he is shooting. Someone with a weaker character like the competitors we hear of will be influenced by those around them and every day they will be shooting in a different direction depending no who spoke to them last. This is a crucial pint for the country and between the current options we have we should choose wisely.
For those who want to behave as if we have a wider choice between the two in the ring now, grow-up and be realistic. Totoshanda nezviripo because the politics of our time is such that we have to chose between these two.
Ngwena Ndizvo, I am very sure he will not be out everyday to show that he is a good student of VaMugabe like we hear everyday from the other corner. We need a new start.
Hi Vince,
I have the same reading of the situation. I know many of us are emotional about there not being another option between the two we have and we then throw tantrums like children refusing to eat porridge when there wont be any other food till midday.
For me the man presents as a stronger leader than the option and we need that to get out of the mess we are. I think even the west knows that among the lot there is now, he has the greatest potential to provide a stable leadership.
The President’s position needs someone with their own mind and not someone who will be told which way to fire every day. Unfortunately the vultures around his competitor are on that side because they know that they can manipulate the honorable lady more than they can manipulate Ngwena. They are not with this lady for the love of the country but for the side which their bread is buttered.
I hope those in ZANU PF who have the role to deliver the next leader for us think pragmatically as we go towards the 5th of December and are not carried away by childish emotions about stories from the past.
Good luck Zimbabwe