Emmerson Mnangagwa is not Robert Mugabe

Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa (EDM) is not cut from the same cloth as Robert Gabriel Mugabe (RGM). While they participated in the war of liberation that was meant to bring true freedom and prosperity to the oppressed masses of Zimbabwe, EDM got his nickname, crocodile, for a reason. EDM realized earlier on that the ideals and gains of the Revolution were being betrayed and reversed, therefore he chose to lie low, and build structures that helped him to restore the ideals of the Revolution. RGM is a black neocolonialists who retained the old segregationist colonial structures and continued with the oppression and exploitation of the Zimbabwean people making independence a namesake only.

While RGM was a master equivocator who sought to outfox everyone at any given opportunity, EDM sought to promote the "Zimbabwean model," which would normalize ties with the West.

RGM resisted such overtures and reserved normal relationships with the West to himself. EDM promoted harmony across racial lines and even protected the dairy farmers in the Midlands for the benefit of the country. The strategies he adopted saw him rise to the echelons of power in what must be an "African case study" for removing dictators. The guy is smart and he built his strategies based on this knowledge of power plays. The military as an institution, required another institution to fight it like—the civil service or the judiciary. None of these institutions was positioned to take the fight to the military. In addition, the media, the church, professional bodies, and opposition parties, were always outsmarted by RGM.

There is no counterforce in Zimbabwe.  RGM dominated because the opposition is weak. Democracy has suffered a steady decline because the opposition is weak. The opposition is hopelessly fragmented and disorganized. Their message of freedom has been contaminated with vagueness. EDM must be happy to face quarrelsome opponents in the upcoming elections.

Instead of talking reforms, critical self-appraisal and review of strategies are needed if we are going to talk of a credible opposition. Currently, MDC leadership is selling out, fighting amongst themselves. The MDC President himself is a closet dictator, exhibiting the same tyrannical tendencies of RGM. Running to Washington DC will not help but only perpetuate people's suffering. What needs to be reformed in Zimbabwe is the opposition. The leadership of the MDC is wooden, senile, and out of touch with domestic realities.

If EDM called for elections today and invite observers, the opposition will be lucky to get five percent of the electoral votes. They lack receptivity and unity. No single individual or group by itself can effect political change in any country. At any moment in time, change comes from several sources - political parties, professional groups, student groups, church groups, business groups, trade union workers, and ordinary citizens— both inside and outside the country working together. Yet in Zimbabwe, some advocate for sanctions, some advocate for democracy. There is no concerted effort, no road map.

There is no primary focus; now that RGM is gone, opposition is in disarray. EDM creating and establishing a level political and economic playing field yet the opposition is stuck on who should be president, what type of ideology the country should follow, or a political platform. These issues are divisive.

EDM is not RGM, here we have a smart guy who is drawing up rules for the transition to democracy; instead of running to Washington DC, focus on ensuring that the rules that are being drawn are indeed fair and just and that the political field is level. Maybe the opposition must tell us their understanding of a level playing field.