Opinion / Columnist
The Army is coming after you Mr. President, just like what happened to Omar al-Bashir in Sudan
18 May 2019 at 08:52hrs | Views
The trigger for the demonstrations that brought the downfall of President Omar al-Bashir in April was the trebling of the price of bread last December. It came after a devaluation of the Sudanese pound in an effort to make the official rate for the pound drop to that of the black market. With the International Monetary Fund pushing for austerity and the rate of inflation hovering around 70%, the camel's back was finally broken. In fact the immediate cause of the economic crisis that brought many thousands of Sudanese out onto the streets in December last year and continued up to and beyond al-Bashir's downfall lay in the structure of the economy itself.
Just like in Sudan the writing in now on the wall that president Mnangagwa's days are extremely numbered, Zimbabwe is currently experiencing a barricade of problems that rages from economic, social and political problems that the current government have tried to solve but with no avail, Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate for the month of April shot to 75, 86%, up nine percentage points on the March rate of 66, 8% as the country fails to tame price increases. Last month the statistics agency, Zimstat, adopted a new matrix to calculate the consumer price index, but going by the old base, the inflation rate for April would have been 175,326%. In Sudan the protests started after the government increased bread prices and later on grew up until the ouster of the once feared man in African politics, the funny thing is that events which occurred in Sudan are almost similar to the ones in Zimbabwe, the only difference is that at the moment the security in Zimbabwe is at high alert, but in terms of the problems Zimbabwe might even have worse once than the ones that ousted Omar al Bashir in April.
Currently the unemployment rate in the country is above 90% and bread prices are shooting everyday while electricity and fuel shortages compliments the critical commodities that the Mnangagwa's government is facing and wrestling to solve, the health sector is totally in tatters while manufacturing industry in Zimbabwe is dead. However all these problems cannot be entirely be blamed on Mnangagwa as he inherited an already collapsed economy, however by virtue of being the head of state in that capacity he should have at least done something to change the fortunes of the economy since he promised heaven on earth prior to the elections. Zimbabwe's economy has been on a freefall since Mnangagwa came to power.
With little success the President of the Republic has failed dismally to woo the urgently needed FDI to the extent that he had to tour countries such as Guinea Bissau, Kazakhstan and other economical irrelevant countries which cannot even resuscitate Gweru as a city, his desperation shows his zeal, but where did the man really went wrong in all his international re-engagements. ED probably messed up during and after elections, during elections he rigged the vote and after elections his government killed innocent civilians which if one joins those two scenarios they is nowhere out for the fearless crocodile to be bailed out by the international community. No country especially European powers would like to bail such a brutal and illegal regime which actually came to power via a back door of a disguised military coup. Mnangagwa knows that he rigged elections and he is an illegitimate president.
If they is a man who is going to sink Mnangagwa slowly but surely is his second in command Vice President Chiwenga, this man has destroyed ED so bad that Mnangagwa won't recover from the actions that have been paraded by Chiwenga, without doubt this man is the one who controls the army and the army has been responsible for the killings of innocent citizens. The Zimbabwean Army has been blamed not just for killing innocent citizens but for brutality and rape in the January stay away which became so violent. The Mnangagwa led government has received condemnation internationally especially for the brutality which the army has been on rampant doing. Chiwenga fired the nurses and letter suspended the doctors surely this man has been practising 'barracks politics' which has destroyed ED to the core. With all this madness of Chiwenga, President Munangagwa is only left with his front tooth which are becoming useless in solving Zimbabwe's current crisis.
As much as I can see no light at the end of the tunnel for ED, surely the man inherited a rotten state which however he was part of the team that destroyed the once flourishing bread basket of Africa, President Emmerson Mnangagwa will be lucky to survive the mounting crisis in Zimbabwe by October 2019. The once feared Midlands political godfather's days in office are severely and brutally numbered, demonstrations will resume soon and ED will escape the country for the second time into political exile, the way former Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore escaped his native country after the citizens burned the Burkina Faso Parliament, Zimbabweans have no option than to kick out ED out.
If President Mnangagwa will be still the leader of the Republic by October this year he should thank his gods and ancestors, with the economy being on a freefall soon mass demonstrations will begin to mushroom across the country and the man will definitely resort to the military to squash them out by I bet my last RTGS dollar this time around the demonstration will force the crocodile either to flee or to resign peacefully and the junta will take over for the second time, But just like in Sudan the opposition will romp into the state house miraculously. The coming demonstrations will be too heavy that even the military won't be able to quench them.
President Mnangagwa has tried to launch different commissions and even the presidential advisory council but all these bodies have been far less than been useless if I may say so because they have failed to yield any desired results. While today he launched the POLAD an initiative of political parties of which most of them failed to garner even 1% during the presidential election in July, indeed the man is really desperate to make things work for the country but all his methods are useless and very soon if not sooner the Army is coming after him.
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Knowledge Hakata can be contacted on waterlessprings@gmail.com
Just like in Sudan the writing in now on the wall that president Mnangagwa's days are extremely numbered, Zimbabwe is currently experiencing a barricade of problems that rages from economic, social and political problems that the current government have tried to solve but with no avail, Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate for the month of April shot to 75, 86%, up nine percentage points on the March rate of 66, 8% as the country fails to tame price increases. Last month the statistics agency, Zimstat, adopted a new matrix to calculate the consumer price index, but going by the old base, the inflation rate for April would have been 175,326%. In Sudan the protests started after the government increased bread prices and later on grew up until the ouster of the once feared man in African politics, the funny thing is that events which occurred in Sudan are almost similar to the ones in Zimbabwe, the only difference is that at the moment the security in Zimbabwe is at high alert, but in terms of the problems Zimbabwe might even have worse once than the ones that ousted Omar al Bashir in April.
Currently the unemployment rate in the country is above 90% and bread prices are shooting everyday while electricity and fuel shortages compliments the critical commodities that the Mnangagwa's government is facing and wrestling to solve, the health sector is totally in tatters while manufacturing industry in Zimbabwe is dead. However all these problems cannot be entirely be blamed on Mnangagwa as he inherited an already collapsed economy, however by virtue of being the head of state in that capacity he should have at least done something to change the fortunes of the economy since he promised heaven on earth prior to the elections. Zimbabwe's economy has been on a freefall since Mnangagwa came to power.
With little success the President of the Republic has failed dismally to woo the urgently needed FDI to the extent that he had to tour countries such as Guinea Bissau, Kazakhstan and other economical irrelevant countries which cannot even resuscitate Gweru as a city, his desperation shows his zeal, but where did the man really went wrong in all his international re-engagements. ED probably messed up during and after elections, during elections he rigged the vote and after elections his government killed innocent civilians which if one joins those two scenarios they is nowhere out for the fearless crocodile to be bailed out by the international community. No country especially European powers would like to bail such a brutal and illegal regime which actually came to power via a back door of a disguised military coup. Mnangagwa knows that he rigged elections and he is an illegitimate president.
If they is a man who is going to sink Mnangagwa slowly but surely is his second in command Vice President Chiwenga, this man has destroyed ED so bad that Mnangagwa won't recover from the actions that have been paraded by Chiwenga, without doubt this man is the one who controls the army and the army has been responsible for the killings of innocent citizens. The Zimbabwean Army has been blamed not just for killing innocent citizens but for brutality and rape in the January stay away which became so violent. The Mnangagwa led government has received condemnation internationally especially for the brutality which the army has been on rampant doing. Chiwenga fired the nurses and letter suspended the doctors surely this man has been practising 'barracks politics' which has destroyed ED to the core. With all this madness of Chiwenga, President Munangagwa is only left with his front tooth which are becoming useless in solving Zimbabwe's current crisis.
If President Mnangagwa will be still the leader of the Republic by October this year he should thank his gods and ancestors, with the economy being on a freefall soon mass demonstrations will begin to mushroom across the country and the man will definitely resort to the military to squash them out by I bet my last RTGS dollar this time around the demonstration will force the crocodile either to flee or to resign peacefully and the junta will take over for the second time, But just like in Sudan the opposition will romp into the state house miraculously. The coming demonstrations will be too heavy that even the military won't be able to quench them.
President Mnangagwa has tried to launch different commissions and even the presidential advisory council but all these bodies have been far less than been useless if I may say so because they have failed to yield any desired results. While today he launched the POLAD an initiative of political parties of which most of them failed to garner even 1% during the presidential election in July, indeed the man is really desperate to make things work for the country but all his methods are useless and very soon if not sooner the Army is coming after him.
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Knowledge Hakata can be contacted on waterlessprings@gmail.com
Source - Knowledge Hakata
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