Opinion / Columnist
Mnangagwa had a chance to be a Gorbachev, but he chose to be Milosevic!!!
24 Jan 2022 at 20:36hrs | Views
Zimbabweans celebrating the fall of the late ex-President Robert Mugabe during the November 2017 military coup which brought President E.D Mnangagwa to power. Pic Credit; Google.
Reader, Mnangagwa worked closely with the late ex-President Robert Mugabe for more than half a century since the days of the liberation struggle in the 60s till the fall of Mugabe in a military coup in November 2017. In the post-independent Zimbabwe Mnangagwa served as a Minister for almost four decades, he was Mugabe's top henchman and chief enforcer. To be candid he was the one doing all the bloody and junky work for his master Robert Mugabe. Mnangagwa knows everything that went wrong during the first Republic and my expectations when he grabbed power in 2017 were to simply correct all the wrongs he did alongside Mugabe. He had a very big chance and a golden opportunity to cleanse his name, rebrand, right the past wrongs and open a new page for a reformed ZANU-PF. Alas, old habits die hard and how come I quickly forget that old adage. He had a chance to be a Gorbachev but he chose to be a Milosevic. For the purposes of those who didn't study history. Gorbachev using his flagship Perestroika and Glasnot introduced policies to fix the distressed Soviet economy re-engaging the West their long time enemy. He opened the economy to free market and democratized the Communist Party introducing political and social reforms. That's what Mnangagwa was supposed to do; Simple. Reader under Mnangagwa things are getting worse to an extent that the euphoria that was in the international community after the 2017 coup has all vanished. Zimbabwe is back in that stinking isolated corner of a miserable pariah state headed by a gang of thieves, bandits, in Professor George Ayittey's words quack revolutionaries and coconut heads.
'Let's give Mnangagwa a chance' those were the words on almost everyone's mouth after the November 2017 coup; Mnangagwa smashed that golden opportunity.
Reader, Mnangagwa had a golden opportunity to right all the wrongs he did with his late master Robert Gabriel Mugabe. After the coup you could mistake the British Ambassador Catriona Laing with a ZANU-PF spokesperson. The international community was willing to mend diplomatic relations with Zimbabwe. 'Let's give him (Mnangagwa) a chance', those were the most common words in November 2017 after the coup. What Mnangagwa was supposed to do is to is very simple;
1) Fight the scourge of corruption and ZANU-PF kleptocracy which ruined Zimbabwe in the First Republic. He chose to allow his cronies to continue plundering and raping Zimbabwe worse than what we saw under Mugabe.
2) Stop the violence and gross human rights violations. Introduce a new culture of respecting human and fundamental rights. He chose to continue with ZANU-PF culture of mass murder, violence and human rights violations as he continues to brutally clampdown on any form of dissent.
3) Imagine if he had implemented all the much anticipated economic, social and political reforms in 2018 and graciously accept defeat if he lose the elections (isn't it a public secret that he did not win the 2018 elections?). He was going to be the new Mandela in Southern Africa and across the globe. He chose to continue with the rigging route and electoral fraud which kept ZANU-PF in power for the past twenty two years against the will of the people of Zimbabwe.
Precisely Mnangagwa was supposed to use that opportunity to do things the right way because he is fully aware of what went wrong and how it can be corrected to put Zimbabwe back on the right track. He smashed that golden opportunity prioritizing protecting a gang of thieves and criminals around him. Anyway forgive me for expecting too much from Mnangagwa his track record shows that he has no history of delivering he got a chance to be in government not on merit but on Mugabe's benevolence. Now everything is back to zero, Zimbabwe is in tatters and on the brink of falling into an economic abyss. The dream of almost every young Zimbabwean is to get a chance to leave Zimbabwe, under Mnangagwa things are getting worse. With all due respect Mr Mnangagwa you have failed Zimbabwe and it's sad your leadership is destroying generations of our promising young sons and daughters. What a tragedy?
Nkosilathi Emmanuel Moyo, Sr is a pro-democracy campaigner based in Kwekwe where he is running an initiative dubbed Fix The Country_Zimbabwe. He writes in his personal capacity and is reachable on his Whatsapp +233551318080
Reader, Mnangagwa worked closely with the late ex-President Robert Mugabe for more than half a century since the days of the liberation struggle in the 60s till the fall of Mugabe in a military coup in November 2017. In the post-independent Zimbabwe Mnangagwa served as a Minister for almost four decades, he was Mugabe's top henchman and chief enforcer. To be candid he was the one doing all the bloody and junky work for his master Robert Mugabe. Mnangagwa knows everything that went wrong during the first Republic and my expectations when he grabbed power in 2017 were to simply correct all the wrongs he did alongside Mugabe. He had a very big chance and a golden opportunity to cleanse his name, rebrand, right the past wrongs and open a new page for a reformed ZANU-PF. Alas, old habits die hard and how come I quickly forget that old adage. He had a chance to be a Gorbachev but he chose to be a Milosevic. For the purposes of those who didn't study history. Gorbachev using his flagship Perestroika and Glasnot introduced policies to fix the distressed Soviet economy re-engaging the West their long time enemy. He opened the economy to free market and democratized the Communist Party introducing political and social reforms. That's what Mnangagwa was supposed to do; Simple. Reader under Mnangagwa things are getting worse to an extent that the euphoria that was in the international community after the 2017 coup has all vanished. Zimbabwe is back in that stinking isolated corner of a miserable pariah state headed by a gang of thieves, bandits, in Professor George Ayittey's words quack revolutionaries and coconut heads.
'Let's give Mnangagwa a chance' those were the words on almost everyone's mouth after the November 2017 coup; Mnangagwa smashed that golden opportunity.
Reader, Mnangagwa had a golden opportunity to right all the wrongs he did with his late master Robert Gabriel Mugabe. After the coup you could mistake the British Ambassador Catriona Laing with a ZANU-PF spokesperson. The international community was willing to mend diplomatic relations with Zimbabwe. 'Let's give him (Mnangagwa) a chance', those were the most common words in November 2017 after the coup. What Mnangagwa was supposed to do is to is very simple;
1) Fight the scourge of corruption and ZANU-PF kleptocracy which ruined Zimbabwe in the First Republic. He chose to allow his cronies to continue plundering and raping Zimbabwe worse than what we saw under Mugabe.
2) Stop the violence and gross human rights violations. Introduce a new culture of respecting human and fundamental rights. He chose to continue with ZANU-PF culture of mass murder, violence and human rights violations as he continues to brutally clampdown on any form of dissent.
3) Imagine if he had implemented all the much anticipated economic, social and political reforms in 2018 and graciously accept defeat if he lose the elections (isn't it a public secret that he did not win the 2018 elections?). He was going to be the new Mandela in Southern Africa and across the globe. He chose to continue with the rigging route and electoral fraud which kept ZANU-PF in power for the past twenty two years against the will of the people of Zimbabwe.
Precisely Mnangagwa was supposed to use that opportunity to do things the right way because he is fully aware of what went wrong and how it can be corrected to put Zimbabwe back on the right track. He smashed that golden opportunity prioritizing protecting a gang of thieves and criminals around him. Anyway forgive me for expecting too much from Mnangagwa his track record shows that he has no history of delivering he got a chance to be in government not on merit but on Mugabe's benevolence. Now everything is back to zero, Zimbabwe is in tatters and on the brink of falling into an economic abyss. The dream of almost every young Zimbabwean is to get a chance to leave Zimbabwe, under Mnangagwa things are getting worse. With all due respect Mr Mnangagwa you have failed Zimbabwe and it's sad your leadership is destroying generations of our promising young sons and daughters. What a tragedy?
Nkosilathi Emmanuel Moyo, Sr is a pro-democracy campaigner based in Kwekwe where he is running an initiative dubbed Fix The Country_Zimbabwe. He writes in his personal capacity and is reachable on his Whatsapp +233551318080
Source - Nkosilathi Emmanuel Moyo Sr
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