Mnangagwa’s big lie – Zimbabwe is not open for business says Cross

Bulawayo South legislator Eddie Cross has dismissed President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s new mantra that Zimbabwe is open for business saying it cannot be while it still has a run-away budget deficit, the Reserve Bank is a monster stealing money in broad daylight, and the country is still facing a liquidity crisis.

Writing on his personal blog, Cross said Mnangagwa was likely to win the coming elections but this will not be a free and fair election but a “smart election”.

Below is the write-up.

If anything could be described as the theme of the new Government that came to power in November last year, it is the adage 'we are open for business'. This has got a lot of people excited, brought many to our shores to look and see if this is true and engendered the view that this regime is somehow radically different from the 'old' regime under Robert Mugabe.

The reality is very different. Not a single significant case of corruption has been initiated since November. The Police road blocks and checks which had become so pervasive under Mugabe have been withdrawn and that is a great relief, but nothing else has changed. Not even the closure of the road past State House from 6 to 6 at night even though both residences are empty.

The Army may be back in the barracks but believe me their control over most of what is going on in Government has not changed at all, in fact it may be more open and pervasive. We are headed for a 'smart election', not free and fair in the conventional sense but one which will be controlled and directed by the same team that won the 2013 elections. Its outcome is being predicted with total certainty as being a two-horse race with Emmerson Mnangagwa the clear winner, Nelson Chamisa a close second and the also ran's miles behind.

But I think they will be able to claim after the election that the 'people have spoken'. The fact that they had their hands tied behind their backs, were subjected to a constant stream of propaganda and their basic needs delivered on a 'command basis' by the military in mufti, will be very difficult to see and the International Community will begin to recognise the new regime once it takes over.

The big question for me is what then? Quo Vadis?

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