Why a Mnangagwa victory is bad news

If Mnangagwa wins the election battle, a lot of people are going to be in trouble. Chamisa will not be just out of a job but he may be kicked out as party leader. Mnangagwa may not do this alone as reports say vultures are already out for Chamisa. One only hopes that, Chamisa will be sidelined by his own party and supporters and not by law as some people like Joseph Chinotimba are suggesting, that the constitution should be amended to raise the age limit for one to qualify to contest as president from 40 to 55 or 60. That would not just be immoral but gross abuse of power. The people should decide who can lead them. After all that constitution was approved by the people through a referendum.

Opposition parties will also be in trouble because Mnangagwa will render them useless. He has a lot to prove in five years- create jobs, introduce devolution, usher a new era of peace and tolerance, build the economy. He also has to prove that he is better than former President Robert Mugabe. But more importantly he needs to leave a better legacy. Even organisations like the Mthwakazi Republic Party will be rendered useless because devolution gives power to locals.  Mnangagwa is also likely to pour resources into Matebeleland to silence all those who have been accusing him of atrocities during Gukurahundi and also to prove that he is not as bad as people say he is. In the few months he has been in power he has already shown that he is not the monster that people say he is.

Civil society organisations that have been thriving on the crisis in Zimbabwe and human rights violations will also find themselves out of a job.  Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, for example, says it is a conglomeration of more than 80 civil society organisations. With the crisis over, they are likely to be rendered useless. In its 2013 election manifesto ZANU-PF said Zimbabwe had more than 3 000 non-governmental organisations which was “scandalously disproportionate to the country’s population”. The number could have gone up after Mugabe’s win. If Mnangagwa mends relations with the international community more resources are likely to be channelled through the government rather than non-governmental organisations. Most NGOs are wasting resources as most of the money goes to CEOs and staff and into buying non-core assets like SUVs.

Prophets of doom, who seem to believe that only the ousting of ZANU-PF will foster change, have been predicting that Zimbabwe will go nowhere because of the election violence of 1 August. But once Mnangagwa is declared winner, that will all be water under the bridge. Mnangagwa has enough friends in China and Russia. China is awash with cash and Russia has the technology Zimbabwe needs to develop its industry, especially mining. All Mnangagwa needs is caution and due diligence to make sure he invites entrepreneurs and not con-artists. The West is well aware of the power that China has and will not allow it to exploit all the resources that Zimbabwe has alone. Although making the necessary noises, Britain has already demonstrated that it does not want to be left out of Zimbabwe.

In short, Mnangagwa is bad news for all those who have been thriving on the crisis in Zimbabwe. But he will be good news for ordinary Zimbabweans because as he has often stated he will be a president of everyone, those who voted for him and especially those who did not vote for him because he wants to prove to them that he is good for them and that they should vote for him should he decide to contest for a second term. Mnangagwa is so determined to prove himself and change the fortunes of Zimbabwe and its people that those who disliked him will start asking themselves: “By the way why did we really hate this man?”

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