On the 10th of August, 2017 , I wrote an article entitled, State Machinery is likely to remove Mugabe and his wife, and this came to pass on the 22nd of November, 2017 resulting in the elevation of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the second republican according to Chris Mutsvangwa. On the 15th of June, 2016, I wrote a piece entitled, Nelson Chamisa will assume MDC Presidency, and during that time , I was dismissed by many senior members, analysts and other key strategic people, and this came to pass on the 15th of February, 2018 after the death of the former Zimbabwe Prime Minister Dr Morgan Tsvangirai who was the founder of the party.
In February, 2020 , I wrote an article warning the President of the second republican about imminent of a revolution if he does not give an ear to the voice of the people and other advisors ( Mnangagwa is likely to be swept by a revolution). I will come back to this one after I give my narration of why I have decided to pen this piece in the early hours of today.
In 2017, after the military coup and the ouster of former President Robert Mugabe, there were signs of relief to most Zimbabweans, especially after Emmerson Mnangagwa gave a lot of false hope to majority of us. Today , we are aging, and during the lockdown, I took my time to reflect on what is happening in our country, and what are we going to explain to our children and grandchildren? I asked myself the following questions :
1. What are we going to tell our children about Jumbo mine in Mash Central? A mine worthy over 100 Million is now in the hands of handful individuals and one family.
2. What happened to Freda Rebecca mine over 100 Million USD?
3. What happened to Midlands & Kwekwe gold belt and reserves?
4. What happened to the 9 Billion for Command Agriculture which was purportedly given to farmers? Today, we are importing soya beans, wheat and grain.
Let me go back to a few events which happened after the ouster of the dictator in November, 2017. I feel sorry for all those who marched , some walked from high density suburbs, and celebrated, holding the placards and portraits of Emmerson Mnangagwa and Constantine Chiwenga, singing this song, ” Kutonga kwaro, rasvika gamba”. One wonders, what we were inviting during this moment of seizure.
I attended Mnangagwa ‘ s inauguration at the National sports stadium in my capacity as an academic. I remember I was right inside close to the VIP section. I had an opportunity to mingle with the likes of Tagwirei, Obert Mpofu, Tsvangirai the former late Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Patrick Chinamasa, Nelson Chamisa, the current MDC Alliance President. When I witnessed the arrival of Edgar Lungu of Zambia, first Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda, fourth Zambian President, Rupiah Banda, AU Chairman Paul Kagame, the respected Ian Khama of Botswana and others I quickly said, Mnangagwa’ s Presidency has been finally endorsed. The arrival of Lungu saw many people giving a thunderous oviation and jubilation with many calling him ” Chagwa”. After ED gave his speech as the President, people stood to exchange greetings, and I remember he had nothing to worry, he gave many false hopes to the nation, particularly thw young people. I mingled with many who were on the VIP platform and others expressing hope to the famous kutonga kwaro gamba, and calling him, ” Shumba murambwi”. Today it is very difficult even to play the song even in public places, lest you will invite public problems for yourself. During those days, I wrote policy documents which could assist the nation to recover from economic meltdown as a result of Mugabe’s misrule and national plunder to the once breadbasket nation which gave hope to the entire region. On a particular day, I received a phone call from the then special advisor to the President Chris Mutsvangwa who had seen a number of my presentations on Policy Advisory and development. We had a long chat at his Munhumutapa offices where he said he was willing to see Zimbabwe going back to it’s former glory through policy review. In his own words, he said the President was willing to see Zimbabwe’ s restoration and recovery in less than 6 months.
We went into an election mode, which saw many parties participating in the harmonized elections resulting in a dispute, where the MDC Alliance President Nelson Chamisa claiming election were rigged and he further rejected the outcome of the poll, claiming he got over 2.6 million vote to assume Presidency. Few days after election, there was a bizarre, at least more than 7 people were gunned down in the broad day light, and it was a sad moment for Zimbabwe, simply because of power.
Today the economy has been run down, we have nothing to show after the military seizure of power which led to the former Vice President taking an oath of office in the full view of more than 50 000 people in the gigantic stadium. It is a sad story to witness the plundering of national resources, Mnangagwa ‘ s children being implicated in the looting of Covid – 19 resources. The Permanent Secretary of Finance Ministry is failing to give an explanation of what happened to Covid – 19 donations which came from Namibia, China, South Africa and other parts of the country. We have a deep deep crisis in this country. Further assault of democracy, we are witnessing the clamping down of main opposition and the target of all Government opponents. From abductions to torture of civilians, what has really happened Mr President? Moreover, above that, flip flopping and many other serial lies such as :
1. Where is the 500 Million which Mthuli Ncube promised to assist all citizens during the Covid19 pandemic?
2. Where is the 18 Billion dollar stimulus package for companies which was announced by you Mr President after the second phase of the lockdown?
3. Where is the budget surplus of over 3 trillion which the Finance Boss claimed was in available?
4. Where is the health care and job opportunities which were promised during the 2018 election campaign period?
5. Where are the proceeds of 5.4 Billion of Command Agriculture? Today Zimbabwe is importing soya beans and grain?
6. Documents being revealed on how donations from Namibia, China have been looted through hoaxes and fake companies related to the first family is a sign that something is wrong with your Presidency
In a nutshell what wrong have we done to you to deserve all this kind of plundering and looting of national resources through fake companies? We witnessed corruption during Mugabe’s era, and there was little resemblance, and today what we are witnessing is not corruption but direct looting and thuggery under your stewardship. This is an assault to your legacy . I have also wondered what the 25 Presidential Advisory ( PAC) is doing after all these meetings, are these the results of your purported meetings? One would be tempted to think, these meetings could be more to do with strategic further plundering of national resources.
We are likely to witness sad moments ahead of us, and let me make another prediction, this could be another sign of a bad ending or sad departure. There is a de – link between citizens and the man in charge of instruments of state power.
These are the signs of yet another revolution which is impending, and we are likely to witness sad moments ahead of us !!!
This will not end well, and your own people around you will soon surrender you to the public ”
Tinashe Eric Muzamhindo is a Policy Advisor and Researcher and he is also the Head of Zimbabwe Institute of Strategic Thinking ( ZIST), and he can be contacted at [email protected]