Zimbabwe: From hope to despair to hope

Mnangagwa now takes over with the responsibility to address aspirations of millions of people

It’s been a week of tumult and expectation in Zimbabwe, culminating in the resignation of Robert Mugabe, the world’s oldest head of state at 93. He resigned after the military, the ruling party and the people turned against him. The stage is now set for his former vice-president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, to be sworn in.

Mugabe took over as the country’s first president in 1980 amid great expectations. For years he inspired leaders across the continent, but his policies over 37 years devastated the country’s agricultural production transforming Africa’s breadbasket into a land of barren fields. The economy staggered with an unemployment rate estimated at higher than 80 per cent.

But it didn’t have to end like this. The wellspring of support that greeted the army when it carried out the ‘correction’ was an indication of how the former freedom fighter had lost the hearts of the people. Mugabe started off as a leader who could chart the course of a young nation with huge resources, but forgot midway that leaders must look at the bigger picture. When a person is at the helm of a country, he must understand the need to sacrifice personal goals and ambitions for the betterment of the people. Prosperity and peace gave way to self-aggrandisement, nepotism and corruption. The result was a deafening roar of protest from those who matter the most — the people.

Mnangagwa now takes over with the hopes of millions of people on his shoulders. A miracle cannot be expected overnight, but the president will do well to listen to the people and not repeat the missteps of his predecessor. Mugabe was no doubt influential in Africa, but the quick way he fell may be a warning to all who would follow his ways.