Zanu-PF has a clear mandate
It is common cause that politicians love power, but we doubt that there would be many who envy President Mnangagwa’s position at this critical juncture as he tests his first steps as the leader of the Republic.
It is an unenviable task when you are a soldier, not Jesus, and all you have are five loaves of bread and two fish and there are a million-and-a-half expectations demanding your attention. Add to that, an onrushing election in which your performance could quite unfairly be judged by what you did or couldn’t achieve within the shortest Presidential term of just seven months.
Which is not to say the man is not up to the task before him, but that fate can sometimes seem so cruel.
The sudden end to former President Robert Mugabe’s rule seems to have transferred on to the shoulders of his successor all that he left undone and everything he should have done: President Mnangagwa is expected to solve a long running cash crisis, deliver jobs, rejuvenate the economy and promote local investment while pursuing a vigorous policy to engage the international community.
On the political front, “good Samaritans” have emerged from the woodwork offering advice on what the end of Mugabe’s rule means.
There are calls for a government of national unity or a transitional authority, both of which sound like blackmail if the new President wants cooperation. The Samaritans want a piece of the cake for their “contribution” to Mugabe’s departure. This is despite glaring ideological differences.
With his own Zanu-PF party, President Mnangagwa is faced with a lot of expectations by those who stood by him when all seemed lost, when he was attacked by his enemies and what the Zimbabwe Defence Forces described as “criminals” around former President Mugabe.
They want to be recognised for their various roles. There are a lot of expectations too from those who rose against the former President for undermining the ethos and values of the revolution. Would Zimbabweans be happy with a government of national unity? And why have it when Zanu-PF has a clear mandate?
The challenge is how to reconcile the interests of the revolution with those of people who went into the streets because they wanted to end the “Zanufication” of the country; those who have struggled for years to put Zanu-PF in the dustbin of history.
Both the GNU and NTA proponents are on the same side. Zanu-PF is on the other.
Our recent history exposed how difficult it was to make the GNU work from 20092013. There were those who went in hoping to “seize” power from within. There was little in the service of the nation. Instead there was mutual suspicion which rendered the whole arrangement dysfunctional.
That spirit persists, with the opposition and civic society organisations clearly focused on so-called reforms in the hope of winning the next elections and dislodging Zanu-PF from power.
This is worrying because it makes for a lot of tension and chronic bickering, all of which detracts from the urgent need to address cash shortages, increase investment, increase industrial capacity utilisation and create jobs.
As he indicated in his inauguration speech, the President intends to hit the ground running, and from the foregoing he has seven months on his hands, yet he is expected to move mountains.
He needs a team he can trust.