Post Mugabe, Zimbabweans deserve better

Whitewashing the junta will deny Zimbabwe a true democracy and lending money to a kleptocratic cabal only strengthens corruption

t the World Economic Forum recently, Zimbabwe’s new President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, declared: “Zimbabwe is now open for business.” Mnangagwa’s appearance in Davos, Switzerland, was a first for his country, which had been ruled by Robert Mugabe since independence in 1980. Now, following the apparent change of leadership in Zimbabwe last year, many in the international community are eager to invest. The rush to assist a country as it emerges from the clutches of a brutal dictator is understandable, even praiseworthy. In such situations, the United States and its allies should support the forces of freedom and economic opportunity. This was the response in many places across Africa, including Ethiopia after the fall of Mengistu Haile Mariam, Liberia, following the ouster of Charles Taylor, and most recently in Gambia. These were historical transitions.

Last November, Mugabe was placed under house arrest and ultimately ousted by his own army. Thousands of people flooded the streets, alongside tanks and uniformed soldiers, to celebrate. Mnangagwa is not the cartoon dictator of the past. He is savvier and has pledged to hold “free and fair” elections by late August and to revive a failed economy. A slick public relations campaign has led to sympathetic press coverage and a warm reception in Davos. Yet, it’s far too soon to bail the junta out. First, the “new regime” in Zimbabwe is hardly new. While Mugabe and his wife, Grace, have departed, those in control are the very same men who kept Mugabe in power for nearly 40 years. The new Vice-President, Constantino Chiwenga, is the army general who had led a de facto coup in 2008. After the opposition defeated Mugabe at the polls, Chiwenga organised a campaign of intimidation to keep Mugabe in power. Sibusiso Moyo, the officer wearing camouflage fatigues and a beret who announced the army takeover on state television, is now foreign minister.

Second, despite the rhetoric, Mnangagwa has no intention of losing by the ballot. His officials have already admitted that the military will safeguard their survival. Top adviser Christopher Mutsvangwa recently said: “We will win resoundingly ... We will mobilise heavily working with the [Zimbabwe Defence Forces].”

Third, Mugabe’s plunder wasn’t alone. While the regime talks about business, it is the same set of people that systematically destroyed Zimbabwe’s economy. Zimbabwe reportedly has $15 billion (Dh55.17 billion) in missing diamond mining revenues. The notion that these same people are suddenly reformers who can engineer a robust recovery is incorrect.

Finally, there are serious crimes. In the early 1980s, government forces allegedly carried out the operation known as ‘Gukurahundi’, or in the local Shona language, “the rain that washes away the garbage”. A chief architect of that episode was Mugabe’s state security chief at the time: Emmerson Mnangagwa. To this day, not a single officer or politician has been held to account.

Whitewashing the junta serves only to deny Zimbabwe a genuine democracy. Lending new money to a kleptocratic cabal only strengthens the forces of corruption. And embracing the same men turns our backs on the survivors who are yearning for justice and accountability. Zimbabweans, after suffering for so long, deserve better from the international community.

Todd Moss is a former US deputy assistant secretary of state for Africa. Jeffrey Smith is executive director of Vanguard Africa, a non-profit group that supports pro-democracy forces in Africa.

www.gulfnews.com/opinions