‘No cheer under ED administration 3 years on’
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa’s new dispensation will this month mark three years in office, with analysts saying there was nothing to cheer about as the regime had failed to fulfil most of its promises. Instead, the analysts said Mnangagwa’s government has been characterised by high-level corruption, gross human rights violations, job losses and poverty.
Mnangagwa came to power in November 2017 after toppling his long-time mentor, the late Robert Mugabe with the help of the military, and pledged to undo all the damage caused to the economy under his predecessor. He promised to turn around the economy, create jobs and make Zimbabwe a middle income economy by 2030.
But political analyst Austin Chakaodza said Mnangagwa’s government had performed worse than Mugabe’s administration.
“There’s nothing to celebrate about the new dispensation, the situation has gone worse than it was during the time of Mugabe. We had our problems as usual and thought when the palace coup happened things were going to improve,” Chakaodza said.
“To our astonishment and disappointment the country has no cash, we don’t know whether we are using RTGS [Real Time Gross Settlement], bond notes or the United States dollar. The situation has not improved even with an iota. The education system has died,” he said.
Another political analyst Ibbo Mandaza echoed similar sentiments.
“We warned you not to get into the streets to celebrate. We told you that the coup was about factional fights and nothing to do with the people of this country. Things have disintegrated since the coming in of the new dispensation,” he said.
“Nothing has improved since the coup and the government has no capacity to solve the problem of this country. What we are only seeing is the conflict between Mnangagwa and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga. There was no legacy which was restored.”
Eldred Masunugure said the Operation Restore Legacy used to justify Mnangagwa’s takeover of power “was a resolution of internal issues and succession issues in Zanu PF. It was a fire extinguisher of the fire which was burning in the party and nothing about a new order. It was a leadership change, not a regime change”.
He added: “It had a narrow ambition. Many are now disappointed because the expectations they had were wrongly anchored. The expectations of Zimbabweans were beyond that of those who launched the operation.”
He said the operation was only successful in changing leadership and preventing Mugabe from transferring power to his wife Grace.
Masunungure said Zimbabweans were now disappointed because the bigger issue they expected to be solved pertained to their welfare and improvement of human rights.
“There is the continuity of the first republic, renamed the second republic or new dispensation. Otherwise the old dispensation is in the new dispensation,” he said.