‘ED sheds crocodile tears over Mugabe’
Political analysts have described President Emmerson Mnangagwa as a hypocrite after the Zanu PF leader praised the late former President Robert Mugabe a few years after celebrating his ouster in a November 2017 military coup.
Monday marked two years since Mugabe died in a Singapore hospital. He died a bitter man after he was pushed out of power in a military coup.
Mnangagwa on Monday described him as “a principled man whose values we should respect”.
But the analysts accused Mnangagwa of shedding crocodile tears after conniving with the military to boot out Mugabe. they also labelled him a hypocrite for praising Mugabe’s legacy while his government was busy shredding it.
Political analyst Eldred Masunungure said: “Politics is rarely about genuine convictions and a lot about power, gaining it or maintaining it and, where possible, expanding it.
“in the final analysis, it may well be about the incumbent’s total strategy to appease or assuage former adversaries with a keen eye on 2023.”
another analyst Rashweat Mukundu said Mnangagwa was in reality totally dismantling Mugabe’s legacy.
“We see Mnangagwa undoing everything Robert Mugabe did. Despite our misgivings, one of Mugabe’s legacies was emphasized on black empowerment and this is regardless of lack of clarity on how this can be done, yet this is one of the key policies Mnangagwa is dismantling. Not only the indigenous policies, but we are actually seeing rural communities being kicked out of land to pave way for white former commercial farmers.”
He added: “this was unimaginable during Mugabe’s time that rural communities would be kicked out of their ancestral land for it to be given to chinese companies. What we have in Mnangagwa is a mere opportunist who wants to benefit from the legacy of Robert Mugabe but on the other side, undoing the few positives Mugabe stood for.”
Human rights activist and political analyst ashton Bumhira said it was ironic that Mnangagwa was showering praises on the man he vilified.
“He goes on to talk about principles which he himself failed to stick to by ousting his former boss. it is sad, but to be expected that he would shower praises on the late leader on the anniversary of his death because it serves him politically.
“Remember Zanu PF still has a lot of Mugabe sympathisers, remnants of the G40 faction, these are the people the President is trying
to appease with that tribute to the former leader.”
another political analyst Vivid Gwede however, said: “We should be cognisant of the fact that Mugabe was removed not because his colleagues did not like him or did not approve some of his policies.
For decades, they had been close associates. they removed him to solve the succession question which threatened their interests. in the process, there was a natural fallout.”