As the Movement for Democratic Change challenges the recent election result in court after the ZANU PF victory and protestors take to Harare’s streets, tensions run high in Zimbabwe. With hope raised both locally and internationally about the prospects of a free and democratic Zimbabwe, investors have started to withdraw their praise for the emergent economy after Emmerson Mnangagwa won the election. Zimbabweans are suspicious that the ZANU PF won yet again despite Mugabe’s 37 year dictatorship which saw catastrophic famines, massacres of the Ndebele people and an economy entirely destroyed and replaced by the US dollar.
Mugabe was voted into power democratically in 1980 after many decades of colonial rule and the particularly violent Rhodesian Bush War. What won the public over was his dedication to land redistribution along ethnic lines. The British government under Prime Minister Thatcher had agreed with him on how it would be done and compensation due. However, the next Prime Minister, Tony Blair, allegedly reneged on the British promise to fund the compensation of White farmers. In light of this, Mugabe argues that they began to remove White farmers from their land forcefully. Several farmers were murdered and thousands had their land confiscated and given predominantly to Mugabe’s political allies and friends who had little to no agricultural experience.
Previously, White-owned farms contributed to 40% of Zimbabwe’s GDP and up to 60% of their foreign exports. After the violent takeovers, Zimbabwe was left in a famine and forced to import food as White farmers did not plant sufficient crops because of the violence and very few people were left who knew how to harvest the corn properly. Western countries such as America and Britain placed heavy sanctions on Zimbabwe in retaliation for what they saw was a growing dictatorship. Journalists critical of Mugabe were arrested and tortured, political opponents assassinated and elections, albeit held, were knowingly rigged. While Mugabe’s wife, Grace, and his political allies were free to shop in London and Paris and were often seen wearing Gucci and Louis Vuitton, regular Zimbabweans were subject to electricity cuts that went on for days and a lack of clean water. Stores were emptied of all food in a matter of hours as people queued with wheelbarrows of Zimbabwean dollars due to hyperinflation. Petrol was extremely limited and prices exorbitant which meant that only those who were able to smuggle in money through the border were able to afford it when it was available.
After the Fifa World Cup in South Africa put the continent in the spotlight, the situation seemed to settle down in Zimbabwe. Mugabe was well into his 80s, some farmers were offered their land back and the introduction of the US Dollar offered some structure to the economy. However, things fell apart in November 2017 when Mugabe fired his Vice President allegedly to give Grace more political power. In the face of being ruled by Grace, a woman who was notoriously hated by the public for her spending habits and outrageous behaviour overseas, the military revolted. Previous attempts by the people had been suppressed with the arrest of Pastor Mawarire who led the 2016 social media protest against Mugabe. This time, the military succeeded in placing Mugabe and Grace under house arrest. He promptly resigned which was met with euphoria across the world with Zimbabweans taking to the street wrapped in their flag to celebrate their freedom.
A wave of arrests followed as the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission felt empowered after then acting President Mnangagwa promised to clear out corruption. The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe was arrested surrounding Grace Mugabe’s alleged fake PhD and two former ZANU PF minister were set to appear in court for separate corruption charges. However, criticism emerged that the campaign was being used as a way to eliminate his political opponents and that it was not being done in a fair and objective manner. Despite concerns, his willingness to reform Zimbabwe and open up the economy to foreign investments has made him the darling of the Western World as Britain and America offer to support Zimbabwe’s efforts to become a global player yet again.
The majority of Zimbabweans are not as trusting of Mnangagwa. Colloquially, he is known as “the Crocodile”. As a former member of the ZANU PF party, he was instrumental in the Mugabe regime and is even considered one of his closest confidantes. More poignantly in the memory of some Zimbabweans is his role in the Gukurahundi. The series of massacres against the Ndebele people occurred during 1982-1983 when Mnangagwa was Minister of State Security. While he often denies his role, he called for their villages to be burnt and labelled them as “cockroaches” and “bugs”, the same language used during the Rwandan genocide. Around 20 000 Ndebele were killed as they were rounded up by ZANU PF supporters and shot, tortured or burnt alive. Even after becoming acting President and being questioned about his role in the massacres, Mnangagwa refuses to apologise for what happened.
As Trump extends sanctions on the country and the postponement of Mnangagwa’s inauguration, Zimbabwe’s possibility for a peaceful future under the ZANU PF seems remote. To this date, 3 people have been killed by government forces during a protest against electoral fraud in Harare. Whether Mnangagwa will become a new Mugabe as some protestors have labelled him or the one to bring Zimbabwe back as a global player is yet to be determined pending the outcome of the trial.