Saka writing all this now zvichabatsirei๐คทโโ๏ธ๐คทโโ๏ธ๐คทโโ๏ธ You fought everyone who was trying to stop ED and Tagwirei and now wakunyepera to be against them ๐๐๐Zimbabwean are not stupid Nelson!!!
๐ ๐ก๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ช๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ช๐๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ช๐ก ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐.
Bete, under normal circumstances I would agree with you. However, in this case, over the past few months, I have been warning that President Mnangagwa is creating his own demise by undertaking the 2030 constitutional amendment, to stay in power instead of passing the baton.
You see, President Mnangagwa has enjoyed a lot of goodwill from the East, the West, and internal stakeholders. Foreigners believed that he would be a departure from Mugabe, allowing both blocs (West and East) to do good business in Zimbabwe, albeit with each trying to get a monopoly.
Local business people believed that he would open up space for meritocracy based wealth creation, while his political supporters expected rewards and political elites believed that he would pass the baton to those who enabled him to remove Mugabe, when his time was up.
This is why, despite the coup and the shootings of protesters in 2018, everyone looked aside to pave his way, anticipating mutually beneficial business.
This culminated in local and foreign investment increasing, the opening up of credit lines, easier trade conditionsโeven under sanctionsโand the eventual removal of sanctions. All these were the ultimate confirmation of internal and Western support for the Mnangagwa administration.
However, while the West reached out to his administration for access to minerals, and locals sought economic opportunities with his administration and political allies sought rewards, he continued to grant government-sanctioned opportunities to the Chinese and a small circle of business elites around him at the exclusion of most.
This culminated in him publicising his rejection of Trumpโs propositions to access Zimbabweโs minerals through a health package and it also saw him halting the export of raw minerals, which pushed lithium prices up dramatically.
This would not entirely be a bad idea, if only his government were not violating human rights by closing down democratic space, weakening the opposition, and arbitrarily arresting those opposing his bidโall while using state institutions to enrich a few who now want to use their wealth to succeed him and keep power within his camp.
This has resulted in the West losing its toolsโcivil society organisations and the oppositionโto influence politics in the country, destroying the chances of someone else ascending to give more favourable terms to them.
Meanwhile, internally, doors have been shut on businesspeople and political actors who supported the President, as a result only the inner circle is eating. Those who were meant to succeed him are now seeing the door close as he seeks to stay in power indefinitely.
Consequently, by excluding others from the trough and then attempting to stay in power by suppressing dissent through human rights violationsโconfirmed by the Chapter 12 institution (Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission), whose leadership he appointedโPresident Mnangagwa has created a convergence of foreign and internal interests who now have a justified basis to remove him in a 2017 style internal regime change coup.
He has made the same mistake Mugabe made by not sticking to the succession plan agreed upon and eating alone, but his is only ten times worse.