Zimbabwe’s ‘Crocodile’ has no choice but to pay attention to economy

Pomp and circumstance will be the order of the day when Emmerson “The Crocodile” Mnangagwa is sworn in as Zimbabwe’s president tomorrow following former president Robert Mugabe’s dramatic 11th-hour resignation on Tuesday.

Mnangagwa jetted into Manyame air base in Harare yesterday after paying a “courtesy call” on President Jacob Zuma.

At the air base in Zimbabwe, Mnangagwa was met by army generals who briefed him before a more than 50-car cavalcade, escorted by helicopters, took him to the country’s capital, Harare, where a large crowd cheered as he walked down the red carpet laid out for him at the Zimbabwean African National Union-Patriotic Front headquarters.

Read more: Zimbabwe’s next leader returns after Mugabe exit

Once all the speeches are over, the new president will have to roll up his sleeves and begin work.

“Mnangagwa will have no choice other but to pay attention to the economy,” Institute for Security Studies senior researcher Derek Matyszak said yesterday.

“One way he can do this is by bringing in opposition or former opposition members into the Cabinet, constructing a technocratic Cabinet and trying to find a way back from the economic precipice on which Zimbabwe currently teeters.”

As former president Robert Mugabe’s foes, Britain and America, are lining up, it may not be too difficult for Mnangagwa to turn things around.

“In recent days we have seen the desire of the Zimbabwean people for free and fair elections and the opportunity to rebuild the country’s economy under a legitimate government,” British Prime Minister Theresa May said in a statement.

“As Zimbabwe’s oldest friend we will do all we can to support this, working with our international and regional partners to help the country achieve the brighter future it so deserves.”

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also extended a helping hand towards Zimbabwe.

“We urge Zimbabwe’s leaders to implement much-needed political and economic reforms for a more stable and promising future for the Zimbabwean people. “We will continue to support the people of Zimbabwe as these reforms move forward,” he said in a statement.

“Whatever short-term arrangements the government may establish, the path forward must lead to free and fair elections. “The people of Zimbabwe must choose their own leaders.”

Matyszak also suggested the economy could do with a fully inclusive government in the form of a national transitional government authority.

“Elections would then be suspended for a two- or three-year period while the country is stabilised, both politically and economically and, while reforms take place to Zimbabwe’s electoral legislation.”

Zimbabwe was already in election mode when the army took control, with polls scheduled for the middle of next year.

– amandaw@citizen.co.za

FULL TEXT: Robert Mugabe’s resignation letter