CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP
JOHN DLUDLU: Zimbabwe has a window of opportunity
Emmerson Mnangagwa needs to restore the confidence that will encourage the Zimbabwean diaspora to return to help him rebuild the country
For more than a decade Zimbabweans were subject to international derision — their detractors ridiculed them for not doing enough to oust their president, Robert Mugabe. That all ended abruptly last Tuesday, when Mugabe stepped down, ending a dramatic fortnight in the political life of what was once Africa’s second most important industrialised economy. Quite rightly, much focus has been on the role of the military in engineering his ousting, and lately on the man of the moment, Emmerson Mnangagwa. His long-standing relationship with Mugabe, whom he considers his mentor and father, has bothered many of Zimbabwe’s allies. Until their falling out this year due to the toxic influence of Grace, Mugabe’s wife, Mnangagwa had always been a heartbeat away from Mugabe and was seen as an integral part of all the controversies, including the murder of thousands of Zimbabweans in the 1980s, that have dogged Mugabe’s 37-year misrule.Little attention, if any, has been paid to the role played by Zi...
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