RAY NDLOVU: 100 days on, Mnangagwa presides over the same old Zimbabwe
'Mnangagwa promised swift changes at the start of his term in November, but what he has delivered falls short of the huge expectations from citizens'
Having seen off longtime ruler Robert Mugabe 100 days ago in spectacular fashion - marked by street marches in Harare and placards demanding "Mugabe must go" - ordinary Zimbabweans have taken to saying in jest that "Mugabe must return", given that so little has changed in his absence. There is no desire to return to the old order, but underpinning the joke is frustration at the slow pace of reform under President Emmerson Mnangagwa.Mugabe's fall in November after 37 years in power fuelled a yearning for change among Zimbabweans matched only by that of 1980 when the country gained independence from white minority rule. Until his fall, Mugabe had been a leader firmly rooted in old ways. Under him there was no room for change. His hardline position cost Zimbabwe's economy dearly, with GDP halving and hyperinflation breaking world records in July 2008. ISOLATION The ultimate price paid was Zimbabwe's isolation from the international community for almost two decades. This all seemed to b...
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