Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, came to power in 2017 after a military coup ousted longtime president Robert Mugabe. While Zimbabweans initially welcomed the putsch and Mnangagwa's promise of democratic reforms, by 2023 rights groups accused him of being as oppressive as Mugabe. Amnesty International and other rights groups said the arrest and pretrial detention of 50-year-old MDC parliamentarian Job Sikhala and other activists — along with the banning of some political meetings — suggest that Mnangagwa is willing to use the justice system against his political opponents.
Zimbabwe had struggled since longtime ruler Robert Mugabe's reign came to an end in 2017. Analysts described President Emmerson Mnangagwa's first year in office as a period of indecisive and experimental policies. It all started in January 2019, when the government decided to increase the price of fuel by 130%. Then, Zimbabweans protested the price hike — along with increasing levels of poverty, the poor state of the economy, and declining standards of living.
Mnangagwa is known by his nickname “Ngwena” (crocodile), a reference to his ruthlessness and secrecy. Like Mugabe, he earned his credentials as a political activist during the decades-long struggle against white-minority rule in his homeland, then the British colony of Southern Rhodesia. Mnangagwa joined the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) in its fight against the government of then-Prime Minister Ian Smith. The rebel outfit ZANU later turned into Zimbabwe's current ruling party, ZANU-PF.
Emmerson Mnangagwa, was born on September 15, 1942, in Zvishavane, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). His parents were Mafidhi and Mhurai Mnangagwa. In 1955, his family moved to Zambia where Emmerson attended the Mumbwa Boarding School, Kafue Trade School, and Hodgson Technical College.
In 1962, Mnangagwa joined the Zimbabwe African People’s Organization (ZAPO) which was fighting for independence for British Southern Rhodesia. In 1963, he was sent to China and Egypt where he received military training. He then returned to Southern Rhodesia to fight for independence.
In 1965, Smith unilaterally declared Rhodesia's independence from Britain and established a system of white-minority rule. Mnangagwa, who received military training in Egypt and China, led a group of fighters called the Crocodile Group, which carried out acts of sabotage against Smith's regime. Mnangagwa was arrested in 1965 for allegedly blowing up a train near Masvingo and sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted to ten years' imprisonment due to his young age. He later spent additional time in prison, sometimes sharing a cell with Mugabe. He lost hearing in one ear as a result of being tortured in prison.
Mnangagwa went on to study law in neighboring Zambia. After his homeland gained official independence as Zimbabwe in 1980, he was appointed national security minister, subsequently serving as finance and defense minister, as well as the speaker of parliament. Mnangagwa gained notoriety for allegedly directing the infamous operation "Gukurahundi" in the 1980s, in which North Korean-trained elite soldiers fatally targeted perceived government dissidents from the country's Ndebele ethnic group. An estimated 20,000 people were killed. Mnangagwa] is regarded as extremely ruthless, shrewd and calculated and a lot of people hold him in fear and awe. He is certainly not a very democratic individual.
Mugabe's newly appointed ruling party Politburo, announced 14 December 2000 at the ZANU-PF special congress, appeared to favor the ascendancy of speaker of parliament Emmerson Mnangagwa. Mnangagwa, who presided over the Natabeleland massacres during the 1980s, was on the brink of political oblivion earlier in the year after he lost his Kwekwe seat in the June 2000 parliamentary elections to the obscure Blessing Chebondo of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Mugabe rescued him by ensuring he was elected speaker of Parliament in August 2020. Mnangagwa's position was further strengthened with his appointment to the number four position in the Party as Secretary for Administration (only president Mugabe and the two vice-presidents hold higher positions).
Mnangagwa replaced Didymus Mutasa, who was caninely loyal to Mnangagwa and whose own presidential aspirations had been sidelined. From this platform, Mnangagwa was able to exercise considerable control over ZANU-PF's structures and the people who fill them. Strengthening Mnangagwa's position in the new Politburo was the appointment of his allies to important positions and the sidelining of his rivals. According to the "zimbabwe independent," Richard Hove was an ally of Mnangagwa's from his home Midlands province, and was made secretary for economic affairs. Hove was also appointed to head up the Central Committee's new land reform standing committee.
The "independent" described other Politburo allies of the speaker as: David Karimanzira (Mashonaland East governor and ZANU-PF secretary for finance), Witness Mangwende (deputy secretary for administration), and Enos Chikowore (secretary for land reform and resettlement). Each now occupied some of the Politburo's most critical portfolios, and each was elevated from obscure posts in the Politburo structure. They were also mostly spent forces known for their strident and shrill anti-Western remarks.
Although it was unknown to what extent youth development minister and party commissar Border Gezi supported Mnangagwa, the 36-year-old Gezi had all the makings of an Mnangagwa protege. Gezi, as governor of Mashonaland West, was instrumental in directing the terror campaign against MDC supporters in his province earlier in 2020, and he was leading a campaign of violence in the Bikita West constituency for the January 2001 by-election.
Mnangagwa rivals, such as energy minister Sydney Sekeramayi as secretary for health and child welfare, and former army general Solomon Mujuru as member without portfolio, hadbeen relegated to the Politburo periphery. Rival Eddison Zvobgo was forced out of the Politburo altogether as a way to protect Mnangagwa's ascendancy. A potential rival, finance minister Simba Makoni -- often touted as a possible successor to Mugabe -- was made the party's deputy secretary for economic affairs, under the watchful eye of Mnangagwa's friend Hove.
The new Politburo had been set up to support Mnangagwa and sideline his foes. There was also an ethnic dimension to the Politburo appointments. The Ndebele and Manica -- whose home provinces are dominated by the MDCc -- were associated with the opposition, and ZANU-PF members from those areas were more often suspected of harboring sympathies for the opposition. As a result, the Ndebele or Manica no longer retained independent power bases in ZANU-PF, and the new Politburo reflected that. None of the new Politburo department headed hail from Matabeleland or Manicaland.
The departure of Zvobgo weakened his position in Kalanga-dominated Masvingo, where ZANU-PF and the MDC were battling for influence. ZANU-PF was trying to thwart a possible Ndebele-Kalanga alliance led by Zvobgo, who had been trying to dilute the ZANU-PF leadership's authority in Masvingo. ZANU-PF was trying to establish its own "power axis" between the Zezuru of Mashonaland and the Kalanga of Masvingo by sidelining Zvobgo and installing party leaders loyal to Harare in Masvingo.
Mugabe's new Politburo not only consolidates his own position in ZANU-PF, it appeared to put Mnangagwa near the apex of party power. Mnangagwa was a long-time and close ally of Mugabe and had the full confidence of the president. The speaker's feared reputation as an "enforcer" would serve Mugabe's desire to hold ZANU-PF together and defeat the MDC using any means necessary. If he became president, Mnangagwa could turn out to be just as dictatorial as Mugabe. He could be even more ruthless than Mugabe.
Mnangagwa had been seen as a potential successor to the aging Mugabe, but he was purged from his post as ZANU-PF's secretary of administration in 2004. Yet four years after this fallout, Mugabe brought Mnangagwa back on board to serve as his chief election agent during his renewed bid for presidential office. In the election's aftermath, Mnangagwa was targeted by US and EU sanctions and accused by human rights groups of leading a brutal crackdown against political opposition. But he continued to gain favor and occupy powerful positions within Mugabe's government. In 2014, he replaced then-Vice President Joyce Mujuru and was again touted as a potential successor of Mugabe.
On 06 November 2017, Mugabe sacked Mnangagwa as vice president. "He was consulting witchdoctors to find out when I was going to die," Mugabe told a crowd at a rally days after the sacking. Mugabe's Information Minister Simon Khaya Moyo also said the ex-VP was disloyal. While one might have thought that some kind of bond had formed between them, the manner in which Mugabe was prepared to fire Mnangagwa suggests that Mugabe has no sense of loyalty towards Mnangagwa whatsoever. After getting the ax Mnangagwa fired back at Mugabe, telling the president that the ruling ZANU-PF party was "not personal property of you and your wife as you please."
Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa was chosen to take over as Zimbabwe's new leader 11 August 2017. The 75-year-old has played a major role in politics for decades, as the man standing in the shadow of long-serving President Robert Mugabe — though also, at times, at odds with him. Mnangagwa has been at Mugabe's side for 50 years. He was considered to be Mugabe's fixer.
Emmerson Mnangagwa took the oath of office 26 August 2018 following an election victory 30 July 2018 that was disputed by the main opposition. Mnangagwa, 75, won 50.8 percent of the vote, ahead of Nelson Chamisa of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party with 44.3 percent, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) said. He had held the post since November following the resignation of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.
Mnangagwa, who is backed by the country's military, now faces the mammoth task of rebuilding an economy that remains in a depression after years of mismanagement and hyperinflation. Deadly protests following the July election demonstrate the urgent need to unite a nation that had hoped that the post-Mugabe era would deliver change. Despite the opposition claiming election fraud, Western election observers noted few issues around the peaceful vote. But they did express concern about "excessive use of force" two days later, when six people were killed as the military swept into the capital to disperse protests. Several opposition supporters were arrested in the days after the vote.
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