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<p>South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has again called for the lifting of sanctions against Zimbabwe. This is after United States extended sanctions by one year saying they will only be lifted, if Harare has implemented certain reforms. Joining CNBC Africa’s Karabo Letlhatlha to speak on the sanctions, legitimacy issue, elective congress and the current economic challenges facing Zimbabwe is MDC Leader Nelson Chamisa.</p>


MDC’s Nelson Chamisa speaks out on Zimbabwe sanctions, dialogue and elective congress

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<p>There has been a huge call for Zimbabwe to engage in a national dialogue to resolve the country’s economic crisis. The country’s reserve bank governor recently introduced a new currency known as Real Time Gross Transfer dollars or ‘RTGS dollars’ as a measure to address its currency problem.  For more on the dialogue issue, the newly introduced currency, and role South Africa and SADC should play in resolving Zim crisis; CNBC Africa spoke to Former Zimbabwe Deputy Prime Minister Professor Arthur Mutambara.</p>


Zimbabwe needs bold reforms, productivity not a new currency – Arthur Mutambara

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<p>Zimbabwe has been struggling with a knock to the price of food and other goods as inflation has increased massively. For more on the impact of the dire situation In Zimbabwe CNBC Africa’s Fifi Peters spoke to people on the ground who have been affected the most by the economic crisis.</p>


How Zimbabweans are surviving exorbitant food prices

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<p>Former Zimbabwe Deputy Prime Minister Professor Arthur Mutambara says Zimbabweans need to put their differences aside, and engage in a genuine national dialogue to resolve the country&#8217;s worsening economic crisis. For more on the dialogue process and the newly introduced local currency Professor Mutambara spoke to CNBC Africa’s Daniel Sango.</p>


Ex-Zimbabwe Deputy PM Mutambara lambasts Mnangangwa dialogue, calls for genuine talks to resolve crisis

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<p>Former President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe is 95th today. With his homeland in economic and social turmoil they may be little to celebrate.</p>


Former President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe turns 95 today


<p>JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa has issued an arrest warrant for Zimbabwe’s former first lady Grace Mugabe over an alleged assault in an upmarket district of Johannesburg last year, police spokesman Vishnu Naidoo said on Wednesday.</p>



<p>“I can confirm that a warrant for the arrest of Grace Mugabe was issued last Thursday,” Naidoo said, adding South African police were seeking Interpol’s help to enforce the warrant.</p>



<p>There was no immediate comment from Mrs Mugabe or from authorities in Harare.</p>



<p>Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by James Macharia</p>


Why South Africa’s NPA issued an arrest warrant for Zimbabwe’s Grace Mugabe

<p>Robert Mugabe’s name is <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/robert-mugabe">synonymous</a> with both Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle and its post-colonial politics. His role and that of his Zanu-PF party have been central to the country’s dynamics since the early 1960s – and could well set the tone for the foreseeable future. </p>

<p>For much of his political life Mugabe has often been viewed, in the words of one of his biographers <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?id=vQY4DgAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PT23&amp;lpg=PT23&amp;dq=Martin+Meredith,+Mugabe+%22secretive+and+solitary%22&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=DmCK97xurM&amp;sig=PymYcd-DCAyFl-2WFRS18fAIbao&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwijmNmroPneAhWQsKQKHZANDhAQ6AEwAnoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&amp;q=Martin%20Meredith%2C%20Mugabe%20%22secretive%20and%20solitary%22&amp;f=false">Martin Meredith</a>, as “secretive and solitary”, an “aloof and austere figure”.</p>

<p>However he is described, there’s no doubt that Mugabe’s political legacy is highly contested. To understand how this happened, it’s necessary to examine his personal history; his <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/11/17/its-been-one-year-since-zimbabwe-toppled-mugabe-why-isnt-it-a-democracy-yet/?utm_term=.11c978401892">political demise</a> in 2017; and Zimbabwe’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/19/zimbabwe-needs-aid-to-prevent-further-crisis-warns-ruling-party">deepening political and economic crisis</a> more than a year after Mugabe’s ouster.</p>

<p>For the faction that has succeeded Mugabe, led by President Emmerson Mnangagawa, moving beyond the highly problematic legacy that they helped to create remains a daunting task.</p>

<h2>Early life</h2>

<p>Robert Mugabe was born 94 years ago at Kutama Mission in Zvimba District, west of what was then called Salisbury, the capital of then <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Southern-Rhodesia">Southern Rhodesia</a> (today’s Zimbabwe). He received a <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/africa/robert-mugabe">Jesuit education</a> and was by many accounts an exceptional student.</p>

<p>In 1945 Mugabe left Kutama Mission with a teaching diploma. He won a scholarship to South Africa’s Fort Hare University in 1949. There he met other emerging nationalists and was <a href="http://www.channelafrica.co.za/sabc/home/channelafrica/news/details?id=7aa25498-9448-4324-89c2-e4f62a324e17&amp;title=The%20rise%20and%20fall%20of%20Mugabe">introduced to Marxist ideas</a>. </p>

<p>Armed with a BA degree in history and English Literature, Mugabe returned to Southern Rhodesia in 1952. He soon moved to the Northern Rhodesia (today’s Zambia) in 1955 to take up a teaching post. In 1958 he moved again, to a teacher training college in Ghana. There, a year after Ghana’s independence in 1957, he experienced the thrill and sense of possibility of a newly independent African state. It was a seminal political moment for him.</p>

<h2>Making of a revolutionary</h2>

<p>Mugabe returned home in 1960 on extended leave to introduce his new wife <a href="https://www.zambianobserver.com/the-forgotten-story-of-sally-mugabe-the-beloved-mother-of-zimbabwe-robert-mugabes-first-wife-and-true-love-the-woman-whose-death-changed-president-mugabe-forever/">Sally Hayfron</a> to his family. Instead of returning to Ghana, he became entangled in nationalist politics. This included the turmoil that the two major nationalist parties, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/30035743?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">Zimbabwe African People’s Union (Zapu) and Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu)</a>, split. </p>

<p>In 1963 he was arrested, along with many other nationalists. He was <a href="https://www.thezimbabwean.co/2011/10/dtente-the-release-of-nationalist/">released</a> after 11 years.    </p>

<p>Mugabe and his colleague <a href="https://pindula.co.zw/Edgar_Tekere">Edgar Tekere</a> escaped to Mozambique in 1974 to join the liberation war against the regime of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ian-Smith">Prime Minister Ian Smith</a>, conducted from bases in that country. There have been different accounts of Mugabe’s rise to the top of the leadership in Mozambique. As liberation war veteran <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/a-real-zimbabwean-war-veteran-speaks-97206">Wilfred Mhanda tells it</a>, their support for Mugabe was premised on his commitment to building unity between the rival nationalist movements. </p>

<p>But he reneged on this, instead pursuing the supremacy of his own party Zanu.</p>

<p>Following the Lancaster House settlement and the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40395186?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">1980 elections</a>, Mugabe’s Zanu emerged as the dominant party. He set out his policy of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt24hd4n.7?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">reconciliation with the white population</a>. This allowed the existing property and economic relations from the Rhodesian period to continue, while the politics of state control was transferred to Zanu. </p>

<p>This period witnessed the consolidation of Mugabe’s control of both his party and the state. The massive violence committed against the competing party of liberation, <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Zimbabwe_African_People's_Union">Zapu</a>, through the <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?id=zi-tWekXbD8C&amp;pg=PA19&amp;lpg=PA19&amp;dq=%22the+early+rain+which+washes+away+the+chaff+before+the+spring+rains%22&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=dWX2SIUj7r&amp;sig=0aDLpmmQfN93e_RNJuKcBmGGEYI&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwioi-joj6LWAhWE7hoKHRF_C7wQ6AEIOTAD#v=onepage&amp;q=%22the%20early%20rain%20which%20washes%20away%20the%20chaff%20before%20the%20spring%20rains%22&amp;f=false">Gukurahundi massacres</a>, signalled Zanu’s violent intolerance of opposition. </p>

<p>However, the 1980s were also evidence of Mugabe’s commitment to social policies such as health and education. Mugabe’s government greatly expanded the state expenditure in these areas in the <a href="http://www.africanbookscollective.com/books/zimbabwe.-the-political-economy-of-transition-1980-1986">first decade of independence</a>. </p>

<p>The hostilities between Zapu, led by Joshua Nkomo, and Mugabe’s Zanu officially ended with the signing of a <a href="https://pindula.co.zw/Unity_Accord">Unity Accord</a> by the two leaders on December 22, 1987. Zapu was effectively swallowed by Zanu PF. The ruling party had used the acronym since the end of the brief Patriotic Front coalition (1976-79) between the two liberation parties, on the eve of the 1980 elections.   </p>

<h2>Things go south</h2>

<p>During the 1990s, opposition to Mugabe <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/300366769_The_Movement_for_Democratic_Change_MDC_and_the_Changing_Geo-Political_Landscape_in_Zimbabwe">grew</a> in size and influence. Faced with the real possibility of political defeat – and dissent from the war veterans – Mugabe drew on <a href="https://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/zimbabwe/ZimLand0302-02.htm">longstanding land grievances</a> to reconfigure the politics of the state and Zanu-PF. </p>

<p>His <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00358530500082916">Fast Track Resettlement</a> programme radically reconstructed the land relations from the settler colonial period. There is a continuing debate about the effects of the land redistribution exercise. It resulted in the violent allocation of land to a combination of large numbers of small farmers and the ruling party elite, and its long term impact on the country’s economy remains problematic.</p>

<p>The process also created a massive rupture between <a href="https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/111691/P202.pdf">human and redistributive rights </a>. By legitimising the Fast Track programme, Zanu-PF emphasised economic redistribution and settling the colonial legacy around the land question. </p>

<p>But in doing so, the ruling party opportunistically labelled the fight for human and democratic political rights – which had long been central to the anti-colonial struggle – as a foreign <a href="https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/sunday-times/20180218/282342565314857">“regime change agenda”</a> pushed by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and civic movements.    </p>

<p>The politics of the land reform process unleashed many questions around citizenship, belonging, and assertions of identity. Mugabe’s often valid critique of imperialist duplicity was accompanied by an unacceptable authoritarian intolerance of dissent within Zimbabwe. </p>

<p>The armed forces were <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-mugabe-why-the-role-of-zimbabwes-army-cant-be-trusted-87872">central to his stay in power</a>. The push in his final years to have his wife Grace succeed him heralded a <a href="https://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/mugabe-announces-appointment-of-controversial-wife-grace-to-a-key-post-20170915">longer term reign for a Mugabe dynasty</a>. To further his wife’s ambitions, Mugabe first moved against Vice President Joyce Mujuru, the favoured contender to succeed him, in <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/clues-to-successor-as-mugabe-names-vice-president/a-18122886">2014</a>.</p>

<p>Next, the Mugabes, with the support of a faction of Zanu-PF known as the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-zimbabwe-politics-g40-factbox/factbox-key-figures-in-zimbabwe-first-lady-grace-mugabes-g40-faction-idUSKBN1DF1DX">G40 group</a>, took on another potential successor, Vice President Mnangagwa. He was dismissed from his state and party positions in <a href="https://www.chronicle.co.zw/mnangagwa-fired-disloyal-disrespectful-deceitful2/">early November 2017</a>.</p>

<p>This set off a dramatic series of events. In mid- November 2017, following military chief Constantine Chiwenga’s warning of <a href="https://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/counter-revolutionaries-want-to-destroy-zanu-pf-army-chief-tells-mugabe-20171113">“counter-revolutionaries”</a> in the ruling party, the armed forces <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-military-coup-is-afoot-in-zimbabwe-whats-next-for-the-embattled-nation-87528">effectively took power</a> away from the executive. </p>

<p>This was followed by the initiation of an impeachment process against Mugabe. But, on the day the process began, in November 2017, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-42071488">he resigned</a>. </p>

<h2>End of an era</h2>

<p>For many Zimbabweans Mugabe remains a contested figure. For those who lived through the humiliations of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/720978?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">settler colonialism</a>, his strident critique of its legacies still ring true. But others will find it impossible to accept his exclusivist assertions of <a href="https://bulawayo24.com/index-id-opinion-sc-columnist-byo-129803.html">national belonging</a> and authoritarian intolerance of dissent.</p>

<p>When combined with the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249599119_Zimbabwe_Now_The_Political_Economy_of_Crisis_and_Coercion">deep economic crisis</a> over which he presided, it is little surprise that the end of Mugabe’s rule was greeted with such momentous national celebration.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107840/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important"></p>

By<p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brian-raftopoulos-100177">Brian Raftopoulos</a>, Research Fellow, International Studies Group, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-free-state-1944">University of the Free State</a></em></span></p>

<p>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/liberation-hero-mugabe-evokes-polarised-emotions-among-zimbabweans-107840">original article</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"></h2>

Why Mugabe’s political legacy is highly contested

<p>Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party has fired from parliament 11 allies of former leader Robert Mugabe, as President Emmerson Mnangagwa continues a purge of officials that publicly supported his old boss and wife Grace.</p>
<p><div id="attachment_291244" style="width: 860px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-291244" class="wp-image-291244 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Emmerson-Mnangagwa_GettyImages.png" alt="" width="850" height="565" /><p id="caption-attachment-291244" class="wp-caption-text">Photo: Emmerson Mnangagwa: Getty Images</p></div></p>
<p>Mnangagwa came to power in November after 93-year-old Mugabe was forced to resign following a defacto military coup.</p>
<p>Mnangagwa has spoken against retribution but local media reports say a ZANU-PF restructuring process around the country was targeting those who publicly backed Mugabe and Grace, whose tilt at power resulted in the military intervention.</p>
<p>According to a transcript of parliament procedures from Thursday, deputy speaker of parliament Mabel Chinomona said ZANU-PF had notified the house of assembly that the 11 no longer represented its interests, triggering their dismissal.</p>
<p>Some of the legislators were cabinet ministers in Mugabe’s government. In November ZANU-PF fired five top Mugabe allies from parliament, including Jonathan Moyo, a fiercely combative mouthpiece for a faction that backed Grace Mugabe’s rise.</p>
<p>Many of Mugabe’s political allies were either arrested by the military in a series of spectacular raids in the early hours of Nov. 15 or fled to neighboring countries.</p>
<p>In private, Mnangagwa’s allies worry that some of Mugabe’s supporters could regroup and campaign against the new president in elections that will be held in four to five months.</p>
<p>Moyo told Reuters last week that the international community must help remove the “military government” that has taken power or risk the country descending into chaos.</p>
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT">
<p class="Attribution_content_27_rw">Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Ed Stoddard and Michael Perry</p>
</div>


Zimbabwe ruling party fires 11 Mugabe allies from parliament

<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/james-hamill-254226">By <em>James Hamill</em></a>, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-leicester-1053">University of Leicester</a></em></p>
<p>Zimbabwe’s new President <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-41995876">Emmerson Mnangagwa</a> has been cautiously welcomed with the hope that he will place Zimbabwe on a <a href="https://theconversation.com/mnangagwa-has-the-capacity-to-focus-on-the-new-zimbabwe-but-will-he-88254">more democratic trajectory</a>. He has spoken of a <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/can-emmerson-mnangagwa-a-mugabe-ally-bring-change-to-zimbabwe-12134023">new democracy “unfolding”</a> in Zimbabwe.</p>
<p>But this is wishful thinking.</p>
<p>There are three major barriers to a decisive break from the corrupt and dysfunctional political system that has been playing out in Zimbabwe: the ruling <a href="http://www.zanupf.org.zw/">Zanu-PF</a>, its president and what’s been their main sustainer – the military.</p>
<p>None would want to oversee real change because facilitating democratic rule with real contestation for power would mean running the risk of electoral defeat. This would endanger the networks of self enrichment that have been put in place over decades.</p>
<p>Instead, the next few months will see Zanu-PF, Mnangagwa and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/zimbabwe-beware-the-military-is-looking-after-its-own-interests-not-democracy-87712">military</a> continue to block democracy as they seek to hold onto the power.</p>
<h2>The nature of Zanu-PF</h2>
<p>Zanu-PF presents a formidable obstacle to democratic progress in the country. Zimbabwe has maintained the outward appearance of a multiparty democracy since <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/4/newsid_2515000/2515145.stm">independence in 1980</a>. But it’s effectively been a <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/towards-the-oneparty-state-in-zimbabwe-a-study-in-african-political-thought/BD356807617492EBE85877DB6CD815C7">one-party dictatorship</a>.</p>
<p>The party brings a zero-sum game mindset to politics: it must always prevail, and its <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2008/06/09/bullets-each-you/state-sponsored-violence-zimbabwes-march-29-elections">opponents must be crushed</a> rather than accommodated. Opposition parties formally exist but they have not been allowed to win an election. Should such a possibility arise – as it did in <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-are-elections-really-rigged-mr-trump-consult-robert-mugabe-68440">2002, 2008 and 2013</a> – elections will be rigged to preserve the status quo.</p>
<p>Zanu-PF provides the most egregious example of the culture of exceptionalism which has characterised the liberation party in power. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li>the belief that its entitled to rule indefinitely,</li>
<li>its refusal to view itself as an ordinary political party,</li>
<li>its conflating of party and state, and</li>
<li>its demonising of other parties as ‘enemies of liberation’ seeking to restore colonialism or white minority rule.</li>
</ul>
<p>The way in which Zanu-PF has colonised the state over almost four decades means that there is a vast web of <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03057070.2013.862100?src=recsys">patronage networks</a> that have been entrenched to facilitate the looting of the state’s resources. Democratic change and clean government pose a mortal threat to these networks and such privileges are unlikely to be surrendered without intense resistance.</p>
<h2>The new president</h2>
<p>Mnangagwa’s ominous record makes it difficult to build a persuasive case that he represents a new beginning.</p>
<p>He served as <a href="https://theconversation.com/mnangagwa-has-the-capacity-to-focus-on-the-new-zimbabwe-but-will-he-88254">Mugabe’s “chief enforcer”</a> until November 2017. He was pivotal to the collapse of the rule of law and the implosion of the Zimbabwean economy. And he has been a central player in the <a href="https://www.ushmm.org/m/pdfs/20161116-Zimbabwe-Early-Warning-Report.pdf">gross human rights abuses</a> that have characterised Zanu-PF rule. This includes the killings in <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?id=zi-tWekXbD8C&amp;pg=PA19&amp;lpg=PA19&amp;dq=%22the+early+rain+which+washes+away+the+chaff+before+the+spring+rains%22&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=dWX2SIUj7r&amp;sig=0aDLpmmQfN93e_RNJuKcBmGGEYI&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwioi-joj6LWAhWE7hoKHRF_C7wQ6AEIOTAD#v=onepage&amp;q=%22the%20early%20rain%20which%20washes%20away%20the%20chaff%20before%20the%20spring%20rains%22&amp;f=false">Matabeleland killings</a> in the 1980s. This is a past for which he has refused to <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-11-27-op-ed-mnangagwa-and-the-gukurahundi-fact-and-fiction/#.WjFR4Ux2trQ">acknowledge any responsibility</a>.</p>
<p>His more conciliatory language has not matched his actions. After becoming president he appointed an administration of cronies, military hardliners and ‘war veterans’.</p>
<p><span class="caption">The appointments appeared to consolidate the power of the now dominant faction of Zanu-PF: the old guard securocrats who routed Grace Mugabe’s equally malign <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/G40_(Zanu-PF_Faction)">G40 faction</a> through the barrel of a gun rather than democratic processes.</span></p>
<p>Having waited such a seemingly interminable length of time to land the top job, it is difficult to envisage Mnangagwa now placing his hard earned spoils at the mercy of <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/rdm/politics/2017-11-20-justice-malala-dont-fool-yourself-zimbabwe-wont-be-fixed-by-mugabes-ex-cronies/">a programme of democratisation</a>.</p>
<h2>The military</h2>
<p>The Zimbabwean Defence Force’s role in the removal of the president means that it has secured a place for itself as a privileged political actor and overseer of the entire political system.</p>
<p>The defence force has never been a neutral custodian of constitutional rule. Instead it has always been a highly politicised extension of the ruling party, a party militia in effect.</p>
<p>Previously its role was confined to repressing the ruling party’s opponents and maintaining the party’s dominance. The principle of civilian rule was respected even if this model of civil-military relations failed to meet any reasonable democratic standards. But with the coup, the military crossed a line. They determined the outcome of power struggles within the ruling party itself.</p>
<p>In the same way that the military has been politicised, the political system has been heavily militarised. This can be seen in the several key military veterans who have been appointed to the cabinet as well as Mnangagwa being the military’s candidate for the presidency. Essentially this is the civilian face of quasi-military rule in Zimbabwe.</p>
<p>To see the military’s removal of Mugabe as an overriding good ignores the fact that it has no concept of the national interest, or that it views that national interest as synonymous with its own and Zanu-PF’s.What this points to is an effective “barracks democracy” emerging in Zimbabwe. The military has secured a veto over the leadership of the ruling party and over the wider political process. It also reserves the right to reject election results that it does not approve of, or to take action that could prevent such results materialising in the first place.</p>
<p>It is dangerously naïve to expect such a force to help facilitate genuine democratic transition when its entire raison d’etre has been to preserve one-party rule (under a leadership of its choosing), to disable meaningful opposition and to <a href="https://www.theindependent.co.zw/2017/09/15/military-looted-diamonds-report/">preserve its own corruption networks</a>.</p>
<h2>Unsettling prospects</h2>
<p>True democratisation – as opposed to merely maintaining the procedural forms of democratic government – is anathema to Zimbabwe’s ruling party, its president and the military.</p>
<p>It is evident that their task is threefold over the next few months. They have to secure support for a measure of liberalisation; arrest political enemies for corruption rather than tackling corruption <em>per se</em>; and provide a smokescreen of a largely vacuous democratic rhetoric.</p>
<p>The hope is that this will be sufficient to secure aid, investment and an endorsement by external donors while virtually nothing changes in the actual power relations inside the country.</p>
<p>Anyone committed to democracy in Zimbabwe -– whether inside or outside the country – should begin mobilising against this project sooner rather than later.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/james-hamill-254226">James Hamill</a>, Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-leicester-1053">University of Leicester</a></em></p>
<p>This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-three-barriers-blocking-zimbabwes-progress-zanu-pf-mnangagwa-and-the-military-89177">original article</a>.</p>
<p>http://cnbc.africa/news/2017/12/28/zimbabwe-ex-army-boss-sworn-mugabe-gets-diplomats-rights/</p>


Op-ed: The three barriers blocking Zimbabwe’s progress

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<p>Zimbabwe’s new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, appointed senior military officials to top posts in his new cabinet and chose a veteran cabinet minister to head the finance ministry.</p>


Mnangagwa, military share spoils of victory

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<p>IFP leader, Mangoshuthu Buthelezi also gave us his views on the unfolding situation in Zimbabwe and the trend of African leaders lingering long after the party is over. He joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


ANC helped prop up Mugabe’s govt past its sell-by date – Mangosuthu Buthelezi

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<p>Zimbabwe&#8217;s Robert Mugabe, who has resigned as president, leaves behind a ruined economy and Mnangagwa needs to apologise for allowing that to happen says  Zimbabwean entrepreneur and newspaper publisher, Trevor Ncube.</p>


Rebuilding Zimbabwe: Mnangagwa needs to apologise for what he allowed to happen in Zimbabwe – Trevor Ncube

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<p>Trevor Ncube, Zimbabwean businessman joins CNBC Africa to discuss the new economic promise for Zimbabwe beyond Robert Mugabe.</p>


Media has an important role to play in Zimbabwe – Trevor Ncube

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<p>Trevor Ncube, Zimbabwean businessman joins CNBC Africa to discuss the new economic promise for Zimbabwe beyond Robert Mugabe.</p>


Rebuilding Zimbabwe: We stand on an opportunity to push the reset button – Trevor Ncube

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<p>Trevor Ncube, Zimbabwean businessman joins CNBC Africa to discuss the new economic promise for Zimbabwe beyond Robert Mugabe.</p>


This is how Zimbabwe can woo businesses – Trevor Ncube

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<p>Former Zimbabwean finance minister, Tendai Biti speaks on what South Africa, can learn from Zimbabwe’s political turmoil.</p>


Former FinMin Biti: What SA can learn from Zimbabwe

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<p>The chequered political career of Emmerson Mnangagwa proves that everything comes to those who wait. In this CNBC Africa Explainer we bring you an inside view of who’s Zimbabwe’s next president.  Mnangagwa is expected to be sworn in on Friday.</p>


Grace Mugabe

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Op-ed: The three barriers blocking Zimbabwe’s progress

Mnangagwa, military share spoils of victory

ANC helped prop up Mugabe’s govt past its sell-by date – Mangosuthu Buthelezi

Rebuilding Zimbabwe: Mnangagwa needs to apologise for what he allowed to happen in Zimbabwe – Trevor Ncube

Media has an important role to play in Zimbabwe – Trevor Ncube

Rebuilding Zimbabwe: We stand on an opportunity to push the reset button – Trevor Ncube

This is how Zimbabwe can woo businesses – Trevor Ncube

Former FinMin Biti: What SA can learn from Zimbabwe

Explainer: Who is Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe’s next president?

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Grace Mugabe

MDC’s Nelson Chamisa speaks out on Zimbabwe sanctions, dialogue and elective congress

Zimbabwe needs bold reforms, productivity not a new currency – Arthur Mutambara

How Zimbabweans are surviving exorbitant food prices

Ex-Zimbabwe Deputy PM Mutambara lambasts Mnangangwa dialogue, calls for genuine talks to resolve crisis

Former President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe turns 95 today

Why South Africa’s NPA issued an arrest warrant for Zimbabwe’s Grace Mugabe

Why Mugabe’s political legacy is highly contested

Zimbabwe ruling party fires 11 Mugabe allies from parliament

Op-ed: The three barriers blocking Zimbabwe’s progress

Mnangagwa, military share spoils of victory

ANC helped prop up Mugabe’s govt past its sell-by date – Mangosuthu Buthelezi

Rebuilding Zimbabwe: Mnangagwa needs to apologise for what he allowed to happen in Zimbabwe – Trevor Ncube

Media has an important role to play in Zimbabwe – Trevor Ncube

Rebuilding Zimbabwe: We stand on an opportunity to push the reset button – Trevor Ncube

This is how Zimbabwe can woo businesses – Trevor Ncube

Former FinMin Biti: What SA can learn from Zimbabwe

Explainer: Who is Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe’s next president?

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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