The week-long political drama and behind-the-scene manoeuvres in Zimbabwe have finally ended following the resignation of Robert Mugabe. This marks an extraordinary end of the tenure of the world’s oldest head of state after 37 years in power. Mugabe led a successful guerrilla struggle to liberate his country, which was known as Rhodesia at the time, from apartheid. He was the true hero of the poor and the most popular political leader. Although Mugabe remained a hero for many, others considered him to be a tyrant and ruthless dictator. He crushed every form of opposition and resistance that challenged his rule. Furthermore, Mugabe’s rule culminated in a massive economic crisis for Zimbabwe, which was once one of Africa’s richest countries. The military decisively intervened against him and paved the way for his ouster. For the first couple of days, it wasn’t clear whether it was a military coup d’état or a swift action to oust Mugabe and it took the former president a week to grasp the seriousness of the situation. Mugabe had introduced many reforms in the country during the 1980s. He built many schools and hospitals and the living standard in Zimbabwe started to improve. Mugabe also decided to empower black Zimbabweans. This was perhaps his strongest achievement. Some believe that his greatest failure was a land reform policy that arguably marked the beginning of the country’s downfall. Mugabe, along with other freedom fighters, won independence on the plank of reclaiming land from the white minority. The turn of the century unleashed a violent wave of land acquisitions by war veterans. Thousands of white farmers were forced out. Many Zimbabweans agreed that the black majority had to somehow take back their land. After all, about 75,000 hectares of productive land was owned by white farmers who made up only 1.5 percent of the population. As a result, the US and EU imposed economic sanctions on Zimbabwe. The sanctions had catastrophic effects on the economy and Zimbabwe’s currency collapsed. The inflation rate was particularly high, unemployment increased and corruption became rampant. The US and EU never concealed their dislike for Mugabe. They made every attempt to bring him down, but failed in their efforts. However, Mugabe’s decision to sack his vice-president, in a move that cleared the path for his wife to assume power, eventually backfired. The ZANU-PF has been the ruling party for decades and has been steered dutifully by the war veterans under the leadership of Robert Mugabe. However, in recent years, Mugabe’s wife Grace and the clique surrounding Mugabe have increasingly moved to consolidate power while laying the groundwork for Grace to succeed her husband as the head of state. This has been viewed with suspicion by the old guard of the party, who have often portrayed Grace Mugabe – rightly or wrongly – as a self-serving opportunist driven by materialism. Many of them call her ‘Gucci Grace’ because of her expensive tastes, alleged extravagance and thirst for power. Tensions came to a head in recent weeks with the sacking of a number of high-ranking party leaders, including former vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa who, like many other long-time party loyalists, is a war veteran. Mnangagwa was seen by some sections of the top military brass as the last of the powerful political officials within the ZANU-PF with ties to the struggle for liberation. In the eyes of his military allies and many others in the country, he remains an important figure. Therefore, his political life couldn’t be extinguished by Grace Mugabe and her loyalists who were seen by many to be influencing 93-year-old Robert Mugabe, if not directly dictating policy matters. It appears that the sacking of Mnangagwa was the final straw for General Constantine Chiwenga, a long-time ally of Mnangagwa, and his forces. Chiwenga first responded by addressing the nation about the dangerous course taken by their rivals regarding Grace Mugabe. When that national address failed to achieve anything, the military moved quickly to take control of the country. The military has now removed a powerful faction of the ZANU-PF because it lays the groundwork for a transition of power from Mugabe to other members of his party’s old guard. The swift military takeover, whether rightly or wrongly, has managed to address a political conflict without significant destabilisation within the country and Mnangagwa has a clear path to power. The reason for this is the extremely weak political position of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and its long-time leader Morgan Tsvangirai. It has ceased to be the powerful neoliberal force that it once was. Indeed, just a few years ago Tsvangirai and the MDC were poised to seize power in Zimbabwe with the backing of Washington and London. While this was, quite predictably, denied by Tsvangirai and his cohorts, evidence has emerged over the years to suggest that he and his party had deep ties with Washington and were used essentially a front group to serve the US. the UK and the EU’s political and economic interests. The collapse of the MDC has, to a large extent, hastened the political crisis that has witnessed over the past week. With the MDC out of the way, the mantle of power is ripe for the taking by those with competing interests within the ZANU-PF. Based on recent events, it seems that the conflict has been resolved as Mugabe has been ousted and the military is in control, with Mnangagwa likely to assume power on an interim basis before a scheduled party congress in 2018. The current situation can open up an intensified struggle among China, the EU and the US to protect their economic and political interests. China cannot let Zimbabwe slip away from the sphere of influence it has enjoyed for 37 years. Incidentally, the Zimbabwean military has close ties with China, which might play a decisive role in determining the final outcome.
