On Harare’s streets, many expressed amazement and delight
Wednesday that President Robert Mugabe’s long reign may be coming to a close,
but people also admitted the future looked unstable.
Mugabe, 93, has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980 — longer than
many can remember — and the sudden move against him by the military left some
hoping that his repressive regime would soon fall.
“We are happy with what has been done,” Keresenzia Moyo,
65, a housewife told AFP after visiting a hospital in the capital.
“We needed change. Our situation has been pathetic. The economy
has been in the doldrums for a very long time.
“What is good is that this has happened at the top and it
is not affecting us people on the ground. People could be killing each other.”
Moyo said that she was not against Mugabe being allowed
safe passage out of the country — despite his tenure being marked by brutal
repression of dissent, corruption and election vote-rigging.
Mugabe, who is under house arrest after the military took
control, led Zimbabwe to independence.
But his decades in power have turned a country once known
as the breadbasket of Africa for its bountiful produce, into an economic basket
case where many go hungry.
“What we want is for our children to be able to get jobs
and live a normal happy life,” Moyo said.
“We want to have food on the table, not one side having
everything and others dying of hunger. Mugabe was once a good person but he
lost it. Now we need a fresh start.”
“We don’t know what this all means and we don’t know what
to do,” student Karen Mvelani, 21, told AFP.
“We need some kind of direction on where we are heading.”
The visible impact of the momentous political upheaval was
limited in Harare, with many people shopping at street markets, catching
mini-buses to work or lining up outside banks as normal.
The country’s economic crisis has caused a severe cash
shortage and sharply rising prices, for which many Zimbabweans blame Mugabe.
“He was a liability to the country because he was focusing
on his leadership, he was a dictator,” said Tafadzwa Masango, a 35-year-old
unemployed man.
“Our economic situation has deteriorated every day — no
employment, no jobs,” he said. “We hope for a better Zimbabwe after the Mugabe
era.
“We feel very happy. It is now his time to go.”
Mugabe sacked vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa last week,
seemingly provoking the intervention of the military, which reportedly opposed
First Lady Grace Mugabe’s emergence as the likely next president.
Precious Shumba, director of Harare Residents Trust action
group, said Zimbabwe was entering “a new phase”.
“Now at least we break with the past,” she said. “My wish
is that they immediately announce a transitional government and state clearly
when the country will have the next elections.
“We need a transitional government to rid the country of
the toxic politics of patronage, corruption and nepotism.”
Earlier
A President held incommunicado, arrests of “criminals”, and
an army General in charge: If it walks, talks, and smells like a coup d’état,
despite Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander General Constantino Chiwenga’s
stoutest protestations to the contrary, it’s probably a coup d’état.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)
2016 document titled Chapter Nine: Sub-Saharan Africa, The Military Balance,
found the Zimbabwean defence force to consist of 29 000 army regulars, with a 4
000-strong air force and 21 800 people in a paramilitary role.
“However, Zimbabwe’s limited quantitative and qualitative
military capabilities have eroded further due to economic problems. China has
been the only source of defence equipment for the country’s limited number of
procurements,” stated the IISS.
“Both the EU and the US have arms embargoes in place which,
the air-force commander acknowledged, have reduced air-force readiness.”
With the Southern African Development Community (SADC) the
only legal option for the continent to deal with the Zimbabwe problem should it
go further south, it’s unlikely Zimbabwe could withstand a protracted assault
by SADC forces from Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Angola among others.
Still, unconfirmed reports suggested that Zimbabwe appeared
to have flexed its sovereignty by thumbing its nose at President Jacob Zuma’s
SADC by allegedly turning back his delegation consisting of Minister of Defence
and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and Minister of State Security advocate
Bongani Bongo to Zimbabwe, who were supposed to meet with President Robert
Mugabe and the Zimbabwean Defence Force.
Presidency spokesperson Dr Bongani Ngqulunga did not
respond to repeated attempts for comment.
In 2014 DefenceWeb wrote the Zimbabwean military was
believed “to have some of the most adept and well-trained soldiers in Africa,
partly as a result of their training from a variety of different international
armies.”
“After independence the armed forces were trained by the
British and since then the government has relied heavily on training programmes
as offered through China and North Korea,” noted DefenceWeb.
It found further Zimbabwe was facing a crisis with
experienced veterans leaving due to age.
“Another factor hampering the army’s development is the
prevalence of HIV/AIDS through its ranks. Zimbabwe’s military is also hampered
by the country’s weak economy; as such wage issues often plague the armed
forces,” it stated.
Derek Matyszak, an ISS senior research consultant based in
Harare said on Wednesday that the military had assumed control of key buildings
and installations such as the broadcasting service and the airport.
“What the military are saying is that there has not been a
coup in Zimbabwe,” said Matyszak.
“On Monday the commander of the defence forces issued a
statement saying the military is bound by the constitution to protect the
country and then making a common conflation between State and the ruling
Zanu-PF party. He went on to say that when Zanu-PF as a political party was
under threat, that places the country under threat and the military has a duty
to intervene.”
Matyszak said there was information the key leaders of the
“G40” political faction may have been arrested.
The G40 is believed to consist of Grace Mugabe, ZanuPF
national youth league president Kudzai Chipanga, national police commissioner
Augustine Chihuri, minister of higher and tertiary education professor Jonathan
Moyo, minister of environment, water and climate Saviour Kasukuwere and finance
minister Ignatius Chombo.
Chiwenga had earlier criticised Mugabe for firing vice
president Emmerson Mnangagwa, believed to be Garace Mugabe’s closest opposition
to taking over as president.
It is understood Chiwenga’s self-declared mission had by yesterday
afternoon netted Deputy Director Central Intelligence Organisation Albert
Ngulube, Chipanga, and Chihuri.
Zimbabwe Communist Party secretary general Ngqabutho
Mabhena confirmed Chipanga had been arrested and told The Citizen the army was
patrolling Harare’s streets.
“The military has basically taken over,” said Mabhena.
“It doesn’t concern us we have not heard from President
Mugabe yet. However, the failure to resolve the succession question in Zanu-PF
has created these conditions where the military has taken over.”
Chiwenga’s spokesperson Major General Sibusiso Moyo said on
the State broadcaster yesterday the military was “only targeting criminals
around him who are committing crimes that are causing social and economic
suffering in the country in order to bring them to justice.”
“As soon as we have accomplished our mission we expect that
the situation will return to normalcy.”
Mabhena called for all Zimbabweans to work together to
return to Constitutional rule.AFP/ANA
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