Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa skipped the carnage by travelling to Moscow as protests erupted across his country on January 14, leaving 24 people injured and five possibly dead. Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in southern Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered…
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa skipped local carnage by travelling to Moscow – as protests erupted across his country on January 14, leaving 24 people injured and five possibly dead.
Background
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in southern Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique. The capital and largest city is Harare. A country of roughly 16 million people, it is classified as a middle-income country, with a low HDI score and high-income disparity.
For multiple decades now, Zimbabwe has struggled to feed its own people due to severe droughts and the effects of a land reform programme which saw the seizure of white-owned farms redistributed to landless black Zimbabweans, which led to sharp falls in production.
In November 2017, the nation was gripped by a political crisis. Former Vice President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, alleged that President Robert Mugabe had threatened his life. Mnangagwa, who was sacked by the President in November 2017, then fled to South Africa. Shortly after, the Vice President left the nation, the country’s army commander Constantino Chiwenga said on that the military would act if purges against former war liberation fighters did not cease. In addition, soldiers took over the headquarters of the state broadcaster ZBC and blocked access to government offices. However, the army insisted that this wasn’t a coup to replace Mugabe from power. Emmerson Mnangagwa returned to Zimbabwe after the removal of Mugabe and has been the President of Zimbabwe ever since.
Analysis
The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights said 13 protesters were treated for gunshot wounds on Monday. NewsDay, a Harare-based newspaper, reported the same organisation as upping the number of injured to 24 and five listed as killed during the demonstrations.
The protests, which spread from the capital, Harare, to Zimbabwe’s second city of Bulawayo and some smaller towns, followed the government’s decision to increase taxes on fuel, more than doubling the price of the already scarce commodity and making it the world’s most expensive. The opposition, Movement for Democratic Change said in an e-mailed statement that its headquarters in Harare were broken into on Monday night and set ablaze by unknown assailants.
Mnangagwa’s trip to Russia was planned before the protests erupted. He’s also scheduled to visit Kazakhstan, Belarus and Azerbaijan before flying to Davos, Switzerland, in an effort to raise investment for his economically blighted nation. His absence leaves Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, a retired general, in charge of the southern African country.
Security Minister Owen Ncube told the state-controlled Herald newspaper that the MDC, non-governmental organisations and civil society bodies were to blame for the violence. “The prevailing security situation in the country is a culmination of a well-orchestrated series of events by the MDC Alliance working in cahoots with NGOs, civic society, youth organisations, pressure groups and individuals,” he told the Herald, adding that the “MDC Alliance activated its notorious terror groups”.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, which called for three days of protests, urged Zimbabweans to continue the demonstrations.
Assessment
Our assessment is that Mnangagwa, who was long seen as Mugabe’s loyal successor, has not changed the way governance is conducted in Zimbabwe. We believe that the government should be able to control the price of essential commodities like petrol and diesel in order to achieve noticeable growth in the country.
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