SANF 17 no 58
If there was a job description for President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, it would match the CV of Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa who became the second executive president on 24 November 2017.
He is very well prepared for the job.
He is a constitutional lawyer, a former guerrilla commander and a prison graduate who served with distinction during the liberation war that defeated the Rhodesian regime of Ian Smith and brought independence to Zimbabwe in 1980.
He was the first trained military commander to enter the country, leading the first group of trained guerrillas to cross the Zambezi River into then Southern Rhodesia in 1964.
He was later caught after some sabotage activities in various parts of the country, and spent almost ten years in prison, mainly at Khami. He resumed his education in prison, and completed his studies at University of Zambia after release.
He was head of civil and military security during the last decisive stages of the war, in Maputo and military headquarters at Chimoio, and he was a member of the delegation that negotiated the independence agreement at Lancaster House in London.
He led the first civilian delegation of 23 party officials who returned to Zimbabwe in the first days of January 1980, and was responsible for the security of the party and president during the ceasefire and election campaign that resulted in ZANU PF and PF ZAPU winning almost all of the contested seats in Parliament.
He chaired the military integration commission that had responsibility for integrating the two armies of the liberation movement and the Rhodesian military.
He has been a Member of Parliament, a Cabinet Minister, and a party leader.
He has served as Minister of security, justice and legal affairs, finance, rural housing, and defence.
He has served as Speaker of Parliament and as Leader of Government Business in the House.
He has served on secret missions and public platforms, and interacted with Heads of State.
He led the process of legalizing the country’s new Constitution, and as Vice President, he initiated an innovative agricultural program that resulted in a bumper harvest of maize this year.
He has served the party and government, and the people of Zimbabwe, in all of these capacities.
This explains why he received a very warm welcome on his return home to take up the top job after the resignation of the first executive President, R.G. Mugabe.
Arriving home on 22 November and ending 16 days of exile after threats against his life, he was in a seriously exuberant mood, using his humour and fulfilling his profile as a unifier.
He told the large crowd of people gathered outside party headquarters, to wild applause, that “I pledge to be your servant”.
He had been elected party leader (President and First Secretary) by the Central Committee, which is the top decision-making body of the Zimbabwe African National Union (Patriotic Front) between congresses, pending confirmation at the party congress in mid-December.
“Today, this evening I feel so humbled that you have remained here at this Headquarters waiting for me, that you see me and I see you. The G40 cabal had captured the Executive in the person of our President, orders were now not coming from the Executive, but from the people outside the Executive to implement in Government and to run Government.
He paid tribute to the defence forces, thanking them for the manner in which they “have been able to manage this process peacefully, under the leadership of General Chiwenga.”
He thanked colleagues in the party “who systematically, constitutionally managed the process.”
“I also wish to mention the manner in which the Speaker of Parliament handled the process. He was under tremendous pressure from the powers that were at the time, but he stood his constitutional right as Speaker. I applaud him for that.”
Mugabe resigned on 21 November, at the last possible moment, as a motion for impeachment had been introduced to both Houses of Parliament under the constitutional clause that allows impeachment and removal of an elected President due to serious misconduct, failure to uphold the Constitution or wilful violation, “or inability to perform the functions of the office because of physical or mental incapacity.”
Mnangagwa has had a well-rounded career in government, serving as the first Minister of State Security post-Independence (1980-1988), and later as Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs (1989-2000) as well as Leader of Government Business in the House; Acting Minister of Finance (1995-1996); Speaker of the House of Assembly (2000-2005); Minister of Rural Housing and Social Amenities (2005-2009); Minister of Defence (2009-2013); and First Vice President of the Republic of Zimbabwe (2014-2017).
As Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs (2013-2014) he was active in operationalizing the new Constitution of the Republic of Zimbabwe through the passage of various legal instruments by Parliament, as Leader of Government Business in the House.
As Vice President, he continued to have this responsibility, as well as guiding economic recovery through active oversight of the successful program of Command Agriculture, which produced a bumper harvest of maize in the 2017 season and is being extended to other crops. With responsibility for the economic cluster, he worked hard to attract investment, especially for the manufacturing sector.
“I pledge myself to be your servant, I appeal to all genuine patriotic Zimbabweans to come together, to work together. There is no one better than the other. We are all Zimbabweans. We want to grow our economy. We want peace in our country.
“We want jobs, jobs, jobs in our country. We need also the cooperation of our neighbours in SADC. We need the cooperation of Africa. We need the cooperation of our friends outside the continent. That we shall achieve. I am already receiving messages of cooperation and support for us to grow our economy.”
He said that, while outside the country, he had been in constant contact with the service chiefs and held discussions with Heads of State in the region, who “hailed the discipline and peacefulness of the people of Zimbabwe.
“They are saying the way you have managed this process makes SADC proud, not only on this continent but worldwide.”
He promised to “hit the ground running”, as shown by his first days in office. In short, the challenges are not small, but he is up to the job. (sardc.net)
