06/11/2024
TRUMP WIN RATTLES MNANGAGWA
By JOHN CHIMUNHU
Donald Trump's emphatic victory in the November 5 U.S. presidential elections means trouble for Zimbabwe's military-backed leader Emmerson Mnangagwa and the left-leaning party he leads, ZANU PF.
Mnangagwa made a lot of promises to the Trump administration when he seized power through a bloody coup in 2017, which he did not honour. One of the most crucial was that there would be a transitional authority, leading up to democratic elections in six months. The broad-based authority would have given opposition leaders and Joice Mujuru influential roles.
BROKEN PROMISES
Washington also overlooked a lot of financial sanctions in order to allow the new regime to operate in the world's financial markets.
Mnangagwa has since waged a hostile campaign against the U.S., often in attempts to brush off criticism about his documented corruption and rights abuses. He has associated himself publicly with many anti-American causes, regimes, leaders and organisations that are targeted by Washington. These include international terrorism sponsor Iran, sanctioned Russian and N.Korean leaders, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Il, and China, described by the U.S. Department of Defence as the greatest threat to American interests.
Mnangagwa can expect greater scrutiny, and instant punishment for the regular abuses by Harare that Biden-Harris ignored.
Under Trump, the CIA allegedly activated the still-classified operation to destroy ZANU PF from within and end the dictatorship. Mugabe's people claimed at the time that the U.S. State Department was working with people close to Mnangagwa, including Christopher Mutsvangwa, but could not put a finger on the emerging coup plot until it was too late.
Now, with Trump back in the Oval Office, and Republicans in control of the Senate, where does Mnangagwa go from here? - .
