Emmerson Mnangagwa has survived exile, prison, sacking and at least three attempts to kill him. The man who replaced Robert Mugabe as president of Zimbabwe on Friday has done so through a mixture of endurance, loyalty and — when he was fired by the man he had faithfully served for half a century — just the right amount of ruthlessness.
He nearly fell at the first hurdle, or rather swung from the first noose. In his early 20s and part of the “Crocodile Gang” fighting white minority oppression in what was then Southern Rhodesia, Mr Mnangagwa was due to be hanged after attempting to derail a train near Victoria Falls. Only by lying about his age did he avoid execution.In prison, he was tortured, hung upside down from metal hooks, electrocuted and beaten. It was in the cells that he first met Mr Mugabe, himself serving a 10-year sentence. The story goes that the erudite Mr Mugabe encouraged Mr Mnangagwa to study law.
A decade later, when Mr Mnangagwa had been released and had begun practising law in Zambia, it was Mr Mugabe who persuaded him to give it up and join the liberation struggle in Mozambique. When Mr Mugabe returned triumphantly to Zimbabwe, becoming its first prime minister — and subsequently president — in 1980, Mr Mnangagwa was by his side. He served as minister of national security in the first black majority cabinet, and helped establish the country’s first non-racial army.
This month, in an emotional letter to his erstwhile boss, Mr Mnangagwa, now 75, recalled those early days, according to George Charamba, Mr Mugabe’s spokesperson and close adviser. Though Mr Mugabe had just sacked him as vice-president and, allegedly, planned to have him “eliminated”, Mr Mnangagwa is said to have written: “I regard you less as the president and more as my father and mentor. Today my enemies have prevailed and I accept it.”
 |
| Emmerson Mnangagwa - ‘The Crocodile’ Becomes Zimbabwe’s President |
Whether those were his exact words, Mr Mugabe is said to have found the letter very moving and wondered what he had done, on his wife Grace’s urging, in dispensing with his old friend. A week later he would find out. General Constantino Chiwenga, an ally of Mr Mnangagwa’s, rolled armoured cars on to the streets of Harare and placed Mr Mugabe under house arrest.
Mr Mnangagwa returned to the capital this week, a day after Mr Mugabe resigned. Arms held aloft prizefighter style, Mr Mnangagwa showed he still has the physique of a boxer and a demeanour that inspires fear. Addressing supporters outside the ruling Zanu-PF quarters, he spoke briefly and with none of the eloquence — or pomposity — of Mr Mugabe. He talked about Mrs Mugabe’s alleged attempt to poison him with ice cream and his own intention to create a “new Zimbabwe”.
Mr Mnangagwa’s presidency marks the biggest shift in the country’s political make-up for 40 years. Yet, for such a dramatic change, he is cut from remarkably similar cloth as his mentor. Most Zimbabweans are now waiting to see whether he will be a “Mugabe Mark II”, or whether he will usher in a more open, democratic political system.
Didymus Mutasa, who spent time in prison with Mr Mnangagwa, says the new president’s years in Zanu-PF have moulded him. “He’s coming from the same roots as President Mugabe, so I wouldn’t expect much difference,” he says. He adds: “He was trained to kill. I think his toughness comes from that.”
Indeed, Mr Mnangagwa, still known as “The Crocodile”, is feared. Part of that reputation owes to the crushing of a rival faction in the early days after liberation, an operation in which at least 10,000 civilians were killed and in which Mr Mnangagwa almost certainly played a role. He has also been accused of stirring up election violence and, according to a UN report, of plundering diamonds in the late 1990s when Zimbabwean troops intervened in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Yet there may be another side to Mr Mnangagwa, too. More pragmatic than Mr Mugabe, associates say he is more open to business and investment and keener to get the economy going. He is credited with overseeing a recent push to raise farm yields in a successful attempt — aided by the weather — to reduce dependence on food aid.
Mr Mnangagwa is also said to have reached out beyond Zanu-PF, though Morgan Tsvangirai, the most important opposition leader, denies there has been direct contact. He said he would wait to see if Mr Mnangagwa changed his spots.
Tendai Biti, who worked with Mr Mnangagwa in the 2009-2013 unity government, says Mr Mnangagwa needs to “pave the way for transition to constitutional democratic state”. Though he fears that last week’s military action was merely settling a factional fight within Zanu-PF, he holds out a slender hope: “I hope that this is not about an individual. I hope this is about Zimbabwe.”
Welshman Ncube, another opposition leader, says Mr Mnangagwa realises that Zanu-PF cannot succeed without re-engaging both internationally and with broader Zimbabwean society.
The people who poured out on to the streets to celebrate Mr Mugabe’s demise are also suspending judgment, though many said Mr Mnangagwa came from the same political culture as the departing autocrat. Tapiwa, a 29-year-old software developer, explaining his jubilation at Mr Mugabe’s departure, said: “When you have been carrying a rock for 37 years and someone says you can put the rock down — if only for two minutes — you’re going to say yes.”
The writer is the FT’s Africa editor
