EDITORIAL COMMENT
One of the things President Emmerson Mnangagwa craved when he took over power following a military coup that toppled Robert Mugabe three years ago was international recognition.
Mnangagwa promised all sorts of things that Zimbabweans with the support of the international community had been asking from Mugabe for nearly 40 years to no avail, including respect for human rights.
Emerging from weeks in exile after a bitter fallout with his long-time mentor Mugabe, the former VP at the time hailed what he called a “new and unfolding democracy”.
Besides the house arrest and military takeover of government institutions, Mugabe was forced to capitulate by massive street protests by angry Zimbabweans. On his return from South Africa, Mnangagwa recognised the legitimate rights of citizens to protest when they are not happy with the direction their leaders are taking in managing the affairs of the state.
He thundered: “The people have spoken. The voice of the people is the voice of God”, in a pointed message to Mugabe.
His first days in office saw a flurry of initiatives to win the support of the international community that included doling out of millions of dollars to Western lobby firms.
Mnangagwa appeared determined to steer Zimbabwe in a different direction from what his predecessor was taking the country to, which was ruin.
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However, three years after Mugabe’s fall, Zimbabwe is back in familiar territory, if not in uncharted territory.
Restrictions on freedoms of assembly and expression are being curtailed in the most brutal fashion.
The voice of the people, it would appear, is no longer the voice of God in Mnangagwa’s rule book.
This new reality was emphasised last week with the arrest of journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and Transform Zimbabwe leader Jacob Ngarivhume, whose crime was to mobilise Zimbabweans to protest against corruption on July 31.
In fact, the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights noted that a pattern was emerging in Zimbabwe where the government has been using the Covid-19 pandemic to clamp down on freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly as well as association.
The body rightfully noted that “merely calling for a peaceful protest or participating in a peaceful protest are an exercise of recognised human rights”.
Mnangagwa in 2017 pledged to respect and protect these rights as long as he served.
If he is still interested in cleaning the image of his party and the country that was soiled by the Mugabe legacy, he needs to stop the slide into authoritarian rule that seems to have started gathering pace in recent months.
Zimbabweans have a legitimate right to hold peaceful protests and the government can’t hide behind Covid-19 to suppress those same rights. Ends
