Mnangagwa must deliver on election promises
After everything is said and done, it’s now high time President Emmerson Mnangagwa turn all those promises he made on the campaign trail into reality.
When Mnangagwa came into power last November following a military intervention that toppled Zimbabwe’s long-standing ruler — Robert Mugabe — he put himself under unnecessary pressure with his first 100 days target of reviving the economy.
It was a far-fetched and mission impossible for Mnangagwa’s administration to think they could turn around the country’s fortunes when Mugabe had spent the past 38 years driving Zimbabwe into ruin.
The first 100 days pledge is an American phenomenon which is foreign to Zimbabwe and this greatly affected Mnangagwa’s popularity in the run up to last month’s hotly disputed harmonised elections where he narrowly won with 50 percent plus one vote to clinch a fresh mandate.
When he replaced Mugabe, Mnangagwa only had about seven months to get the country back on its feet.
During that period, nothing really changed as bank queues continued to grow as people failed to access their hard-earned cash.
Rates on the parallel market continued to spiral out of control with the bond note’s value falling sharply against the US dollar and the rand.
Unemployment figures remained the same with at least 90 percent of Zimbabweans earning their living in the informal sector.
Service delivery did not improve either as residents in most cities had to look for other alternatives in terms of dealing with refuse, accessing clean water and other basic necessities.
During his rallies ahead of the elections, Mnangagwa promised a better Zimbabwe where most of these problems would be a thing of the past.
This time around, he has five years in which to work and ensure that this new Zimbabwe can be achieved.
All eyes will be on the calibre of ministers he is going to appoint in his new Cabinet in the forthcoming days.
It must be a lean Cabinet made up of hard-working and knowledgeable men and women rather than recycling deadwood ministers which was the norm during Mugabe’s time.
For Mugabe, it was a job for the boys as he rewarded his loyalists and bootlickers but this only fast-tracked the economy’s decline.
Mnangagwa should not repeat the same mistake because it will be the duty of his Cabinet to spearhead the implementation of those promises he made during the campaign trail.
