Mutsvangwa, a key player in the ouster of Mugabe in 2017, said Mnangagwa is trying to restore Zanu-PF’s focus on elevating lives of ordinary Zimbabweans which since independence had fallen victim to Mugabe’s maladministration.
He was speaking to journalist at the Zanu-PF headquarters in Harare where he sought to water down a crisis in the education sector which has seen teachers and headmasters going on strike since opening of the first term Monday.
“Yes we have had challenges, our economy was in bad shape, the first republic forgot that their purpose was to deliver prosperity as part of the Zimbabwe revolution,” Mutsvangwa said.
“President Mnangagwa comes back and restores the central mantra of the revolutionary party, deliver prosperity. That is why our economy is growing at 5.2% and that is why with title deeds it will jump to double digit growth. Watch it, this is a big bang theory,” he said.
The 5,2% is in reference to finance minister Mthuli Ncube’s 2022 projections while his big bang theory is a new initiative by the ruling to give urbanites title deeds to their previously contested homes and hope loans taken to build or rebuild them will spur economic growth.
It is that which Mutsvangwa said will result in Zimbabwe achieving double digits growth by the end of 2022.
Mugabe oversaw the destruction of what late Bishop Desmond Tutu described as the ‘Jewel of Africa’ by giving his corrupt ministers and cronies access to public funds and minerals.
An animosity bred between him and the West worsened the country’s prospects of growth, resulting in a decade long economic meltdown that came after an Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) that left millions in poverty.
Mnangagwa on the other hand has not been forgiven for by some Zimbabweans for the mess they find themselves in just over four years after supporting a coup to topple Mugabe.
Inflation has been on a steep climb, unemployment levels are at their lowest, wages for civil servants were cut tremendously by Ncube in 2018 after he reintroduced the Zimbabwe dollar while the country’s human rights record has worsened.
Despite construction of the Harare to Beit-Bridge highway Mnangagwa has not been able to address most grievances aired by the general populace.
