Opposition MDC Alliance’s Vice President, Tendai Biti has said he predicted in 2010 that the true value of Zimbabwe’s founding leader, the late Robert Mugabe would be seen when he is dead.
While Mugabe was revered across Africa and the whole world, he was despised back home mainly for presiding over a failed economy.
Biti made the remarks in a tweet which was also a direct jab at Mugabe’s successor, President Emmerson Mnangagwa whom he accuses of worsening the country’s woes. He tweeted:
In 2010 the @SundayMailZim carried an interview I did in which I stated that Mugabe’s true value will reflect after his death. Three years after his departure Zimbabweans find themselves at the mercy of relentless psychopaths masquerading as rulers. A failed Banana Republic.
Ironically, since its formation in 1999, MDC has been pushing for Mugabe’s departure accusing him of being the author of the country’s economic, humanitarian and political crises.
Since Mugabe’s departure from the political arena in 2017, Zimbabwe has been on a downward trend especially in economic terms.
Zimbabwe recorded hyperinflation which risked reminding the nation of the dreadful 2008 era, it recorded the worst power cuts since 2016 and also faced severe starvation.
Some also argue that corruption and violation of human rights worsened when in the past 24 months.
A handful of analysts who have been comparing and contrasting Mugabe and his successor found lots of similarities and a few differences.
Many say Mnangagwa perpetuated Mugabe’s way of doing things, adding that he perfected some bad ones including bad governance.
Others, including United Kingdom’s Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Melanie Robinson, observe that Zimbabwe registered some positives since Mugabe’s departure.
They cite the removal of draconian laws like the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) as a step in the positive direction.
