FORMER Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara has offered a brutal analysis of President Emmerson Mnangagwa whom he says performed below par under his purview in the Government of National Unity (GNU).
Mnangagwa served under Mutambara from 2009 to 2013 when he was Minister of Defence and a key ally of the late former President Robert Mugabe.
GNU comprised three political parties, Zanu PF, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T), and MDC which was led by Mutambara.
In an interview that was aired online recently, Mutambara said during that period Mnangagwa was underwhelming as a minister.
“I supervised Mnangagwa, he was my student. He was very average and not very competent but I supervised him. All these guys are my students. The Prime Minister, President and Deputy Prime Minister were the three principles. We used to look at these ministers and grade them,” said Mutambara.
GNU came on the back of a chaotic 2008 election which was characterised by violence and allegations of vote rigging by Zanu PF.
The country witnessed a period of stabilisation under GNU where political hatchets between Mugabe and the late Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai were buried
Mutambara also added that there is a stark difference between the cabinet that was assembled during GNU and one under Mnangagwa which he said is weak.
“The cabinet was very exciting because you had to know your story because people will take you up on issues whereas in this cabinet they are all psycho fans. They belong to the same group. We used to challenge Mugabe,” he said.
Mnangagwa deposed Mugabe in 2017 through a military-assisted transition promising to turn a new leaf in Zimbabwe.
However, Mutambara says the country has been regressing under the presidency of Mnangagwa.
“There is no shift whatsoever. If there is any change it is for the worse. There is no second Republic, there is no new dispensation. Mugabe was part of a system. The system is still in place.
“Mnangagwa is a crude version of Mugabe on corruption, on tribalism on incompetence. He is worse because there is no fineness. Mugabe had an element of fineness around him but this one is very crude in terms of naked corruption and naked incompetence,” says Mutambara. – Newzim
