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Todd Moss is a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and says the man running Zimbabwe in Mnangagwa’s place, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, has resorted to some familiar tactics to maintain order.
“He is a long-time enforcer, he’s the head of the military and all the brutal tactics that we’re seeing — shooting civilians in the streets, raiding peoples’ homes in the middle of the night — that’s all organized by Vice President and former general Chiwanga.”
Moss isn’t hopeful Zimbabwe’s government can or will fix the mess they’ve created.
“It’s like a mafia situation, where there’s a small group that uses their control of the security to enrich themselves and as they see the economy getting worse, they’re like rats on the ship — everyone is grabbing what they can now in a desperate bid to hold onto what they have.”
But instead of writing off Zimbabwe’s problems as endemic, Moss says the U.S. and other countries should harness the leverage they still have over the new president.
“They must make absolutely clear to Mnangagwa that he is responsible for the actions of his military and that all the things he craves from the world – legitimacy, he wants investment and he’s desperate for debt relief from the U.S. and other creditors – all of that is absolutely on the line if he does not rein in the terror we’re seeing unfold today.”