Leaders absent from Mnangagwa’s inauguration

from MARCUS MUSHONGA in Harare, Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Bureau HARARE, (CAJ News) A SNUB of the inauguration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa by counterparts from the region and the continent is a blow to the legitimacy of the election that paved the way for his second term.The attendance at the 60 000-seater National Sports Stadium in Harare, where Mnangagwa (80) was sworn in, was also underwhelming.

p id=”caption-attachment-61335″ Touching down Harare International Airport is South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his delegationOn Monday, all eyes were on the capital city to ascertain which leaders would attend, considering the observer missions from the 55-member African Union (AU) and the 16-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) had for the first time in Zimbabwe’s history raised concern at the conduct of the election.Only the presidents of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique and South Africa, Felix Tshisekedi, Felipe Nyusi and Cyril Ramaphosa respectively attended the inauguration.

p id=”caption-attachment-61336″ Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Felix Antoine Tshisekedi arrives in Harare at President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s installationFormer presidents of Mozambique and Zambia, Joaquim Chissano and Edgar Lungu respectively, attended Mnangagwa’s swearing-in.Of those that did not attend, the least surprising absentee perhaps was that of Zambia’s Haikande Hichilema, following diplomatic fallout with Zimbabwe after Zambia’s Nevers Mumba led the SADC mission that disapproved the re-election of Mnangagwa and the retention of power by the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).

p id=”caption-attachment-61341″ Mozambican President, Filipe Jacinto Nyusi arrive in Harare, Zimbabwe at the inauguration of President Emmerson MnangagwaOn the eve of the inauguration, ZANU-PF Treasurer-General, Patrick Chinamasa, denounced Mumba as “a complete disgrace and an embarrassment to the region and the African continent as a whole.”Chinamasa said Hichilema was “very unwise unpolitic” for Hichilema as Head of SADC Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security to appoint Mumba, who he said was “a lackey of imperialism and neocolonialism with a known regime change background.

Thus, Chinamasa said, Hichilema had stoked the fires of Western-inspired regime change in Zimbabwe and “will live to regret it.” p id=”caption-attachment-61338″ Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) service chiefs pledge loyalty”President Hichilema’s previous known political association with (Nelson) Chamisa creates unwholesome perceptions about his intentions towards Zimbabwe and ZANU-PF.

“Chamisa is the leader of the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change, which was demanding fresh elections.The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission announced Mnangagwa as winner with 52,6 percent of the vote to Chamisa’s 44 percent.

p id=”caption-attachment-61339″ High court judges also at the inauguration at the National Sports Stadium in Harare, ZimbabweThe SADC observer mission noted, “Some aspects of the Harmonised Elections, fell short of the requirements of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the Electoral Act and the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections (2021).””The failure to turn up by SADC serving presidents points towards a tragic reality of failed political and international legitimacy that will dog President Mnangagwa’s last term in office that can only be cured by resolving the issue,” said critic, Hopewell Chin’ono.

Nonetheless, SADC was represented by Deputy Executive Secretary Joseph Andre Nourrice, while AU Deputy chairperson, Monique Nsanzabaganwa, attended.Ramaphosa received backlash back in South Africa for attending.

p id=”caption-attachment-61340″ Zimbabwe Council of Chiefs led by Chief President and Pan African Parliament President Chief Fortune Charumbira”By showing support for the ZANU-PF, Ramaphosa is endorsing a stolen government and a stolen democracy that has caused hyperinflation, the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy, the suffering of tens of millions of fellow Africans, and the mass migration of much of Zimbabwe’s population causing immense instability in the Southern African region,” said John Steenhuisen, leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA).Meanwhile, the inauguration enabled the rival factions in the ZANU-PF to kiss and make up.

p id=”caption-attachment-61337″ Former President Robert Mugabe’s wife, Mrs Grace Mugabe and daughter, Bona Mugabe at the inauguration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.Among the attendees were former First Lady, Grace Mugabe, and ex-deputy presidents, Phelekezela Mphoko and Joice Mujuru.

Mnangagwa came into office in 2017after a military coup forced then president, Robert Mugabe (deceased), to resign. This amid claims he was grooming Grace to succeed him.

Mujuru had been expelled from her position and the party in 2014 after accusations she was plotting to topple the veteran leader who had been in power since independence in 1980.At the inauguration on Monday, Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe had demonstrated it was a mature democracy. p id=”caption-attachment-61342″ Botswana’s Vice President Slumber Tsogwane has touched down at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport for the inauguration ceremony of President-elect Emmerson Mnangagwa.

“Zimbabwe will never accept the undermining of the country’s institutions in whatever guise,” he said.The government, he said, would prioritise food security, social services, the economy and infrastructure.

“My new government will deliver on the promises we made to you,” Mnangagwa pledged as his five-year term resumed. CAJ NewsThe post Leaders absent from Mnangagwa’s inauguration first appeared on CAJ News Africa

Source: CAJ News Agency