On November 14th 2017, Zimbabwe military troops drove tanks into the capital city, Harare.
"Military police on tank, this is happening in Harare. "
"Wow! It's real guys, it is real."
They patrolled the streets, blocked access to government buildings, and took over the
state television station to insist….
This is not a military takeover of government.
But it clearly was.
Troops invaded the presidential palace and put the president, Robert Mugabe in custody.
“...Comrade Robert Mugabe, and his family are safe and sound, and their security is guaranteed."
When you hear that a military coup has happened, it’s common to assume that the result is
a transfer of power…
But in this case... it’s clear there is no revolution.
It’s merely an internal fight among the country’s elites.
Zimbabwe is one of the most corrupt countries in the world; and what we’re seeing is a
fight to keep it that way...
As soon as we have accomplished our mission, we expect that the situation will return to
normalcy."
Once praised as a war hero, Robert Mugabe helped Zimbabwe win independence from Great
Britain in 1980.
He became president under Zimbabwe’s new constitution with the wide support of the people.
But soon, he digressed into a repressive dictator
He secured his power through aggression and threats, there have been reports of state-sponsored
torture and killings.
Now that Mugabe is 93 years old, and reportedly in poor health, the fight for political influence
is more intense than ever.
And it’s caused a split in Mugabe’s own party, the ZANU-PF.
On one side we have the old guard lead by Mugabe’s sacked vice-president Emmerson
Mnangagwa.
Like Mugabe, he fought for Zimbabwe’s independence and has a checkered past that includes human
rights abuses against political opponents and ethnic minorities.
As an old friend of Mugabe’s and vice president since 2014, Mnangagwa was the heir-apparent
for many years.
But that all changed on November 6th when Mugabe’s government said Mnangagwa had exhibited
“traits of disloyalty” and fired him.
This seemed to indicate Mugabe’s support for another successor; Grace Mugabe his own
wife.
She has recently risen within the party, but is extremely unpopular nationwide, mostly
due to her expensive shopping habits, which earned her the nickname, Gucci Grace.
The military has sided with Mnangagwa.
"that when it comes to matters of protecting our revolution, the military
will not hesitate to step in."
On November 15th they did just that, taking control of the capital in what they deemed
“a guardian coup”; to protecting the Zimbabwe people and “democracy”.
But their interests are more self-motivated; they want to secure their own power.
They have control over lucrative farm and mining operations and access to foreign currency.
To keep this power, they need a united ZANU-PF, who face elections scheduled for 2018.
What’s missing in all this?
The people of Zimbabwe.
Whoever ends up in charge…
Mnangagwa, the military, or Grace Mugabe ….
corruption will continue.
All these actors are want to keep the status quo.
But for the general population; the status quo is a destroyed economy.
the status quo is a society of unequal opportunity.
During Mugabe’s 37 years of leadership, massive corruption was commonplace.
There have been repeated allegations of Mugabe and his cabinet embezzling money from
mining and diamond industries.
Mugabe even won the “state owned” lottery in 2000.
Transparency International estimates that Zimbabwe loses $1billion per year to corruption.
All the while Zimbabwe’s economy suffered.
The poverty rate is at 72%.
Inflation has reached peaks of 231,000,000% !!!!! ….
With GDP growth, stagnant.
This has made Zimbabwe one of the most economically unequal countries in the world.
A problem it shares with much of the region.
Studies show that “low levels of economic growth and high levels of poverty are common
conditions in African countries that experience military coups.
In fact, 36% of all coup attempts since 1950 have occurred in Africa.
The problem is coups rarely address these problems.
Military coups in Niger (2010), Burkina Faso (2014) and Burundi (2015) were attempts by
leaders to extend their term limits.
While coups in Guinea (2008) and Togo (2005) were sparked by competition over succession.
The same appears to be happening in Zimbabwe,
What's uncertain in the near future is Zimbabwe's political leadership.
What's certain is that politicians fight over their own self-interests and those of the people are forgotten.