Emmerson Mnangagwa was sworn in on Friday as President of Zimbabwe
in front of thousands of cheering supporters at Harare’s national stadium,
bringing the final curtain down on the 37-year rule of Robert Mugabe.
Taking his oath of office, the 75-year-old former security
chief known as ‘The Crocodile’ vowed to uphold the constitution of the former
British colony and protect the rights of all Zimbabwe’s 16 million citizens,
Reuters said.
Even though most Zimbabweans celebrated the exit of
93-year-old Mugabe, who presided over the descent into penury and despotism of
one of Africa’s brightest prospects, some are worried about the future under
Mnangagwa.
In particular, they question his role in the so-called
Gukurahundi massacres in Matabeleland in 1983, when an estimated 20,000 people
were killed in a crackdown on Mugabe opponents by the North Korean-trained
Fifth Brigade.
Mnangagwa has denied any part in the atrocities and since
his return to Zimbabwe after two weeks in hiding has been preaching democracy,
tolerance and respect for the rule of law.
”The people have spoken. The voice of the people is the
voice of God,” he told thousands of supporters on Wednesday at the headquarters
of his ruling ZANU-PF party.
However, the army’s rough treatment of Mugabe loyalists –
former finance minister Ignatius Chombo was hospitalised because of beatings
sustained in military custody, his lawyer said – has not allayed concerns about
Mnangagwa’s real views of democracy.
”It was a very brutal and draconian way of dealing with
opponents,” Chombo’s lawyer, Lovemore Madhuku, told Reuters.
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