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World|politics|November 24, 2017 / 03:21 PM
As Mnangagwa prepares for power, Zimbabwe hungers for change

AKIPRESS.COM - As Emmerson Mnangagwa prepares to take the oath of office as Zimbabwe’s president, there’s a public hunger for a real break from the policies of Robert Mugabe, whose resignation on Tuesday after 37 years in power sparked scenes of jubilation in the streets of the capital, Bloomberg reported.

Skepticism that he will do so abounds. Mnangagwa, 75, was Mugabe’s right-hand man for half a century through the liberation war against white-ruled Rhodesia and since independence in 1980 until their rupture in recent months. Yet his hand may be forced by a dire economic situation: a 90 percent jobless rate and a cash shortage so severe that some people sleep near banks in the streets of the capital, Harare, to ensure they can make withdrawals.

“I hope he will not continue with the usual populist noises which we’ve seen with the former government,” said Tsitsi Mushure, a 36-year-old single mother. “People need jobs, I need a job. Things are not well, not just for me, but the whole country.”

While Mnangagwa must try to revive an agricultural industry that was once the envy of southern African neighbors, unlock investment in mining and reestablish credit lines, he may need input from opposition parties to give his new administration credibility in the eyes of investors.

Crowds started converging on the 60,000-seat national sports stadium where Mnangagwa is scheduled to be sworn in as president later Friday and to deliver his inaugural address.

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