HARARE, Zimbabwe – For the first time in her life, Nancy Siyakurima, 23, feels like her vote will matter."It’s the election of my lifetime,” said Siyakurima, who said she has not decided who to support in Zimbabwe’s presidential and parliamentary elections on July 30. “I am going to decide how the country is governed. I am really excited.”
Siyakurima will be among the millions casting ballots in their first election since strongman Robert Mugabe was ousted last year as president of the southern African country after 37 years in power.
The frontrunner in the race is Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, the leader of the coup d’état against Mugabe and a mentee of the former president who is from the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front, or ZANU–PF. Since he seized control, he’s attempted to liberalize the country’s economy and media after years of tight government control.
Seeking to woo foreign investment, he’s also promised not to seize white-owned farms as Mugabe did in 2000 and afterwards, a policy that at the time was supposed to redress grievances against poor Africans during British colonial rule.
“I know of some chiefs who have moved from one farm to another – then they run it down,” Mnangagwa told a crowd of white voters in the affluent suburb of Borrowdale on July 21. “Then he leaves that farm and he is issued another one. He runs it down. That time is gone.”
Moves like those demonstrate that Mnangagwa is a force of positive change who is trying to unify the country, said supporters.
"President Mnangagwa has brought freedom to Zimbabwe,” said Ronald Machokoto, a 38-year-old voter in the capital. “We can now express our political views freely."
"If you look at the mega deals that he has signed since he got into power, you will realize that the country is poised for a major economic boom," he added. "We have to give him time to revive the country's economy.”
After nearly four decades of authoritarian rule under Mugabe, one of the African continent's most promising nations was reduced to economic ruin, having seen a collapse in its agriculture sector and hyper inflation that left people carrying buckets of cash to buy daily staples. Currently, about 90 percent of Zimbabweans are unemployed, according to Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.
Still, Mnangagwa's focus on the economy in his time in office is not expected to ride a tidal wave of support to victory.
His main rival, Nelson Chamisa of the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance (MDC), noted that Mnangagwa’s nickname is the “crocodile” due to his brutality when he was Mugabe’s right-hand man.
Chamisa, 40, is former minister of information communication technology under Mugabe in a cabinet that included opposition parties. whose duties included overseeing the country’s phone and postal systems. He and his supporters push back against claims that Mnangagwa has transformed the country by loosening censorship and reversing Mugabe’s suppression of free speech and the press, saying the government could curb basic freedoms in the country at any time.
Chamisa supporters agree.
"Zanu PF has been in power for 38 years – I do not think that they have anything new to offer,” said Liberty Khona, 31, from Domboshava, a village north of Harare. “Mnangagwa worked hand in glove with Mugabe since independence. He carries no hope for us. This country requires a new pair of hands.”
South Africa-based pollster Afrobarometer recently predicted that Mnangagwa would garner around 40 percent of the vote. The main opposition leader, Chamisa, was on track to receiving 37 percent. If neither Mnangagwa nor Chemisa win at least half of the vote, a runoff will occur.
Vivid Gwede, an independent political analyst and information officer at the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association, said the incumbent faces an uphill battle but enjoys the backing of military leaders who sanctioned the coup against Mugabe.
“Mnangagwa faces the huge task of convincing Zimbabweans that he has what it takes to revive the country's economy,” Gwede said. “He has failed to do that since he took office in November last year. He keeps making promises to the people but forgetting that he is in power. Chamisa can capitalize on that."
"But what is important is whether the military will allow a smooth transfer of power in the event that Chamisa win in these elections,” Gwede added.
Tensions are on the rise. In a recent statement that didn’t mention specific political parties, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights warned that voter coercion was becoming widespread in the countryside.
Last month, a bomb exploded shortly after Mnangagwa left the stage of a campaign rally in southern city of Bulawayo. The president was unscathed but at least eight people were injured.
“We remain concerned however at the increasing number of reports, particularly in some rural areas, of voter intimidation, threats of violence, harassment and coercion, including people being forced to attend political rallies,” said the commissioner’s spokesperson, Liz Throssell.
Blaming the ZANU-PF for the coercion, 24-year-old Joanna Mamombe, one of the MDC Alliance youngest candidates for parliament, said voters needed to teach Mugabe’s circle a lesson.
"This is an election is for the young generation – we cannot be bystanders,” said Mamombe. “This is why I decided to play a part. This country requires office bearers whose hands are clean.”
John Dyer reported from Boston.
Photo: July 21, 2018 - Harare, Zimbabwe - President and Zanu PF candidate Emmerson Mnangagwa during an election rally in the capital Harare.
Credit: Courtesy of the President of Zimbabwe's official Twitter profile. (07/21/18)
Story/photo published date: 07/30/18
A version of this story was published in USA Today.
