As the exit of Robert Mugabe becomes clear, Emmerson Mnangagwa, known by many as “The Crocodile”, has been sworn in as President of Zimbabwe.
Early life
Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa was born on September 15, 1942, in Shabani, Southern Rhodesia, into a farmer family that was aggressively anti-establishment.
His father’s frequent resistance against the white oppressors led to the family fleeing to Zambia.
After his secondary education at Mumbwa Boarding School, he enrolled in a Building Course at Kafue Trade School, where he achieved an excellent result and enabling him get into City and Guilds Industrial Building Course for a four-year programme.
Mnangagwa political activism started early in 1960, after being found guilty of burning a school building during a protest against the white-supremacists. This led to him being expelled from college.
Pre-Colonial Activism
Mnangagwa started his pre-colonial activities in 1962 after joining the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU), left for Tanzania to receive Military training. He also received training in Egypt.
Later he and few members of the military joined the newly formed Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), which got them in the bad books of the Egyptian authorities, resulting in the detention of him and others.
The news of their detention got to Robert Mugabe, who was able to secure their release and he later sent to China along with other Zimbabwe African Liberation Army (ZANLA), for further military training and also had an attempt at military engineering.
It was in China he met with some youngsters and they formed the “Crocodile Group” but were non-violent due to having no access to weapons.
In 1965, some members of the Crocodile Group were detained for smuggling weapons across the Southern Rhodesia border.
The group later recruited and planned roadblocks to terrorize the whites. It was during this period they a sabotaged and blew up a railway locomotive in Victoria.
After he was arrested with two others, he confessed his involvement in the protest.
He escaped execution after pleading underage and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment at Khami Prison. After serving the jail term, he was sent to Harare Prison where he met Nationalist like Mugabe, Nkala and others, he was then deported to Zambia.
In Zambia, he got a degree in Law from the University of Zambia, practiced in a private Law firm for some few years before meeting Mugabe again during his involvement in the Mozambique War of Independence.
He joined Mugabe and became his assistant and bodyguard, eventually accompanying him to the negotiations of the ‘Lancaster House Agreement’ which identified and recognized the Republic of Zimbabwe.
Political Career
After Zimbabwe became independent in 1980, he became the first Minister of National Security and also took over as the Chairman of the Joint High Command, saddled with the responsibility of integrating ZANLA and the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) and the Rhodesian Army.
During his tenure, the Zimbabwean Fifth Brigade massacred thousands of civilians, mainly ethnic Ndebeles, in Matabeleland during the Gukurahundi civil conflict. Emmerson denied giving any such orders, blaming it on the Army.
After the Political reforms that saw Mugabe becoming President in 1988, Mnangagwa was appointed the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and Leader of the House. He was also named the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Finances for a short period of time.
In 2002, he contested for a seat in the Parliament and was defeated, but Mugabe appointed him the speaker.
In 2005, he again contested, faced with defeat the second time, Mugabe appointed him to an unelected seat. After a fallout with the President, he was made Minister of Rural Housing, which was considered by many to be a major demotion.
Attempted Coup
In 2007, there was an alleged coup attempt to force Mugabe to resign Presidency which was foiled by the Government and the plotters arrested and charged with treason.
Mnangagwa was indicted but cleared of charges.
2008 Elections
In the 2008 presidential elections, he was the Chief agent and mastermind behind Mugabe’s Campaign that ensured another term for him.
The following year, he was appointed as the Minister of Defence, following Mugabe’s victory in 2013, he was promoted to head the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs and highly considered the successor of President Mugabe.
Power tussle between Mnangagwa and Grace, Mugabe’s wife
In 2014, he was appointed the Vice-President by Mugabe, with reports that the President delegates some Presidential duties to him.
In 2016, trouble started igniting between him and Grace due to ideological differences. The first lady is suspected to be the leader of the G40 faction (Generation 40), while the other faction, Lacoste, is assumed to be led by Mnangagwa.
There was a report of attempted poisoning of Mnangagwa, which led to him vomiting and airlifted to South Africa for medical attention.
Grace was implicated as responsible for his poisoning to which she denied.
“How could I possibly poison Mnangagwa? I am the wife of the president.
“What would I want from him that I don’t have? Why would I want to kill someone who was given a job by my husband? It is nonsensical.
“When you go around saying all nonsensical stuff it means you have failed the politics. You need to stay home.”
Mugabe seems to have paved way for his wife after sacking Mnangagwa in November 2017, accusing him of displaying “traits of disloyalty disrespect, deceitfulness, and unreliability”.
He fled to South-Africa, after claiming to receive threats on himself and his family, but promised to return.
Following his dismissal, there was a military intervention which placed Mugabe under house arrest and giving a deadline by the Parliament to resign or face impeachment.
He was also sacked by ZANU-PF as the party leader and replaced by Mnangagwa, who was tipped to become President, should Mugabe be ousted out of office.
Emmerson was sworn in as President of Zimbabwe on the 24th of November, 2017.
