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What Zimbabweans Say About First Post-Mugabe Poll

by Sebastian Mhofu

   HARARE --

   Zimbabwe holds its first general election without its founding leader
   Robert Mugabe on the ballot Monday.
   Mugabe took the oath of office in 1980 as Zimbabwe's first leader after
   independence. He was to be the country's head for the next 37 years --
   until November last year when military pressure led him to resign.

   Until his sudden address to reporters Sunday Mugabe had largely been
   quiet, except in March when he said his successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa,
   had taken power through a coup. On Sunday he said he would not vote for
   Mnangagwa and ZANU- PF, a party he formed in the 1960s.
   WATCH: Anita Powell's video report

   Jealousy Mawarire of the National Patriotic Front which is largely
   associated with the former first family, says the 94-year-old former
   leader still has a role to play.

   "He is a very important factor [in this election] in the sense that
   they are millions of people who were within ZANU-PF who respected him
   and believed in his pro-people stunts," says Mawarire.

   While during the election campaign Mnangagwa has avoided mentioning
   Mugabe, his ZANU-PF party has said the main opposition leader, Nelson
   Chamisa of the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance, is the one
   closest to the former president.

   In his final rally Saturday, Chamisa said he talks to Mugabe but there
   is no reason for the ruling ZANU-PF to disown "its old man."

   "We understand that Mugabe was wrong in some of his actions, but he was
   not alone, he was with Mnangagwa. But that is not my focus, the focus
   is not the past, the focus is the future," he said. "Past mistakes we
   correct, past omissions we remedy, past omissions we relieve but when
   we move forward we ask those who ruled first, where they went wrong
   that's how we solve things as we are moving forward."

   ZANU-PF supporters are divided about Mugabe.

   "When I think of Mugabe's time we had become slaves, housing stands
   were taken away from us. This was painful and is still very painful to
   us, we feel that this is not good," says Everson Chimungungu from
   Epworth, just outside Harare.

   "I don't want to hear about Mugabe because I'm now 48 years old and I
   feel that he is responsible for who I have become because I have never
   worked in my life," said Zvichemo Homani from Mutoko, about 200 km east
   of Harare.

   And 73-year-old Helen Katandika from Arcturus mining-farming area just
   outside Harare who says she will vote for Mnangagwa.

   "During the Mugabe era we were living quite well here because we have
   our land," she said. "We are fairly outsiders when it comes to whether
   Mugabe rule was good or bad, it was amongst his colleagues in Harare
   who saw that he was old and needed him to retire."

   While the ZANU-PF party might try to disown Mugabe, Alexander Rusero, a
   senior lecturer of journalism and international politics at Harare
   Polytechnic College says this election is crucial for Mnangagwa.

   "ZANU-PF is trying to legitimize itself because by and large what
   happened after the ouster of Robert Mugabe you have a government that
   has questionable legitimacy, political legitimacy this government
   desperately needs," he said. "Mnangagwa is in desperate need of
   endorsement to say that at least we are governing through the concern
   of the people, through the consent of the electorate, so this election
   is equally important to them should they win it because it will clear
   the dark episode of what happened in November."

   Results of Monday's first post-Mugabe general election are expected by
   Saturday.