Mnangagwa Has Less Than 10% Of Mugabe's Intelligence: Prof Mutambara
Zimbabwe’s former Deputy Prime Minister, Arthur Mutambara, has said President Emmerson Mnangagwa has less than 10% of the late former President Robert Mugabe. He says that’s the reason why he missed an opportunity to unite Zimbabwe and re-engage with the international community after the removal of Mugabe in 2017.
In an interview with Trevor Ncube, Chairman of Alpha Media Holdings, Mutambara noted that there was significant goodwill towards Zimbabwe, particularly from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and a capable leader should have capitalised on this momentum.
Mutambara further opined that Mnangagwa lacked the competence to lead Zimbabwe and could have done better in promoting the country’s interests. He also criticised Mnangagwa’s tribalism, stating that he was worse than Mugabe in this regard.
Asked if he was surprised that Mnangagwa didn’t see the opportunity to unite Zimbabwe post-Mugabe, Mutambara said:
With hindsight, I’m not surprised because the ability is very limited there, the competence is very minimal there. He is not a very able man. In fact, in many fronts… The idea was if Mnangagwa was clever, if Emmerson Mnangagwa was clever, if he had 10% of Mugabe’s intelligence, he’d have used that moment of the Coup to do a team Zimbabwe approach. Not so much for Zimbabwe, for himself. But he was blind, deaf and dumb and missed the moment because Mugabe won 57 out of 80. He could have gone alone without Nkomo without Smith and set up his own government but he realised that it was a Zimbabwean moment, it was so much goodwill in the world. So what do I do? I reach out to ZANU and Nkomo, I reach out to Smith and I put together a team Zimbabwe.
Asked why he thought Mnangagwa could not emulate his long-time boss, Mutambara said:
Because he is not clever.
Arthur Mutambara also criticised Robert Mugabe for not stepping down from his position of power at the appropriate time and stated that this was an unwise decision. According to Mutambara, Mugabe should have left at the turn of the millennium and chosen a successor who he could have groomed to ensure the protection of his legacy. Mutambara’s view on the intelligence of Mugabe and Mnangagwa contradicts the popular view that both leaders are shrewd, strategic, and tactical thinkers.
