Emmerson Mnangagwa tells world: Here’s how I’ll fix Zimbabwe

EDINBURGH — As a new wave of desperate Zimbabweans make plans to relocate to other countries, the country's President Emmerson Mnangagwa has reached out to the international community to ask for support in reviving the economy. In an opinion piece written for the influential Financial Times, a global business newspaper headquartered in London, Mnangagwa warns that painful reforms are essential. He is promising a clamp down on corruption, is committing to cutting the number of government employees and is shutting down state enterprises that have provided sheltered employment for many Zanu-PF friends. But he is also determined to keep squeezing already-struggling Zimbabweans for more tax and is refusing to back down on a new tax on money transfers. – Jackie Cameron

By Thulasizwe Sithole

Spin-doctors for Emmerson Mnangagwa have got an opinion piece published in the Financial Times, under the Zimbabwe president's byline. In the article, Mnangagwa explains how Zimbabwe has no choice but to embark on painful reforms.

"When Margaret Thatcher was elected UK prime minister in 1979, she recognised that piecemeal change would not be sufficient to tackle the problems of labour unrest, rampant inflation and economic stagnation. A wholesale transformation and modernisation of the British economy was required," he says.

"While there would inevitably be downsides to such rapid change, Thatcher was undeterred. The challenges that Zimbabwe faces today are no less acute. But my government is committed to tackling them head on. Like Thatcher, we are not afraid of taking tough, and at times painful, decisions," continues Mnangagwa.

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