Although Robert Mugabe is now part of history, the band of praise-singers that made him a demigod is still intact, singing itself hoarse in a
rat-race to please President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Observers opine that the apple-polishing and heightened fawning for Mnangagwa seen at the just-ended Zanu PF conference in Esigodini does not bode well for Zimbabwe.
Indeed, there is a connection between the old and new.
By Mnangagwa’s own admission, Mugabe who he removed through a coup last year “remains a father, mentor, comrade in arms and my leader.”
The parallels between the two men are almost infinite.History has it that it was Mugabe who taught Mnangagwa the political ropes while in prison and that it was Mugabe who invited Mnangagwa to the front in the twilight days of the liberation
struggle to make him his aide de camp.
While addressing over 60 000 people who filled the National Sports Stadium in a frenzied mood after the fall of Mugabe, Mnangagwa paid tribute to the man who now regards him as a traitor.
“We must say thank you to him and trust that our history will grant him his proper place and accord him his deserving stature as one of the founding fathers and leaders of our nation,” he said.
At the height of the powers, Mugabe had songs composed in his name, children named after him and towns were given a face-lift just to ensure
that his passage was comfortable.
And just like Mugabe days, Mnangagwa replicated the spectacle in Esigodini.
Mugabe might be long gone but Mnangagwa appears to be trapped in the same system that created his predecessor.
University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer Eldred Masunungure told the Daily News on Sunday that while there was a change of
leadership last year, there was no change of the system.

“We have to start from the premise of what happened last year. What happened last year was the change of leadership and there was no change of regime.Daily News