Jane Mlambo|With the MDC planned demonstration drawing closer with each passing day, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has not really not figured how to tackle this serious threat to his grip on power due to a number of factors this article will seek to unravel.

First of all, when Mnangagwa assumed power following the fall of Mugabe, he pitched himself as a reformist who was keen to depart from what he termed the old dispensation with his reign popularised as the new dispensation.

The term new dispensation for Mnangagwa meant tolerance of political diversity and early into his reign, he allowed the MDC to march for electoral reforms and seemed to have opened the political space to everyone. While this worked for him, allowing him to score political points both locally and internationally, it did not last long as he faltered at the first real threat to his power on the 1st of August 2018. In front of local and international observers, Mnangagwa began his fresh mandate with blood after killing upto seven innocent civilians when military men from the Presidential guard opened fire on protestors who were demanding the immediate release of poll results.

The establishment of a commission of inquiry gave Mnangagwa some hope as it was endorsed by Britain and SADC among other important international bodies.

Another test to his power came again on the 14th of January and true to his old self, he unleashed fire killing even more civilians.

Now with the 16th of August demonstration written regime change all over, Mnangagwa is in a fix. Should he allow the demo to proceed, he would have to face the consequences should the protesters turnaround and demand his resignation.

Should the demo turn violent as witnessed in January this year, his options will be limited as he may not want to dent his already tainted reign by unleashing soldiers again.

The decision to use force and unleash soldiers will put the final nail on his political coffin as he is likely to face yet another international condemnation.

Secondly, Mnangagwa is currently in a corner. Economy is not functioning and the level of anger among citizens is building up. While this is an MDC demo, November 2017 is still fresh in citizens’ mind which means should there be peace on the day, more and more people are likely to join in. So it’s a tricky situation for him and his fate is on the line.