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Harare (AFP) – The face of Zimbabwean businessman Munya Chihota illuminates when he remembers taking part in a demonstration last year with tens of thousands of people demanding the resignation of President Robert Mugabe.
The march took place after the army briefly took power, and a few days before Mugabe was ousted on Nov. 21 in what the veteran leader described as a coup d'etat.
"There was so much joy," said Chihota, 41, at AFP.
"We were all there – young, old, black, white, there was a collective sense of hope that after the hardships we had endured as a nation, things would change," he said. -he declares.
"The general feeling was that the system was going to disappear."
But Chihota is now coming back to those euphoric times with shared feelings.
"Unfortunately, only one individual and some of his hangers were removed and the system remained in place."
Mugabe, who held power since the independence of the British colonial regime in 1980, presided over the decline of Zimbabwe, a regional power endowed with enormous potential, in a country in ruins where millions of people fled.
Many were hoping his downfall would mark a new era for the country and a rebirth of its economy, but Chihota said his plastics manufacturing business was at its lowest since its inception eight years ago.
"A lot has gone wrong," he said. "This is certainly not what we expected."
– Exaltation turns to disillusionment –
Mugabe maintained his grip on power by using a brutal tactic of deploying security forces to crush his opponents and rivals.
Finally, last year, when he reached the age of 93, a long – running battle erupted.
The army, fearing that his wife, Grace, aged 53, Grace, waiting to take over, sends tanks in the streets, seizes control and forced the president to resign.
Senior army officers inaugurated a close ally, Emmerson Mnangagwa, whom Mugabe had sacked a few weeks ago as vice president.
Like Chihota, Belina Mlilo, a 24-year-old job seeker, recalls the intoxicating days of Mugabe's ouster with a growing sense of disillusionment.
After walking for Mugabe's ouster, she now realizes: "We made the mistake of thinking that Mugabe was the only problem."
"We have been used as pawns in the struggle between factions (of the ruling party) ZANU-PF and now they do not care about us anymore."
Mlilo has been unemployed since leaving college six years ago.
Mnangagwa, who secured power by winning contested elections in July, had pledged to revive the economy, attract foreign investment and create jobs.
But the terrible financial problems of the Mugabe era haunt the new reality.
The unemployment rate is estimated at over 90% and the economy has been cut in half since 2000, when many white-owned farms were seized.
Banks without money, a government with no money to spend and inflation over 20% in October – Zimbabwe's suffering shows no sign of ending.
– & # 39; Still waiting & # 39; –
"We are still waiting for investors to come in, jobs to be created and prices to fall," said economist John Robertson.
"The president has managed to arrest people guilty of corruption – but the consequences of Mugabe's political decisions are still relevant and the government has not changed that."
The shortage of staple goods has created a thriving black market, with some prices rising 200% in recent months. A liter of cooking oil can be sold on the street for $ 12, compared to $ 3.70.
The hopes that the July 30 elections would mark a new chapter for Zimbabwe were quickly stifled when soldiers opened fire on protesters in Harare even before the results of the presidential race were announced.
Six people were killed – triggering global outrage and undermining efforts to redefine Mnangagwa, a 76-year-old ZANU-PF veteran loyalist, in a new light.
The election result was also tainted with fraud charges. Since then, opposition supporters and activists have complained of constant harassment.
"In reality, the situation is getting worse," said Ibbo Mandaza, head of the Southern African Political and Economic Trust Group.
"Mnangagwa had the opportunity to redeem its reputation, but that did not happen – the election shootings and the rigged vote ruined this opportunity."
ZANU-PF defends Mnangagwa's first-year record.
"Freedom and democracy have been declared," said party spokesman Simon Khaya Moyo.
"The economy is also showing signs of growth, many foreign companies wanting to invest in. We've had hordes of foreign tourists, these are obvious signs that things have changed."
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change disagrees.
"Shortages persist and the government continues to intensify the suffering of the people," AFP spokesman Jacob Mafume told AFP.
