Post-Mugabe Zimbabwe stuck in the old ways

People celebrate in the streets after the resignation of Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe in Harare, on November 21, 2017. Mnangagwa promised a free and open Zimbabwe after the Mugabe years, but political opponents, protesters and activists still face a repressive regime. FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Veteran Zimbabwe opposition legislator Joel Gabbuza thought he was stating the obvious when he told mourners that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ruling Zanu-PF party was struggling to revive the economy.

Mr Gabbuza, who has been representing the impoverished Binga South constituency for over a decade, was arrested for lamenting the fuel shortages that brought the country to a standstill a month ago.