Zimbabwe’s incoming leader Emmerson Mnangagwa has promised to create jobs after returning from exile to take over from Robert Mugabe.
Some estimates say 90% of Zimbabweans are unemployed. Nearly three-quarters live on less than $5.50 (£4.15) a day.
He told supporters at the headquarters of the ruling Zanu-PF party that the country was witnessing the “beginning of a new and unfolding democracy”.
Will Zimbabweans’ spirit of unity, this freedom from fear, endure under a new dispensation? I cannot be at all certain.
Mr Mnangagwa is mired in the excesses of the Mugabe era. He was the deposed president’s loyal henchman for decades and only struck against him to prevent Grace Mugabe from succeeding to the presidency.
This was not a revolution to bring liberal democratic principles into government. It was about power.
That said, there are significant pressures on the new leader to embark on a programme of meaningful change. The corruption and tyranny of the past will not attract the international financial aid and investment that is needed to rescue the nation’s shattered economy.
Mr Mnangagwa will face a strong challenge if he tries to mire Zimbabwe in the despotism of the past.
Perhaps most important is the attitude of the people.
“It is a shame that he is leaving through the back door and that he is forsaken by the parliament.