Feeding the Crocodile

It is a tragedy that the party that has ruined Zimbabwe, led by a man who was one of the chief perpetrators of its misery, has managed by hook or by crook to win a fresh mandate. The narrow margin of 0.8 per cent by which Emmerson Mnangagwa secured his victory in last week’s presidential contest will inevitably raise suspicions of foul play. But he will almost certainly be given the benefit of the doubt, not least by the British government. Mnangagwa, known as the Crocodile for his habit of biding his time and crunching his enemies as Robert Mugabe’s chief enforcer and election-rigger, has said some sensible things since overthrowing his mentor on the back of a military coup last November. But he did not deserve the enthusiastic support of the Foreign Office. It may even have tipped the balance in his favour.

British diplomacy in Africa so far this century has been ineffective and inconsistent. In the absence of any real guidance from high up in Whitehall, British policy on the ground in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, has been blatantly partisan towards Mr Mnangagwa. He has been presented as the man to bring back stability and friendly relations in the absence of Mr Mugabe and his power-seeking wife. Poised to take over, she would indeed have been even worse. But this did not mean that the Crocodile was the long-term answer. The alternative, Nelson Chamisa and the Movement for Democratic Change, was far from ideal. But the ruling party and its leaders are irredeemably crooked, brutal and incompetent. Virtually any alternative would have been better.

The first reason for Britain’s wayward diplomacy in Africa is a dire shortage of cash, resulting in the gutting of embassies across the continent. At the same time, the British government’s aid arm, the Department for International Development (DfID), has grown out of all proportion.