BY MOSES MATENGA ZIMBABWE has failed to end the culture of human rights abuses witnessed under its former leader Robert Mugabe, while the optimism generated by the election of President Emmerson Mnangagwa has faded, a new report has said. According to a report on sub-Saharan Africa by Nic Cheeseman titled A Changing of the Guards or A Change of Systems, which highlights transitions in 44 African countries, Zimbabweans were left frustrated by the power transfer that brought Mnangagwa to power in November 2017. Cheeseman is a Professor of Democracy and International Development at the University of Birmingham and the report was a review of developments from 2017 to the start of 2019. MDC Alliance vice president Tendai Biti also told South African media that Zimbabwe was still witnessing human rights abuses and an attack on democracy under Mnangagwa similar to the time under the rule of the late Mugabe. Mnangagwa took over as leader in November 2017 after military chiefs ended Mugabe’s rule after 37 years. The demise of Mugabe, long seen as one of Africa’s strongmen, and the subsequent rise of Mnangagwa presented a new opportunity for Zimbabwe. Two years on, that hope has faded, according to the report. “While Cameroon, Chad, Kenya and Tanzania have moved further away from lasting political and economic transformation, Angola, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe initially appeared to be making progress towards it,” the report read in part. “However, in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, this impression did not last beyond the end of the BTI reporting period, and the new governments of both countries now stand accused of committing similar human rights abuses to their predecessors.” Mnangagwa’s rise was accompanied with promises that the Zanu PF government, known as the new dispensation, would demonstrate greater respect to democratic norms and values. “In Zimbabwe, the use of repression to intimidate opposition parties and civil society groups led to accusations that despite all the rhetoric there was little difference between the new administration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the old Robert Mugabe regime,” the report read in part. “However, hope that the country had experienced a major political turning point was subsequently undermined when the protests of opposition supporters against suspected electoral manipulation were violently repressed by the army, leading to at least six deaths,” the report said in apparent reference to the August 1, 2018 protests. The report said the Mnangagwa administration had reverted to Mugabe’s default excuse of blaming sanctions for its failures. “However, as with economic performance, the government does not appear to be able to deliver on its early promises.” “In the face of mounting opposition protests against the political situation and civil society protests against the economic situation and the abuse of human rights, the Zanu PF government has increasingly sought to scapegoat its domestic rivals and international critics rather than actually tackling the structural barriers to econom