TODAY is exactly three years since the late former President Robert Mugabe was booted out in a military coup. Many Zimbabweans poured onto the streets celebrating the ouster, the humiliation of a man who had become an institution over 37 years in power. A new dawn beckoned. The military had six days earlier issued a statement marking the coup in slow motion. In the statement, it said Mugabe was safe and it wanted to deal with crooks surrounding him. The coup did not have only local support, but even some leading countries like Britain, China and United States supported it in varying degrees. Many were happy to see Mugabe’s back just as many were frustrated when he refused to resign. Even the opposition in its many facets supported the military usurpation of power. The MDC Alliance co-sponsored the impeachment motion in Parliament. In haste, all parliamentary procedures were dispensed with and Parliament wanted Mugabe out at all costs. The military had used the slogan — Operation Restore Legacy – to justify its intervention. Even the High Court in an ex-parte application ruled the military action was constitutional. The coup was executed nearly smoothly with minimum bloodshed, but few are aware it was because Mugabe had personally decided against fighting back and plunging the nation into chaos. Mugabe had people who were ready to die for him and possibly South Africa could have intervened militarily on his side. What was Mugabe’s legacy? He played a big role in bringing independence. Mugabe had brought education and health for all. In his twilight years, he had led the land resettlement revolution and in Sadc, Mugabe had helped South Africa secure independence, kept Renamo’s Afonso Dhlakama at bay in Mozambique and protected the Democratic Republic of Congo’s territorial integrity. Mugabe had also the legacy of having wanted to entrench a one-party State system, overstaying in power and being soft on corruption. This is a legacy I guess Mugabe was not happy to be associated with, but all the same part of his legacy during the 37-year uninterrupted reign. In Zanu PF he had become a deity, no one dared challenge him openly. Senior party leaders competed to endorse him at every congress – it was nauseating. After three years, it is becoming clear which legacy the military restored. It restored a legacy of entrenching one-party State rule, being soft on corruption and creating another deity in Zanu PF. President Emmerson Mnangagwa has tinkered with the Constitution to entrench his rule, has changed the appointment procedure of heads of the Judiciary. He has housed the anti-corruption fight in his office, but his three years in power have shown where the corruption is. He has mixed with shady characters, had his ministers embroiled in multi-million-dollar tender scandals. On the other hand, Mnangagwa is decimating Mugabe’s legacy on education, health and the land revolution. It is a fact that Mugabe during his reign and particularly the first two decades each year set aside large chunks of the national budget for educatio