IN May 2018, when the Zimbabwe Independent interviewed British peer Lord Peter Hain — a prominent critic of former president Robert Mugabe’s regime — he was optimistic about the birth of a new era in Zimbabwe and was hopeful the country could rise from the ashes.BY BRIDGET MANANAVIRE
One year after the interview, Hain is now singing from a different hymn book: he is publicly saying President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government is a disaster and a mirror reflection of the old Mugabe era.
His dramatic volte-face is an indication of how Mnangagwa’s re-engagement drive, which initially had global goodwill, is stalling within just 12 months.