Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe Sworn In for Another Five Years

• ↓ More

By 
• DEVON MAYLIE
 
• CONNECT

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe raises his fist as he greets the crowd at his inauguration ceremony in Harare on Thursday.

After demolishing his rival and surviving a court challenge to his re-election, 89-year-old Robert Mugabe was sworn in as president of Zimbabwe on Thursday, vowing to fulfill a campaign promise of transferring more corporate wealth to the black citizens of the southern African nation.

"This is what our people voted for. It must be the centerpiece of our development," said Mr. Mugabe, in a speech that followed the ceremonial start of another five-year term, extending his 33 years in power. "We need a share in all ventures that exploit our nonrenewable resources."

Up till now, the policy known as "indigenization"—which mandates that foreign-owned businesses hand over majority control in their Zimbabwe operations to government-approved investors—has been only haltingly implemented since it was adopted by parliament in 2008. The main stumbling block was Mr. Mugabe's coalition partner, former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, whose party said the policy as outlined would deter foreign investment and undercut the economy.

Mr. Mugabe's inauguration comes 48 hours after the country's constitutional court declared his win in the July 31 election valid, despite an initial challenge by Mr. Tsvangirai. The former prime minister later withdrew the challenge, saying his party was deprived of voter information to build its case. Mr. Tsvangirai boycotted Thursday's inauguration.

Mr. Mugabe won 61% of the July 31 vote, but poll observers later found that many registered voters were turned away at voting stations, the electronic voter roll wasn't provided and around one million registered voters were discovered to have been deceased. Mr. Mugabe's Zanu-PF party denied it manipulated the vote.

Following the election, regional trading bloc Southern African Development Community signed off on the vote as free and peaceful and called on western countries to lift sanctions against Zimbabwe. But the U.S. said the elections weren't fair and were seriously flawed. As a result, the U.S. said this week that it won't change the sanctions it has against individuals and companies in Zimbabwe until reforms take place.

How Mr. Mugabe implements the indigenization plan could prove pivotal for an economy that was once the shining star of southern Africa. Mr. Mugabe's green light for his political supporters to seize white-owned farms beginning in 2000 sent the economy into a tailspin and triggered hyperinflation, but it was also seen as a bold stand against wealthy settlers many of British descent. A troubled unity government, cobbled together after violent 2008 elections, managed to halt the free fall. But Mr. Mugabe had to abandon the national currency in favor of the U.S. dollar and surrender much of his control over the economy.

Now the octogenarian president, who will turn 90 in February, is back in the driver's seat of an economy that is struggling with heavy debt and meager investment.

Zimbabwe's foreign direct investment amounted to $400 million in 2012, up 3% from 2011. But while investment has grown, it is still just a fraction of the billions neighbors such as South Africa get in annual flows.

In newspaper advertisements taken out following the Zanu-PF win, the party promised a "unique" wealth-transformation program. Zanu-PF said there are still 1,138 companies that need to be "indigenized."