For most of 2018, journalist Hopewell Chin`ono rose to Twitter fame as a supporter of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who had replaced Robert Mugabe after a military coup the year before. Now he is into his third week in jail, on trumped up charges of trying to incite people to overthrow the man he once praised. Chin`ono is, in a way, a symbol of the disillusionment with Mnangagwa, and evidence of how quickly the president has squandered his goodwill. The new dispensation Mugabe`s overthrow and Mnangagwa`s ascendency had widespread local and international support. Mugabe, who first came to power in 1980, had stayed in office well past his bedtime. Worse, he was about to anoint his wife, Grace,...
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