Emmerson Mnangagwa. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa is a Zimbabwean politician who has served as the president of Zimbabwe since 2017. His rule has been described as a dictatorship. A member of ZANU???PF and a longtime ally of former president Robert Mugabe, he held a series of cabinet portfolios and he was Mugabe's first vice-president from 2014 until 2017, when he was dismissed before coming to power in a coup d'??tat. He secured his first full term as president in the disputed 2018 general election. Mnangagwa was re-elected in the 2023 Zimbabwean general election with 52.6% of the vote.