HARARE, Zimbabwe — When Robert Mugabe stepped down as president this week, Mevion Gambiza, 28, quickly joined the throng of people celebrating the sudden end of his 37-year rule. Mr. Gambiza jumped on the roof of a taxi and rode around as the driver honked through the streets of the capital.

But by Friday morning, Mr. Gambiza, like many other Zimbabweans, had sobered up. By the time he came to the National Sport Stadium to watch the swearing-in of the new president — Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mr. Mugabe’s longtime right-hand man — it was more to witness history than from any enthusiasm.

“Nothing will change; poverty and suffering will continue,” said Mr. Gambiza, a graduate of the University of Zimbabwe. The only difference now, he said, was that one faction of the governing party had “outcompeted its rival, and now Mnangagwa’s bootlickers will have their full turn to loot from the state coffers.”

Mr. Mnangagwa, who fled into a brief exile after losing a power struggle less than three weeks ago, became Zimbabwe’s new president on Friday, succeeding Mr. Mugabe, 93, the leader he had backed for decades before helping to oust him last week.