Mugabe axed as ruling party chief

Harare, November 19 

Robert Mugabe agreed on Sunday to resign as Zimbabwe’s president hours after the ruling ZANU-PF party fired him as its leader following 37 years in charge, a source familiar with the negotiations said.

ZANU-PF had given the 93-year-old less than 24 hours to quit as head of state or face impeachment, an attempt to secure a peaceful end to his tenure after a de facto coup.

The source said the Zimbabwe military was working on a resignation statement by Mugabe, without giving details. Zimbabwe’s state broadcaster ZBC said Mugabe would address the nation shortly. Earlier on Sunday, the official Herald newspaper showed pictures of him meeting top generals at his State House offices.

Mugabe, the only leader the southern African nation has known since independence from Britain in 1980, was replaced by Emmerson Mnangagwa, the deputy he sacked this month in a move that triggered the mid-week intervention by the army.

In scenes unthinkable just a week ago, the announcement drew cheers from the 200 delegates packed into ZANU-PF’s Harare headquarters to seal the fate of Mugabe, whose support has crumbled in the four days since the army seized power.

Mugabe was given until noon (1000 GMT) on Monday to resign or face impeachment, an ignominious end to the career of the “Grand Old Man” of African politics who was once feted across the continent as an anti-colonial liberation hero. Even in the West, he was renowned in his early years as the “Thinking Man’s Guerrilla”, an ironic nickname for a man who would later proudly declare he held a “degree in violence”. As the economy crumbled and political opposition to his rule grew in the late 1990s, Mugabe seized thousands of white-owned farms, detained opponents and unleashed security forces to crush dissent.

When the vote was announced, war veterans leader Chris Mutsvangwa, who has spearheaded an 18-month campaign to remove a man he openly described as a “dictator”, embraced colleagues and shouted: “The President is gone. Long live the new President.” Mugabe’s wife Grace, who had harboured ambitions of succeeding her husband, was also expelled from ZANU-PF, along with at least three cabinet ministers who had formed the backbone of her “G40” political faction.

Speaking before the meeting, Mutsvangwa said Mugabe, who has so far resisted calls to quit, was running out of time to negotiate his departure and should leave the country while he could. “He’s trying to bargain for a dignified exit,” he said.

Mnangagwa, a former state security chief known as “The Crocodile,” is expected to head an interim post-Mugabe unity government that will focus on rebuilding ties with the outside world and stabilising an economy in freefall.

The next presidential election is due in 2018.

On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of Harare, singing, dancing and hugging soldiers in an outpouring of elation at Mugabe’s overthrow. His downfall is likely to send shockwaves across Africa, where a number of entrenched strongmen, from Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni to Democratic Republic of Congo’s Joseph Kabila, are facing mounting pressure to step down. — Reuters

Emmerson Mnangagwa is new leader 

Zimbabwe’s ruling party Zanu-PF on Sunday appointed President Robert Mugabe’s former Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa (pic) as the new leader. Mnangagwa, a former state security chief known as “The Crocodile”, is expected to head an interim post-Mugabe unity government that will focus on rebuilding ties with the outside world and stabilising an economy in freefall.

Conflicting demands 
MILITARY

• Mugabe should reverse this month’s decision to fire vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa and reappoint him
• He should resign immediately as national president, leaving Mnangagwa in charge as acting president
• Emmerson Mnangagwa will then be elected leader of the ruling ZANU-PF party at a special congress in December, allowing him to complete Mugabe’s term as President

MUGABE

• The military should immediately remove tanks and armoured vehicles from the streets and order soldiers back to barracks
• Mugabe says he will step down as President and First Secretary of ZANU-PF party at a special congress next month at which a new leader will be chosen
• He should be allowed to complete his five-year presidential term which ends next year
• Mugabe is demanding assurances that his wife, Grace, and family will be safe