March 29, 2024

Zimbabwe’s ousted vice-president joins calls for Mugabe to resign

TAP | Updated: November 21, 2017

Harare, Nov 21: Talks in Zimbabwe on Robert Mugabe’s departure as president were set back after his deputy, whose sacking triggered last week’s military takeover, refused to return to the country and joined calls for the 93-year-old leader to step down. Emmerson Mnangagwa, who fled the southern African nation two weeks ago after Mr Mugabe fired him as vice-president at the urging of his wife, Grace Mugabe, said he feared for his safety. He urged the president to “accept the will of the people and resign” in the face of mass protests. 
In a televised address on Sunday, Mr Mugabe stunned the nation when he suggested he would remain in power despite the mounting pressure on him to resign after 37 years in power. “I cannot trust my life in President Mugabe’s hands,” said Mr Mnangagwa, who was once the president’s feared right-hand man and a former security chief with ties to Zimbabwe’s liberation war veterans. Mr Mnangagwa’s comments, his first public remarks since the military takeover, contradicted a statement by the army on Monday that he was “expected in the country shortly”. His stance threatens to widen a split between the ruling Zanu-PF, which is impeaching Mr Mugabe to force his exit, and the army as it heads talks on a longer-term transition after sending armoured vehicles into Harare’s streets last week to arrest “criminals” around the president. In his first statement since the army’s takeover, General Constantino Chiwenga, the head of Zimbabwe’s defence forces, said on Monday that the military was “encouraged” by the first contacts between Mr Mugabe and his former deputy since the crisis. He said the pair were discussing a “road map” to resolve the country’s crisis.
There have been signs of growing tensions between the ruling Zanu-PF and the army over Mr Mugabe’s fate. The party, which Mr Mugabe has dominated for decades, has launched impeachment proceedings against the president following a vote to remove him as its leader. It made Mr Mnangagwa, 75, its interim head, a decision he said on Tuesday he had accepted. War veterans loyal to Mr Mnangagwa, who is nicknamed the “Crocodile” and widely expected to be the next president, have called for even bigger street protests this week until Mr Mugabe resigns. Mr Mnangagwa said he would not “stand in the way” of impeachment proceedings that are scheduled to begin in parliament on Tuesday and could take days to complete. Mr Mnangagwa’s firing came after a vicious struggle with Mrs Mugabe over the succession to her husband. Members of the Zanu-PF faction loyal to Mrs Mugabe were arrested in the military intervention last week. In what appeared to be a warning to politicians and others not to interfere, Gen Chiwenga said on Monday that Zanu-PF, veterans, opposition leaders and the public should not do anything to “threaten peace, life and property”. The army has not asked for Mr Mugabe’s immediate departure in talks, said George Charamba, the president’s spokesperson.
An official familiar with the military said: “The generals want a smooth transition where they are cleared of any semblance of treason and the president gets out in a dignified way.” If Zanu-PF persisted in taking matters into its own hands, the official said, it could lead to a confrontation between the army and the political party that has dominated the African country since independence in 1980. “There’s a possibility the army might try to stop Zanu-PF forcefully, and that might result in blood on the streets,” the official said. The Southern African Development Community, a regional bloc, will meet in Angola on Tuesday to discuss Zimbabwe’s political crisis. PTI
 

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