Former Zimbabwean vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa was to return home yesterday to take power after Robert Mugabe’s resignation as president brought a sudden end to 37 years of authoritarian rule.
Ahead of his arrival, Zimbabwean Parliamentary Speaker Jacob Mudenda confirmed that Mnangagwa would be sworn in as president at an inauguration ceremony tomorrow.
Mugabe’s iron grip ended in a shock announcement to parliament where lawmakers had convened to impeach the 93-year-old who dominated every aspect of Zimbabwean public life for decades.
Photo: AP
On the streets, the news that his long and often brutal leadership was over sparked wild celebrations that lasted late into the night, with crowds dancing and cheering ecstatically amid a cacophony of car horns.
Mnangagwa, 75, was sacked by Mugabe on Nov. 6 in a move that pushed infuriated army chiefs to intervene, triggering a series of events that led to Mugabe’s ouster.
A former key Mugabe ally, Mnangagwa fled the country after his dismissal, saying he would not return without guarantees of his safety. His sacking was the result of an increasingly bitter succession battle with Mugabe’s wife, who had been pushing to take over from the ageing leader.
“My decision to resign is voluntary,” Mugabe wrote in his resignation letter, expressing his “desire to ensure a smooth, peaceful and non-violent transfer of power.”
In a highly symbolic scene shortly after his resignation, a man took down a portrait of Mugabe from a wall inside the building where lawmakers had assembled for the extraordinary session to impeach the defiant president.
Another person replaced it with an image of the ousted vice president. Mnangagwa is a long-time party loyalist who has close ties with the military. Critics describe him as a ruthless hardliner responsible for years of state-sponsored violence.
Senior military commanders, official cars and a crowd of journalists were waiting at Harare’s Manyame airbase aerodrome where Mnangagwa is expected to land, reporters at the scene said.
Mugabe’s resignation was hailed by the international community as a chance to reshape Zimbabwe’s future, with British Prime Minister Theresa May saying it offered “an opportunity to forge a new path free of the oppression” that characterized Mugabe’s rule.
Beijing, which became a major political and economic partner of Harare as it was shunned by the West, said it respected his decision, describing Mugabe as a “good friend of the Chinese people.”
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