The resignation of the Zimbabwean president yesterday ending his 37 years rule, a
week after the army and his former political allies moved against him.
The resignation letter written by the
93-year-old president that was read out by the speaker of the country’s
parliament made no mention of who he
was leaving in charge of the
country. The speaker added that he was working on legal issues to make
sure a new leader was in place by the end of today.
Mugabe’s resignation letter read: “I
Robert Gabriel Mugabe in terms of section 96 of the constitution of
Zimbabwe hereby formally tender my resignation with immediate effect. My
decision to resign is voluntary on my part.
“I have resigned to allow smooth transfer of power. Kindly give the public notice of my decision as soon as possible.”
As at press time, CNN reported that the
vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa who was sacked by Mugabe will be
sworn in as president tomorrow.
The origin of Mugabe’s sudden downfall
lies in rivalry between members of Zimbabwe’s ruling elite over who will
succeed him, rather than popular protests against his rule. Mugabe had
clung on for a week after an army takeover and expulsion from his own
ruling ZANU-PF party, but resigned shortly after parliament began an
impeachment process seen as the only legal way to force him out.
Wild celebrations broke out at a joint
sitting of parliament when Speaker Jacob Mudenda announced Mugabe’s
resignation and suspended the impeachment procedure. People danced and
car horns blared on the streets of Harare at news that the era of Mugabe
who has led Zimbabwe since independence in 1980 was finally over.
Some people held posters of Zimbabwean
army chief General Constantino Chiwenga and Mnangagwa, whose sacking
this month triggered the military takeover that forced Mugabe to resign.
The army seized power after Mugabe sacked
Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the ruling party’s favourite to
succeed him, to smooth a path to the presidency for his wife, Mrs Grace
Mugabe, 52, known to her critics as “Gucci Grace” for her reputed
fondness for luxury shopping. It came after Mnangagwa warned Mugabe to
respect public opinion and step down after claiming there was a plot to
“eliminate” him.
He said he would only return home when
his security was assured and has turned down an invitation to meet
Mugabe yesterday. Mnangagwa, said the country had “spoken with one
voice” and that Mugabe should step down so that Zimbabwe can “move
forward.”
He also claimed that shortly after his
dismissal as Mugabe’s deputy, he was warned by security personnel “who
are friendly to me” that plans “were underfoot to eliminate me once
arrested and taken to a police station. It was in my security interest
to leave the country immediately.”
Mnangagwa, whose whereabouts are unknown
after fleeing the country in fear for his safety, is expected to take
over as president. A former security chief known as The Crocodile, he
was a key lieutenant to Mugabe for decades and stands accused of
participating in repression against Zimbabweans who challenged the
leader.
Mugabe is the only leader Zimbabwe has known since a guerrilla struggle ended white-minority rule in the former Rhodesia. During
his reign, he took the once-rich country to economic ruin and kept his
grip on power through repression of opponents, although he styled
himself as the Grand Man of African politics and kept the admiration of
many people across Africa.
But Mugabe refused to resign, prompting the impeachment procedure which would have been the only legal was to force him out.
Prior to the current crisis, there has
been reports that Mnangagwa was plotting to succeed Mugabe, with army
backing, at the helm of a broad coalition. The plot posited an interim
unity government with international blessing to allow for Zimbabwe’s
re-engagement with the world after decades of isolation from global
lenders and donors.
Mugabe led Zimbabwe’s liberation war and
is hailed as one of post-colonial Africa’s founding fathers and a
staunch supporter of the drive to free neighboring South Africa from
apartheid in 1994.
But many say he has damaged Zimbabwe’s
economy, democracy and judiciary by staying in power for too long and
has used violence to crush perceived political opponents.
The country faces a foreign exchange
payments crisis and roaring inflation. Since the crisis began, Mugabe
has been mainly confined to his “Blue Roof” mansion in the capital where
Grace is also believed to be.
…His political timeline
1924: Born
1964: Imprisoned by Rhodesian government
1980: Mugabe named prime minister after independence elections
1982: Military action begins in Matabeleland against perceived uprising; government is accused of killing thousands of civilians
1987: Mugabe changes constitution and becomes president
1994: Mugabe receives honorary British knighthood
1996: Marries Grace Marufu
2000: Loses referendum, land seizures of white-owned farms begin; Western donors cut off aid
2005: United States calls Zimbabwe an “outpost of tyranny”
2008: Comes second in first round of
elections to main opposition leader of MDC party, Morgan Tsvangirai who
pulls out of run-off amid nationwide attacks on his supporters;
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II annuls Mugabe’s honorary knighthood
2009: Amid economic collapse, swears in
Mr Tsvangirai as prime minister, who serves in uneasy government of
national unity for four years
2011: Prime Minister Tsvangirayi declares power-sharing a failure amid violence
2013: Mugabe wins seventh term; opposition alleges election fraud.
November
6: Mugabe fires his longtime deputy Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa,
later accusing him of plotting to take power via witchcraft. Mnangagwa
flees the country.
November 13: Army commander Constantino
Chiwenga issues a rare public rebuke, saying the military won’t hesitate
to ‘step in’ to calm political tensions and criticizing the handling of
the once-prosperous southern African nation’s crumbling economy.
November 14: Armored personnel carriers
are seen on the outskirts of the capital, Harare. The military moves in
overnight, taking control of the state-run broadcaster.
November 15: The military announces that
Mugabe is under house arrest and an operation has begun to arrest
‘criminals’ around him who harmed the economy. Unpopular first lady
Grace Mugabe, who many feared would replace Mnangagwa and even succeed
her husband, disappears from view.
November 16: State-run media publish
extraordinary photos of a smiling Mugabe shaking hands with the army
commander at the State House amid negotiations on the president’s exit
as the military tries to avoid accusations of a coup.
November 17: The army, which continues to
refer to Mugabe as president, allows him to make his first public
appearance since house arrest. He appears at a graduation ceremony to
polite applause.
November 18: The bulk of the capital’s
roughly 1.6 million people pour into the streets in an anti-Mugabe
demonstration that even days ago would have brought a police crackdown.
November 19: The ruling party Central
Committee expels Mugabe as party leader and tells him to step aside or
face impeachment. In a speech on national television, he does not
announce his resignation as expected.
November 20: The ruling party’s Central
Committee says it will begin impeachment proceedings. The military says
Mugabe and Mnangagwa have made contact and the fired deputy will return
to Zimbabwe ‘shortly.’
November 21: Mnangagwa calls on Mugabe to
heed the will of Zimbabwe’s people and resign immediately. The ruling
party begins impeachment proceedings, which are halted so Mugabe’s
resignation letter can be read, to cheers.
His famous quotes
“I have died many times. I have actually beaten Jesus Christ because he only died once.”
“Only God who appointed me will remove me.”
“If President Barack Obama wants me to
allow marriage for same-sex couples in my country (Zimbabwe), he must
come here so that I marry him first.”
“Sometimes you look back at girls you spent money on rather than send it to your mum and you realise witchcraft is real”
“I am still the Hitler of the time. This
Hitler has only one objective: justice for his people, sovereignty for
his people, recognition of the independence of his people and their
rights over their resources. If that is Hitler, then let me be Hitler
tenfold. Ten times, that is what we stand for.”
“Dont fight even over girlfriends. The country is full of beautiful women. If you cant get one, come to Mugabe for assistance.”
“Our votes must go together with our
guns. After all, any vote we shall have, shall have been the product of
the gun. The gun which produces the vote should remain its security
officer – its guarantor. The people’s votes and the people’s guns are
always inseparable twins.”
“South Africans will kick down a statue
of a dead white man but won’t even attempt to slap a live one. Yet they
can stone to death a black man simply because he’s a foreigner”
“The only white man you can trust is a dead white man.”
“Mr Bush, Mr. Blair and now Mr Brown’s
sense of human rights precludes our people’s right to their God-given
resources, which in their view must be controlled by their kith and kin.
I am termed dictator because I have rejected this supremacist view and
frustrated the neo-colonialists.”
“We have fought for our land, we have
fought for our sovereignty, small as we are we have won our independence
and we are prepared to shed our blood…. So, Blair keep your England,
and let me keep my Zimbabwe.”
“The Commonwealth is a mere club, but it
has become like an ‘Animal Farm’ where some members are more equal than
others. How can Blair claim to regulate and direct events and still say
all of us are equals?”
“We don’t mind having sanctions banning us from Europe. We are not Europeans.”
“Our economy is a hundred times better,
than the average African economy. Outside South Africa, what country is
[as good as] Zimbabwe? … What is lacking now are goods on the
shelves-that is all.”
“Countries such as the U.S. and Britain
have taken it upon themselves to decide for us in the developing world,
even to interfere in our domestic affairs and to bring about what they
call regime change.”
(Source: THE SUN NG)
Post a Comment