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  • China says it respects Mugabe’s decision to resign

    China says it respects Mugabe’s decision to resign

    China said on Wednesday that it respects Robert Mugabe’s decision to resign as Zimbabwe’s president, a week after the African country’s army and Mugabe’s former political allies moved to end his four decades of rule.

    Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang made the remark during a news conference, adding that China’s policy toward Zimbabwe would not change.

    The 93-year-old Mugabe finally resigned on Tuesday, moments after parliament began an impeachment process, prompting dancing in the streets of the capital, Harare.

    China has close ties with Zimbabwe and traditionally also with Mugabe himself, who is reviled in the West as a despot whose disastrous handling of the economy and willingness to resort to violence to maintain power destroyed one of Africa’s most promising states.

    Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a news conference that China was happy to see Zimbabwe peacefully and appropriately resolve the issue via talks, and that its policy toward the country would not change.

    Read: Mugabe resigns as President of Zimbabwe

    “China respects Mr Mugabe’s decision to resign. He remains a good friend of the Chinese people,” Lu said, adding that Mugabe had made “historic contribution to Zimbabwe’s independence and liberation”.

    Zimbabwe’s army seized power after Mugabe sacked his former vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was a favorite to succeed him.

    Mugabe’s move was an apparent bid to smooth a path to the presidency for his wife Grace, 52, known to her critics as “Gucci Grace” for her reputed fondness for luxury shopping.

    Mnangagwa is expected to be sworn in within days and serve the remainder of Mugabe’s term until the next election, which must be held by September 2018.

    Asked about a U.S. call for free elections in Zimbabwe, Lu said China believed it could handle its own affairs and China hoped other countries would not interfere.

    China and Zimbabwe have a close diplomatic and economic relationship, and China had stood with Mugabe’s government in the face of Western economic sanctions, investing in auto, diamond, tobacco and power-station projects.

    In August, Zimbabwe said a Chinese company planned to invest up to two billion dollars to revive operations at Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company, which ceased production in 2008 at the height of an economic meltdown.
    That year, China vetoed a proposed Western-backed UN resolution that would have imposed an arms embargo on Zimbabwe and financial and travel restrictions on Mugabe and 13 other officials, saying it would “complicate”, rather than ease, conflict.

    Read Also: China launches commercial remote sensing satellites

  • Zimbabwe: What next after Mugabe?

    Zimbabwe: What next after Mugabe?

    The vacuum created by yesterday’s exit of Robert Mugabe as Zimbabwe’s president will be filled today. Group Political Editor Emmanuel Oladesu writes on the implications of the development and the task before his successor.

    YESTERDAY was a turning point in the history of Zimbabwe. Its long-standing dictator, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, was forced to resign. The nonagenarian despot surrendered with great reluctance. If he had the chance, he would have rejected the last and only option and insisted on a thoughtless and illegitimate tenure elongation. But, the old man could not dare its costly implications. He started well as a leader; a nationalist with an enviable record of struggle against colonisalism. But, being power drunk, he ended on a sore note as a spent force.

    There was no escape route for the leader who now has to endure the shame of rejection for it. Impeachment was dangling on his head. Gone with the winds was his succession plan to hand over to his wife, Grace. A farewell ceremony was not even contemplated 37 years after. Mugabe was deserted. Although he attempted a heroic resistance, it was futile. Mugabe told his psychological tormentors that he looked forward to presiding over the party congress next month. He was actually day-dreaming. The handwritings were bold on the wall. He chose to ignore it. Now, he bears the consequence of pomposity, high-handedness, impunity, corruption of power and dictatorship.

    The lesson is instructive. Leaders should always aspire to become statesmen. They should learn to leave the stage when the ovation is loud. They should thread the Mandela path of honour and vacate the stage for the younger ones to continue the work of development and the unfinished struggle for a better society. They should know that, in the final analysis, power is transient and no condition is permanent.

    As he leaves the seat of government, Mugabe may not proceed on a blissful retirement. The ghost of his tragic acts and misdeeds may continue to hunt him. The emotional wrenching may be underscored by the lack of opportunity to repent and correct past mistakes. Zimbabwe will definitely be hot for him. In memory of the horror of 37 years, the environment may not be safe. Therefore, his exile in South Africa is a relief to his anxious family and associates. His contributions to national development may have also ended. Successive leaders may not consult him for advice or believe that he has any good thing to offer outside power.

    After settling down in exile, Mugabe has a big opportunity to reflect on his tenure. He had served creditably in the past before he derailed. Sources said he may be insulated from an immediate probe. The former leader should apologise for his reign of horror and ask successors to learn from his fall from grace to shame.

    Many observers have pointed out that Mugabe was lucky that he was not killed by his collaborators-turned accusers and coup plotters. His departure meant that Zimbabwe has overcome a major hurdle. The obstacle to legitimate democratic succession is out of the way. But, other challenges still stare the country in the face.

    The former president left behind a country in disarray; utterly disunited and economically hopeless. Zimbabwe is on its knees. Inflation is killing the country. Its currency has paled into a worthless measure and store of value. Its key exports are on the decline. Industries are not thriving. Mass employment is a time bomb. Its foreign reserve is at a low ebb. Its pride; a sound educational system; was being threatened. Many critical sectors are ailing. In the international community, the country is isolated. There is no flow of investment, owing to Mugabe’s hostility against major world powers. The country is battling with foreign sanctions. Its tourism potentials are gone.

    Also, institutions of democracy have been weakened. Human rights abuse by government has turned the country into a Banana Republic. Periodic elections did not count. When Mugabe was voted out, he rejected the outcome of a credible poll and turned the heat on the winner, blocking the prospect of power shift to the opposition, based on popular choice. The role of opposition in democracy was lost. Mugabe ruled as if Zimbabwe had become a one-party state.

    His successor, former security chief and sacked Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, will inherit the burden. He should brace for the tasks of reconciliation, reconstruction and rehabilitation. He should pacify the aggrieved, foster national harmony and rebuild national confidence.

    Mnangagwa has the backing of the mutineers, but his official acts when he assumes the reins must command the respect and confidence of the liberated people. The first task for the interim leadership is to unite the divided country and nurture a democratic culture that has been alien to it for decades. The caretaker government must be a Government of National Unity comprising representatives of critical stakeholders, including the ruling and opposition parties, civil society groups, the Armed Forces, labour and, as it has been suggested by Zimbabweans, the religious groups.

    The interim government should provide a level playing ground for political parties during the next parliamentary and presidential elections. The umpire should be impartial, patriotic and committed to the cause of one Zimbabwe in an atmosphere of free and fair election.

    Also, Zimbabwe, under the interim regime, should halt past trends of hostility and make friends with the outside world. Sovereignty should not be compromised. But, in a world of inter-dependence, no country can exist and survive independently of other countries.

    The impoverished country will not forget Mugabe in a hurry. The memory of horror will linger. Mugabe had foreclosed retirement at 93. He said he wanted to hit a century in power. The country had become his fortress. He brooked no opposition. He was the president. He was the state. As he became a dictator, his previous enviable record was obliterated from the collective memory of the people he oppressed.

    Mugabe, the Marxist, buried himself in the quest for materialism. He converted the corridor of power into an avenue for private accumulation.  The founder of the socialist-nationalist movement, ‘ZANU,’ which drove the British out of the homeland, became a man of immense wealth at the expense of his beleaguered nation. The former prime minister, and later, president, who managed to unite the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) and the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) became a divisive figure in national politics at the twilight of life.

    Mugabe built on the mistake of 2008. That year, he lost the presidential election to his rival, Morgan Tsvangirai. But, he refused to bow out with dignity. He wielded the power of incumbency, which crashed last week. He demanded a recount of the votes, waging war against opposition figures, maiming and killing perceived political foes. Reason prevailed temporarily when Mugabe and Tsvangirai reached an agreement on power sharing. But, the terms were later violated by the former president who announced his bid for the 2013. He was declared as winner of the poll by the electoral commission. Mugabe’s plan was to become the life president or hand over to Mrs. Grace Mugabe, a move that did not go down well with the ruling party.

    But, can the new leadership tackle the challenge of healing the wounds of the nation? Will Zimbabwe chart a new way forward or jump from frying pan to fire? Will a legitimate government succeed the interim government? Will another dictator emerge in post-Mugabe era? Will the people take their destiny in their hands? What awaits Zimbabwe in the future?

    Mnangagwa in, Mugabe out after 37 years

    •Excitement in Harare

    Robert Mugabe resigned as Zimbabwe’s President yesterday, a week after the army and his former political allies moved against him, ending 37 his years of rule.

    Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former vice president, who was sacked by Mugabe will be sworn in tomorrow.

    The 75-year-old was removed from office and exiled 13 days after Mr. Mugabe accused him of disloyalty and insubordination.

    Mr. Mugabe had reportedly taken the action to pave way for his wife, Grace, to emerge as the new leader of ruling Zanu-PF ahead of the country’s general election next year.

    Mr. Mnangagwa is popular amongst the powerful War Veterans group and the Zimbabwean military chiefs.

    Mugabe, the 93-year-old had clung on for a week after an army takeover and expulsion from his own ruling ZANU-PF party.

    He 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 led Zimbabwe since independence in 1980 – was finally over.

    Some people held posters of Zimbabwean Army Chief, Gen. Constantino Chiwenga and former Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose sack this month triggered the military takeover that forced Mugabe to resign.

    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.

    He styled himself as the ‘’Grand Man of African politics’’ and kept the admiration of many people across Africa.

    The army seized power after Mugabe sacked Mnangagwa, ZANU-PF’s favourite to succeed him, to smooth a path to the presidency for his wife Grace, 52, known to her critics as “Gucci Grace” for her reputed fondness for luxury shopping.

    But Mugabe refused to resign; prompting the impeachment procedure which would have been the only legal was to force him out.

    Mnangagwa, whose where about is 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, was a key lieutenant to Mugabe for decades and was accused of participating in repression against Zimbabweans, that  challenged the leader.

    Reuters reported in September 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 neighbouring 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.

    Since the crisis began, Mugabe has been mainly confined to his “Blue Roof” mansion in the capital where Grace is also believed to be.

    Members of Parliament (MPs) who were debating President Robert Mugabe’s impeachment yesterday reacted to his sudden resignation.

    “The country is relieved. Here is a man who has done so much for the country but this opportunity should give him the chance to rest,” said ZANU-PF spokesperson, Simon Khaya Moyo.

    “Mugabe’s resignation should be a lesson for Africa and the West that we are capable of holding our leaders to account and follow democratic norms. It’s also a lesson that despotic tendencies can only be tolerated for sometimes but people will take their power back,” said Webster Shamu.

    “It was inevitable. But unfortunately, it took time for Robert Mugabe to appreciate that his time was gone he did not have to go through this humiliation but at the end of the day, I’m elated for the people of Zimbabwe who have had to bear with a dictator for 37 years we can now beginning a new chapter to go forward,” said Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Chief Whip Innocent Gonese.

    “Absolutely delighted the menace is gone now the country has a chance for a clean start,” – said the leader of Zimbabwe’s veterans of the war of liberation from Britain, Chris Mutsvangwa, seen as the architect of the massive demonstrations against Mugabe’s rule at the weekend.

    “This is a big moment for the country. It is a new beginning and going forward we call for unity so that we can rebuild this country,” said MDC Vice President, Nelson Chamisa.

    Yesterday’s development capped an astonishing eight-day crisis that started when the military took over last week in order to block the rise to power of Mugabe’s wife and her faction within the ruling ZANU-PF party, and then developed into a popular revolt against the ageing autocrat.

    “We are elated! It’s time for new blood. I’m 36 and I’ve been waiting for this all my life, I’ve only known one leader,” said William Makombore, who works in finance.

    Munyaradzi Chisango, celebrating nearby, said: “I’m 35 and I have children. I was born under Mugabe, and they were born under him. This is going to put Zimbabwe back on the map.”

    Thousands of Zimbabweans had turned up outside parliament to urge on MPs, chanting, dancing and waving placards in Africa Unity Square.

    Cars blasted their horns in the capital Harare as thousands jubilantly poured onto the streets to celebrate the termination of his presidency.

    Some carried placards with photographs Army Chief Chiwenga and the ousted vice president as they amassed in the city centre.

    Mildred Tadiwa was out on the streets with her five-month-old daughter Ivana Chizhanje yesterday.

    “I am so excited,” she said. “My baby turns five months today and the president has resigned. I wanted to go out and celebrate with everyone but she is asleep. So, I’ve just come out to walk around and see for myself.

    “I’m excited for myself, my baby, the whole nation. My daughter will grow up in a better Zimbabwe.”

  • Mugabe and Bob Marley’s prophesy 

    Mugabe and Bob Marley’s prophesy 

    As distraught Zimbabweans suffered the misfortune of viewing the political funeral of Robert Mugabe in slow motion in Harare in the past few days, older compatriots must have been haunted by the ghost of his iconic and far more illustrious namesake – Bob (Robert) Marley.

    It was in the same Harare (then Salisbury) that the Raggae immortal  stood in 1980 as a star guest at Mugabe’s inauguration as first leader of independent Zimbabwe and, amid the stirring percussion of guitar, horn and cymbal, rendered a freshly composed number with eponymous title to a deliriously ecstatic crowd and extravagantly expectant nation.

    “Every man has got his right to decide own destiny,” he begins “And in his judgement, there’s no partiality…”

    Alas, thirty-seven years later, Marley would have wept at the sorry sight Zimbabwe had become and the epic betrayal of the promise of 1980.

    Moments after his party ZANU-PF formally disowned him on Sunday and served 24-hour impeachment notice having declared his psychedelic wife persona non grata, Mugabe appeared in a televised national broadcast flanked by the cartel of avenging generals.

    Looking spent but defiant, the old fox from Kutama continued to cling tenaciously onto the presidential stool, even as political vultures circled overhead.

    Meanwhile, the Harare streets were throbbing with placard-bearing citizens marching in solidarity with the military intervention of last Wednesday.

    But in what must have filled the uniformed enforcers surrounding him with amusement, Mugabe ended his rambling speech by taking liberty to announce official itinerary stretching to next month. The dinosaur was seeking to preserve the sitting order in a sunk Titanic.

    With that, it became evident that Mugabe, like all deluded tyrants in history, had completely lost touch with reality. He seemed incapable of realizing that the game was up; that his captors were now directly scripting the power-play pre-determined to completely strip him bare, beginning with his defenestration at ZANU-PF’s emergency caucus.

    Overall, the Mugabe tragedy is yet another reminder of the often limited shelf-life of political heroism in Africa and should renew the old debate about the propriety or otherwise of allowing the blood-tainted hands that liberate to also rule. (The reason why Charles Taylor, who led a bloody rebellion in Liberia against despotic Samuel Doe in the 80s, ended up in 2006 worse than the former Sergeant.)

    We hear the message subliminally in another line in that same song by Marley: “Soon we’ll find out who is real revolutionary. I don’t want my people to be tricked by mercenary…”

    Obviously, Mugabe stayed too long in power for his own tragic flaws not to be exposed. Perhaps, on account of his lead role in an atrocious guerrilla war, he was psychologically ill-equipped to administer a post-war nation requiring true reconciliation and exemplary statesmanship.

    In retrospect, what could be termed the only great moments in Zimbabwe were in the first decade of independence. It witnessed the quantum leap in literacy ratio. Its status as the food basket of the Southern African sub-region was consolidated, making it one of the most prosperous countries with enviable GDP.

    Instructively, these great advances happened when the governance template was relatively inclusive.

    Soon, Mugabe forgot another profound line in Marley’s evocative Zimbabwe: “Divide and rule will only tear us apart…”

    Only that would explain the maniacal venom he went about the land reforms, invariably perpetrating on industrial scale the racism he and fellow guerrilla fighters had accused Ian Smith of decades earlier.

    After Smith’s unilateral declaration of the independence of Rhodesia (as Zimbabwe was originally called) in 1965, his white minority clan sought to perpetuate the control of more than 70 percent of Zimbabwe’ land in the hands of a white caste accounting for less than one percent of the population.

    While such arrangement was obviously unsustainable and provocative, Mugabe’s abrasive handling of the historically emotive issue worsened things. The country would probably have been better for it had he imbibed even a quarter of Nelson Mandela’s political dexterity and conciliatory spirit that helped minimize racial tension and eruption in the early years of post-Apartheid South Africa.

    Even during the relatively “stable” 80s, he nevertheless had zero tolerance for dissent. Sustained brutal crackdown on political opposition that decade left thousands dead, aided and abetted by compromised leadership of the armed forces.

    So, at the approach of the new millennium in 2000, it was clear the Zimbabwean strongman had run out of fresh ideas to govern. As the asphyxiating effects of economic blockade imposed by western countries kicked in, Mugabe, like the trickster Marley muses about, easily resorted to the bogey of “land reforms” to rally the dominant black population behind him and his party.

    But the big tragedy was that the black provincials who inherited the big farms from the white lords soon discover they lacked the expertise to manage such enterprise, thus doubling Zimbabwe’s economic woes.

    Of course, Gucci Grace or disGrace (as Mugabe’s erstwhile-secretary-turned-wife is contemptuously called) was the temptress. She had sneaked into power through the back door first as Mugabe’s mistress as his much beloved first wife lay terminally ill.

    In the second half of Mugabe’s reign, she acted Shakespeare’s darkly calculating Lady Macbeth and the vain Imelda Marco of 20th century the Philippines rolled into one.

    It is a reflection of her cantankerous nature that diplomatic immunity had to be invoked twice for her to escape trial for criminal charges on foreign soil, the latest being alleged physical assault on her son’s girlfriend in a South African hotel suite.

    At home, it is a measure of the life of debauchery she seduced old Mugabe into that, just last month, she also got embroiled in a litigation involving a $1.3m wedding anniversary ring. The Lebanese she paid the fortune to supply a 100-carat diamond band, as the story goes, attempted to swindle her by supplying a counterfeit worth not more than $30,000. What was meant to be a secret deal eventually exploded in court with the First Lady unashamed to own up to coveting such prohibitive vanity at a time most Zimbabweans are unsure of their next meal.

    In 2014, she considered then lady Vice President a threat. She bad-mouthed her publicly. Soon, her husband granted her desire by booting Mujuri out of office. When Mugabe later sacked Mnangagwa as Vice President a fortnight ago, only a few were left in doubt that the last hurdle had been cleared on Grace’s path to succeeding her nonagenarian hubby as president.

    But hitherto power-hungry Grace has not been sighted since the armoured tanks cordoned off the presidential palace last week.

    Bob Marley must be turning in revulsion in his Kingston grave this moment.

    Okorocha’s commercial monumentalism

     

    The most recognizable symptoms of clinical delusion is usually an obsession with inanities. Bizarre developments in Imo lately should then be enough to so classify Rochas Okorocha. It explains why a man owing workers salary arrears and whose cheques to pensioners bounced and bounced, did not consider it shameful to instead splurge hundreds of millions of naira on the erection of bogus statues.

    What now complicates things is the apparent misreading of the dialectics of history by the Imo governor by the reasons cited for his decision and crass exhibition of a lack of sophistication in seeking to pass off a purely personal commercial transaction at the expense of Imo taxpayers as something done to profit the public.

    Outgoing Liberian president, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is the latest foreign leader to have a statue unveiled in her honour in Owerri after a lavish state reception capped with bestowal of a local chieftaincy. Before her was Jacob Zuma, the sleaze-prone president of South Africa.

    Worse still, Okorocha has threatened to unveil more of such gaudy statues in the times ahead.

    Incumbent Ghanaian president Nana Akufo-Addo’s statue is rumoured to be next to be unveiled in Owerri. Presumably, Okorocha is also hoping to spread his business tentacles there. But in terms of historical impact and monumentality, one would have thought Jerry Rawlings towers above the incumbent.

    His acute delusion shows in the fallacious argument that his monuments are to perpetuate the memories of those he considers heroes and heroines..

    All told, it is, however, debatable if Okorocha’s own yardstick can truly stand the rigor of any ethical test administered by those who subscribe to values higher than easy cash and idol-worshipping.

    Without taking anything away from the healing and reconciliatory spirit radiated by Madam Sirleaf as post-civil war leader of Liberia, let it however be recognized that true immortality – the durable type – lies in the immaterial.

    History reminds us that material things are perishable. Only fondness rooted in public memory is eternal. So, in case Okorocha doesn’t know, Sirleaf’s best assurance of immortalization is ultimately how much of her good deeds would get winnowed into folklore to be told from generation to generation. Not by the golden cenotaph in Owerri contracted out presumably at inflated costs.

    Then, the real ethical incongruity. On both occasions, no attempt was made officially to conceal that the visitations by Zuma and Sirleaf had direct linkage with a school foundation run by Okorocha as a private business.

    In the case of the former, the Imo emperor and his courtiers were so shameless enough to even admit publicly that the foundation hopes to move into the door of opportunities already opened by Zuma’s visit. Using public funds to make way for your private business is, in itself, corruption.

    Alas, such sleazy hands are the very ones now seeking to erect in Owerri monuments to virtuous leadership and inspire generations yet unborn.

    As someone recently put it, little wonder then that Imo, once glorious, is now truly calcifying from state to statue..

  • Mugabe and the folly of power

    Cyberspace jives, real or apocryphal, adduced to Robert Mugabe, exiting Zimbabwe president, rank among the sharpest, most pungent and most brilliant. But see the grand folly of the 93-year old, in the violent tempest of power?

    He not only endures a disgraceful overthrow — just as well, after 37 years of untrammelled power — he also risks becoming a butt of jokes, as the latest victim of, in BBC’s words, “a coup in slow motion”, the very phrase BBC had applied to the Mugabe oddity of 2008, when he dragged out Morgan Tsvangirai’s victory and handed him defeat.

    Tsvangirai’s opposition coalition, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had emerged victorious in parliamentary polls, sacking long-term legislative lords of the manor, Mugabe’s ZANU-PF.  But old fox Mugabe conjured the winning tricks, despite losing the first round of presidential elections.  By the time the so-called run-off came, a scared Tsvangirai had run off the scene!  You needed to stay alive to be president!  Welcome, Mugabe’s gun-boat democracy!

    But that was the sweet side of unconscionable power.  The flip side could be bitter as the other is sweet.  So, imagine Mugabe slowly but painfully drifting out of power, as if in some bad dream, with enforcers that used to cheer him on now jeering him off.  Geez!

    It never gets more surreal.  The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF), under army chief Constantino Chiwenga, are leading the charge.  Buzz off Pa Mugabe, or be sacked.

    Then, the regional branches of the ruling ZANU-PF, hitherto Mugabe’s power rod.  From news reports, eight of the ten regions have asked Mugabe to resign as president and his wife, Grace, nevertheless seen as graceless by most, be expelled from ZANU-PF.

    More ominously, these regional branches are asking that Emmerson Mnangagwa, the former Vice President sacked by Mugabe to make room for his wife, be reinstated to the party’s core.  That effectively counters the Mugabe coup for wifey Grace, against his party’s structure.  Chiwenga and the military are, of course, pulling the strings, and a once-discarded VeePee could well be the ultimate Mugabe successor and nemesis!

    Now, most humiliating: the old war veterans, who must rise or fall with Mugabe, are taking a counter course.  On Saturday Movember 18, they trooped to the streets, with opposition elements, bawling about a “second independence”!

    And horrors of horrors!  The crowd — held back by the military from morphing into an outright mob, by sternly warning against “incitements and hate speeches” — booed the Mugabe motorcade, as it left the Blue House, the presidential quarters, in tony Harare.  Is this the same Mugabe, eternal hero of the revolution and nemesis of white farmers, to thunderous cheers from the African marginalized and the dispossessed?

    Mugabe’s tragic end should be a prime lesson to other African power antiques: Paul Biya of Cameroon, Yuweri Museveni of Uganda, and even Rwanda’s high riding president, Paul Kagame, who pretty much think without them the state doesn’t have life.  Pure fiction!

    Meanwhile, Hardball invites them to the latest cartoon video in town: Mugabe won’t leave power.  But see how power painfully ebbs out of him!  Tragic.

     

     

  • Deadline for Mugabe to resign or face impeachment approaches

    Deadline for Mugabe to resign or face impeachment approaches

    After defying calls to step down, Zimbabwe’s leader, Robert Mugabe, now faces a noon deadline on Monday to resign or be impeached.

    In a live televised address to the nation on Sunday night, Mugabe, who has been under house arrest since a military coup last week expected to resign but instead promised to lead a conference of the ruling Zanu-PF party in December.

    With the generals responsible seated next to him, he gave a lengthy speech acknowledging some problems with the economy and the Zanu-PF party – from which he was ousted earlier in the day – but making no mention of leaving office.

    Shocked Zimbabweans have taken to Twitter to express outrage, and on Monday the powerful war veterans’ association held a news conference calling for mass protests on Wednesday.

    “I hope that 37 years into his rule, he doesn’t want another 37 seconds of rule,’’ said war veterans’ leader Chris Mutsvangwa.

    On Sunday, Mugabe, 93, the president of almost four decades, was sacked as ZANU- PF party leader and replaced by one-time comrade now arch-rival Emmerson Mnangagwa.

    The party gave him an ultimatum of Monday midday (1000 GMT) to resign or face impeachment proceedings in parliament.

    “Arrogant Mugabe disregards Zanu-PF,” screamed Monday’s headline in local newspaper The Daily News.

    On Saturday, in an unprecedented outpouring, tens of thousands of Zimbabweans had taken to the streets to express support for the military and call on Mugabe to leave power immediately.

    Read Also: Zimbabwe: Mugabe, family ‘safe, sound’ – Military

  • Mugabe adamant

    Mugabe adamant

    Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is still hanging on to power despite being sacked by his party as leader, losing the support of the military and with a public rally against him.

    He was expected to announce his resignation but in a live TV address, on Zimbabwe Broadcasting (ZBC0, he said the country needed to move forward and resolve the differences “between the generations”.

    He said he would preside over the party’s congress in December where they will “collectively start process that returns our nation to normalcy”.

    “We cannot be guided by bitterness or vengeful both of which would not make any better party members or any better Zimbabweans”, he added.

    The address came after talks with the head of the armed forces, General Constantino Chiwenga who had placed him and his wife Grace under house arrest.

    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.

    Mugabe said in the address on state television that he acknowledged criticism against him from ZANU-PF, the military and the public, but did not comment on the possibility of standing down.

    Earlier yesterday, Zanu-PF, held a meeting of its central committee where they removed him as the head of the party and warned that he must resign or face impeachment.

    Mr Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since the end of white-minority rule in 1980, was to be in talks with the head of the armed forces, General Constantino Chiwenga, to negotiate the terms of his resignation.

    It is unclear what deal he has agreed and whether this will include protection from prosecution for him or his wife, Grace.

    The takeover was sparked by the denouncement of Emmerson Mnangagwa, the former vice-president and Mr Mugabe’s former protegee, earlier this month.

    The Mugabes said Mr Mnangagwa, who fled to South Africa but has since returned had shown “traits of disloyalty, disrepect, deceitfulness and unreliability” but some have said it was a ploy to make way for Grace to succeed her husband as president.

    “He has been expelled,” one of the delegates said. “Mnangagwa is our new leader.”

    Mugabe’s wife Grace, who had harbored ambitions of succeeding Mugabe, was also expelled from the party.

    Speaking before the meeting, war veterans’ leader Chris Mutsvangwa said the 93-year-old Mugabe 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.

    Mutsvangwa followed up with threat to call for street protests if Mugabe refused to go, telling reporters: “We will bring back the crowds and they will do their business.”

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

    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 expected overthrow.

    His stunning downfall in just four days 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 quit.

  • Mugabe and hypocrisy of the West

    Mugabe and hypocrisy of the West

    SIR: You don’t need to consult a diviner to know that Robert Mugabe, former guerrilla fighter turned prime minister, and then president of Zimbabwe is a bungler and bunglers bungle everything that is good. Look to the economy which is in despondency and you will see a man who has failed at everything.

    Many people see him as an African hero; I do not. Isn’t this the same Mugabe who couldn’t work with Joshua Nkomo only because Nkomo’s ethnic background (Ndebele tribe) was enough grounds for suspicion from the get-go? And yet same leader could not work with Emmerson Mnangagwa his Vice President both of whom are from Zimbabwe’s majority Shona ethnic group.

    * I pray Zimbabwe’s doesn’t turn to another South Sudan experience. * * After a while, we may begin to see a power tussle thanks to Mugabe’s style of rule for close to four decades. Aren’t we all privy to the ego-driven mentality of African leaders? Besides, from antecedents, don’t the oppressed ultimately become an oppressor?

    * I honestly think it’s better to let Mugabe go, his presence as ruler has done more harm than good to Zimbabwe. Coercive rule in our day is no more in vogue.

    How come the West began to moralize on the constitutionality of not toppling Mugabe? How surprising! Isn’t it possible that the West encouraged the coup from behind the scenes?

    Cases abound of the complicity of western countries in the affairs of many countries. Remember the parliamentary elections in Algeria on December 26, 1991. The first multi-party elections since independence, which were cancelled by a military coup? The military expressed reservations that the Islamic Salvation Front was certain to win majority of seats and form an Islamic state. Didn’t the West condemn the coup for its sake just to show that they care? But they gloated when the military had its way, their original design.

    Did Mohammed Morsi not win a democratic elections in Egypt but was toppled by Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi who suspended the constitution and is today the president of Egypt? Did the West bat an eyelid? Were western leaders comfortable with Mohammed Morsi?

    Don’t take the West seriously on Robert Mugabe for he is their bête noire. I wish African leaders can solve African problems but when will that time come?, , , ,

     

    • Simon Abah,

    Abuja.

  • Exit Mugabe

    With his ouster from the presidency of Zimbabwe last week, old man Robert Mugabe’s dream of dynastic reign in a republican setting came to a rude closure. His iron grip on power was broken and his hope of posthumous rule through forced spousal succession – what his former allies in the war veterans association dubbed “coup by marriage certificate” – was upended.

    The 93-year-old had the record of being the world’s oldest president, and that isn’t counting his being the most enduring ruler in Africa’s peculiar club of power gnomes, having held fort for 37 years. His sole peer in the cohort is Angola’s Eduardo dos Santos, who stood down from office a few months back. Mugabe had been the only leader his country ever had since independence from Britain.

    The nonagenarian actually planned to hold out for much longer. He was already served up by Zimbabwe’s ruling party as its candidate in the general election due next year. The ticket positioned him as the world’s oldest contender on the hustings – and that, without formidable challenge from the country’s splintered opposition. And with the inexorable swamp-in of degenerative elements of mortality, Mugabe schemed to install his overly ambitious but upstarting wife, Grace, as successor. He progressively sidelined veterans of the anti-colonial struggle like him, whose credentials resonated with the power elite, so to entrench his wife who had nix exposure to that historical cause. At the last count, he sacked his long-time ally and next ranking member of the ruling party, Emmerson Mnangagwa, as deputy president at the open bidding of Grace. His swing was widely construed as a ploy to install the wife in Mnangagwa’s office and, thus, position her as heir to the presidency.

    Curtains fell on the Mugabe universe last week when soldiers rolled out their tanks to seize the country’s nerve centres. The same military had over the years been the spine of his political clout and sustained affront on basic democracy norms, obviously owing to a shared history of resistance to Britain’s colonial hegemony that was cast off in 1980. Mugabe at Independence assumed republican leadership of his country, but subsequently slipped into despotic trenches where he hoped to cement a dynastic reign over the country. What he seemed not to have reckoned on is that for every representative who veers off into the narrow and self-serving corridor of despotism, there always comes a breaking point where co-travellers get to reappraise the journey. And when that reappraisal shows the despot up as too far gone on his solo trip, he gets taken off track, unless he has formidable structures of his own to overawe the original base.

    Mugabe crossed that breaking point last week, and he apparently didn’t have a counter-structure when his erstwhile power base – the military – moved to cut him out. His final point of departure with the military, as it seemed, was his emasculation of liberation struggle veterans within the ruling party, which peaked with the removal penultimate week of 75-year-old Mnangagwa as deputy president, just so to empower a factional band of youths loyal to 52-year-old Grace. He had in 2015 sacked another deputy president, Joyce Mujuru, without incurring repercussions; but there is always a red line not to be crossed.

    The putsch in Zimbabwe left unique imprints on global benchmarks for the practice of democracy and tolerance level for its interruption by sleigh of arms. For instance, coups are by their very nature ambush crafts. Zimbabwe’s is the first in common knowledge of which advance notice was openly served before it was carried out. Less than 48 hours before the act, the country’s military chief announced to a press conference in Harare that his squad was poised to strike if the purge of Independence veterans within the ruling party continued. But the jackboots couldn’t wait for that warning to register before they butted in.

    Of course, the Zimbabwean military has insisted its intervention was a cleansing act of sorts, not a coup, and it has managed to conduct the country’s affairs since then as a dicey balancing act. Whereas it effectively severed Mugabe’s hold on power and kept him under house arrest while negotiating his future with him, the old man was retained in nominal status of leadership, such that he made a public appearance on Friday to open the graduation ceremony at Zimbabwe’s Open University in Harare where he is chancellor. The word as at the weekend was, he doubled down on remaining president until the upcoming elections.

    But Zimbabweans, almost without exception, were euphoric over the military intervening to terminate Mugabe’s autocracy that has seen their country from a great promise of prosperity at Independence to the basket case it is now. Perhaps in effect, the international community seemed thrown out of step on the standard tack of rejecting putsches against constitutional governance for whatever reason offhand. And that is really unhelpful for securing the culture of democracy against military adventurers in restive climes like we have in Africa.

    In response to the Zimbabwe putsch, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari glibly called for preservation of the constitutional order, which the military action seemed anything but. Not that he was alone. The leader of Zimbabwe’s neighbour and regional powerhouse, South African President Jacob Zuma, initially rejected “unconstitutional changes” to the government in Harare offhand; but he dialed back soon after to canvass amicable resolution of the impasse, while urging the Zimbabwe defence forces to “ensure…maintenance of peace.” He has since headed up regional mediation efforts to ease Mugabe out. Also, the African Union (AU), which in the past summarily kicked out countries like Mali and Mauritania because of military coups, is quavering for now on declaring Zimbabwe’s as a coup and acting accordingly.

    Further afield, former colonial overlord, Britain, just about cheered the removal of Mugabe, even though by force of arms. United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, in a statement to the House of Commons last week, flayed the old man’s legacy and suggested that a transition offered a “moment of hope” for Zimbabweans. And the United Nations (UN), as at the weekend, was unsure what to make of the Zimbabwe experience. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported Secretary General Antonio Guterres to have described the situation as confusing, saying: “I never like to see the military involved in politics, but I have to recognise it’s a confusing situation. I hope first of all that there is no bloodshed, that this is done peacefully. I hope that (it) will…lead to a political and democratic solution, and that the next elections that are scheduled are free and fair elections for the people of Zimbabwe to choose their own future.”

    The point here is, Mugabe did so much damage to the economy and democratic culture in his country that the method necessitated to get him out now in some way imperils democracy across the African continent. That is the legacy the nonagenarian is bequeathing to posterity.

     

    • Please join me on kayodeidowu.blogspot.be for conversation.
  • Mugabe fired as ruling party leader, wife expelled

    Mugabe fired as ruling party leader, wife expelled

    President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe was fired as leader of the ruling ZANU-PF party on Sunday and replaced by Emmerson Mnangagwa, the deputy he sacked this month, sources at a special ZANU-PF meeting to decide Mugabe’s fate told Reuters.

    He was replaced by Emmerson Mnangagwa, the deputy he sacked this month, sources at a special ZANU-PF meeting to decide Mugabe’s fate told Reuters.

    “He has been expelled,” one of the delegates said. “Mnangagwa is our new leader.”

    Mugabe’s wife Grace, who had harbored ambitions of succeeding Mugabe, was also expelled from the party.

    Speaking before the meeting, war veterans’ leader Chris Mutsvangwa said the 93-year-old Mugabe 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.

    Mutsvangwa followed up with threat to call for street protests if Mugabe refused to go, telling reporters: “We will bring back the crowds and they will do their business.”

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

    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 expected overthrow.

    His stunning downfall in just four days 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 quit.

     Men, women and children ran alongside the armored cars and troops who stepped in this week to oust the man who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980.

    Under house arrest in his lavish ‘Blue Roof’ compound, Mugabe has refused to stand down even as he has watched his support from party, security services and people evaporate in less than three days.

    His nephew, Patrick Zhuwao, told Reuters Mugabe and his wife were “ready to die for what is correct” rather than step down in order to legitimize what he described as a coup.

    On Harare’s streets, few seemed to care about the legal niceties as they heralded a “second liberation” for the former British colony and spoke of their dreams for political and economic change after two decades of deepening repression and hardship.

    “These are tears of joy,” said Frank Mutsindikwa, 34, holding aloft the Zimbabwean flag.

    “I’ve been waiting all my life for this day. Free at last. We are free at last.”

    The huge crowds in Harare have given a quasi-democratic veneer to the army’s intervention, backing its assertion that it is merely effecting a constitutional transfer of power, rather than a plain coup, which would entail a diplomatic backlash.

    Inspite of the euphoria, some Mugabe opponents are uneasy about the prominent role played by the military, and fear Zimbabwe might be swapping one army-backed autocrat with another, rather than allowing the people to choose their next leader.

    “The real danger of the current situation is that having got their new preferred candidate into State House, the military will want to keep him or her there, no matter what the electorate wills,” former education minister David Coltart said.

    The United States, a long-time Mugabe critic, said it was looking forward to a new era in Zimbabwe, while President Ian Khama of neighbouring Botswana said Mugabe had no diplomatic support in the region and should resign at once. (Reuters/NAN)

  • Mugabe, Grace “ready to die for what is correct”,says nephew

    Mugabe, Grace “ready to die for what is correct”,says nephew

    President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and his wife Grace are “ready to die for what is correct” and have no intention of stepping down, his nephew, Patrick Zhuwao, said.

    Speaking to Reuters from a secret location in South Africa, Zhuwao said Mugabe had hardly slept since the military seized power on Wednesday but his health was otherwise “good”.

    The leaders of Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party are set to meet on Sunday to approve the dismissal of President Robert Mugabe, the only leader the southern African nation has known since independence 37 years ago, two party sources have said.

    An extraordinary meeting of the party’s central committee is expected to convene around 10:30 a.m. (0830 GMT) to consider removing the 93-year-old, four days after a military seizure of power ostensibly aimed at “criminals” within his entourage.

    Separately, state television said Mugabe would meet military commanders on Sunday, quoting the Catholic priest who has been mediating in negotiations with the president.

    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.

    ZANU-PF’s central committee is also expected to reinstate Emmerson Mnangagwa as party vice-president, resurrecting the political career of the former security chief, nicknamed The Crocodile, whose sacking this month triggered the military’s intervention.

    Mugabe’s wife, Grace, will be fired as head of the ZANU-PF Women’s League, the sources told Reuters, completing the demise of a 52-year-old former government typist who just a week ago stood in pole position to succeed her husband after Mnangagwa’s dismissal.

    The pair’s stunning 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 aside.

    In scenes reminiscent of the downfall of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, men, women and children ran alongside the armoured cars and troops who stepped in this week to oust the man who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980.

    Under house arrest in his lavish ‘Blue Roof’ compound, Mugabe has refused to stand down even as he has watched his support from party, security services and people evaporate in less than three days.

    On Harare’s streets, few seemed to care about the legal niceties as they heralded a “second liberation” for the former British colony and spoke of their dreams for political and economic change after two decades of deepening repression and hardship.

    “These are tears of joy,” said Frank Mutsindikwa, 34, holding aloft the Zimbabwean flag.

    “I’ve been waiting all my life for this day. Free at last. We are free at last.”

    The crowds in Harare have so far given a quasi-democratic veneer to the army’s intervention, backing its assertion that it is merely effecting a constitutional transfer of power, which would help it avoid the diplomatic backlash and opprobrium that normally follow a coup.

    The U.S., a long-time Mugabe critic, said it was looking forward to a “new era” in Zimbabwe, while President Ian Khama of neighbouring Botswana said Mugabe had no diplomatic support in the region and should resign at once.(Reuters/NAN)