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Tag: Mugabe

Mugabe ‘will be removed as President’ today-sources

•Ousted leader will die for what’s right, says nephew

Robert Mugabe will be removed as Zimbabwe president, two sources from the country’s ruling Zanu-PF party have said.

The party will reportedly hold a special central committee meeting this morning to dismiss the 93-year-old as leader.

The meeting is due to start at 10.30am local time and is also set to see the removal of Mugabe’s wife, Grace, as head of the Zanu-PF Women’s League.

It was gathered Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was ousted by Mugabe earlier this month as Zimbabwe’s vice-president, will be reinstated.

The move comes amid what has been a day of celebrations in the capital Harare.

There had been calls for a “Day of Rage” but tens of thousands poured into the streets yesterday convinced that they were seeing the end of Mugabe’s 37-year rule.

Protesters even began marching towards Mugabe’s residence, live television pictures showed.

In scenes reminiscent of the downfall of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, men, women and children ran alongside the armoured cars and troops that stepped in this week to oust the only leader Zimbabwe has known since independence in 1980.

The 93-year-old Mugabe has been under house arrest in his lavish ‘Blue Roof’ compound in Harare from where he has watched support from his Zanu-PF party, security services and people evaporate in less than three days.

But Mugabe’s nephew, Patrick Zhuwao, told Reuters the elderly leader and his wife were “ready to die for what is correct” and had no intention of stepping down in order to legitimise what he described as a coup.

Speaking 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”.

On Harare’s streets, emotions ran high as Zimbabweans spoke of a second liberation for the former British colony, alongside their dreams of political and economic change after two decades of deepening repression and hardship.

“These are tears of joy,” Frank Mutsindikwa, 34, said, holding aloft the Zimbabwean flag. “I’ve been waiting all my life for this day. Free at last. We are free at last.”

The secretary-general of Zimbabwe’s War Veterans Association, Victor Matemadanda, called on those at an anti-Mugabe rally to march on Mugabe’s residence and live television footage showed hundreds of protesters marching in that direction.

“Let us now go and deliver the message that grandfather Mugabe and his typist-cum-wife should go home,” Matemadanda told the crowd in the Harare township of Highfield.

Zimbabweans abroad were also awaiting the end of Mugabe’s rule. Hundreds living in Britain gathered outside the country’s embassy in central London calling on the leader to step aside.

“I am happy today because Bob Mugabe is about to go. He must go. At least if he goes, we’ll have a change of president after so many years of injustice,” said Florence, a 34-year-old who declined to give her last name.

Political sources and intelligence documents seen by Reuters said Mugabe’s exit is likely to pave the way for an interim unity government led by Mnangagwa, a life-long Mugabe aide and former security chief known as “The Crocodile”.

Stabilising the free-falling economy will be the number one priority, the documents 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.

Meanwhile Catholic priest Fidelis Mukonori, who has been mediating the negotiations, confirmed Mugabe will meet military commanders for talks on Sunday, state broadcaster ZTV said yesterday

November 19, 2017
Not yet Mugabe the wife

Love in Harare facilitates Mugabe’s descent into infamy and his ultimate ouster after 37 years in office and in power

That Robert Mugabe started well as Zimbabwean Prime Minister in 1980 may not be in doubt. Indeed, those familiar with the history of Zimbabwe will tell you about the way he started and the promise that held for his country. But all that has now become history. Mugabe might have started well; but he appears not destined to end well. Indeed, I doubt if history will ever be kind to him, given the way he mismanaged the country, abused his office and the subsequent inglorious manner that his 37-year rule was reportedly terminated by the country’s military on Wednesday. That no single country berated the soldiers for their coup de grace is pointer to the fact that he had long become an irritant and pollutant to the outside world. And that the country has largely remained peaceful in spite of the military take-over is enough pointer that his popularity had waned, even at home. Unfortunately, he did not seem to realise this. He would have saved himself the embarrassment if only he had seen the handwriting on the wall. But how many African dictators in his mould do?

That is the way it is usually for people who don’t know how to quit when the ovation is loudest. African leaders hardly learn from their colleagues who fell. If ever they did, Mugabe would not have ended his political career in such a shameful circumstance. It is sadder still that he had to go because of his intention to make his wife, Grace, succeed him. Here again, Mugabe only tried another version of what some of his colleagues had done. If Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé Eyadéma could succeed his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, as Togolese president when the latter died in 2005, why can’t Grace Mugabe succeed her husband? That was Mugabe’s wish; his befitting parting gift to a wife of 22 years.

But Zimbabweans seemed not prepared to transit from Mugabe the husband to Mugabe the wife. Indeed, that was the last straw that broke Mugabe’s back. He took romance with a woman that is infamous for her luxurious shopping habits, mercurial temper and unpopularity among ordinary Zimbabweans to embarrassing and intolerable heights.

In my part of the world, people would be wondering what the wife could have cooked for Mugabe, or what could have transpired in ‘the other room’ between them for him to insist on her succeeding him. This, for sure, cannot be ordinary love, or ‘ordinary eye’ as my people say. I must confess though that given the pictures of Grace Mugabe that I have seen, she might not strike one as a paragon of beauty; she is not bad either. But at 93, what else could a man who had been president for 37 years be looking for again in a woman, to make him so lose his senses? Perhaps only Grace could answer the question. Perhaps we should ask her husband. But no one should blame Mugabe; it had always been like that for many ‘strong men’ from ages past.

The same way no one should be surprised Mugabe fell the way he did. People destined for such shame will always do something that will take them to that destination. My father would always tell us in his lifetime that if you put someone who is destined to sleep on the floor on a waterbed, he would roll to the bare floor. When you stay too long in the lavatory, you are bound to play host to many maggots.

Mugabe married Grace, now 52, in 1995, the same year his wife died. So, Gucci, as the new wife is known among Zimbabweans, moved from the presidential office where she was a typist (some dignified it by calling her a secretary), to what qualifies for meteoric promotion to Zimbabwe’s ‘First Room’ (otherwise known as ‘the other room here in Nigeria) as the country’s First Lady. Again, in this part of the world, Gucci would have had a lot of explanations to make on the death of Mugabe’s wife. She would have had to sweat and swear that she did not kill the first wife in order to clear the way for her own dream of marrying the president.

By now, people with dirty minds would have been imagining the degree of ‘inappropriate relationships’ that would have transpired between the romantic pair of lovers while the lady was Mugabe’s secretary, right in the president’s office. Well, they may not need to grope in the dark for too long now that the old man is (on his way) out of office and power. It is not unlikely that whistle-blowers would now be coming out to say all they know about their president’s love life. Indeed, those who might have been wondering what a 93-year-old man could be doing in ‘the other room’ may be shocked when the details begin to filter out. Dis thing they call love, e get as e be o (apologies to King Sunny Ade and Onyeka Onwenu). But one thing is clear: Mugabe left no one in doubt that he is in love as he came down from his high horse to demonstrate his devotion to his somewhat taller, slim and light-complexioned love as recently as April, when he planted a kiss on her succulent lips on the occasion of the country’s Independence celebration in Harare, the country’s capital.

What further evidence do we need to know that Zimbabwe is working? And, in fairness to Mugabe, could there have been any reasonable reason why such a woman whom the country must have polished with a fortune not to succeed her husband? Who else could have better understood her husband’s dreams for the country other than such a woman who had the rare privilege of intimacy in all material particular with him, such that even the president was so pleased? But there must be something special that other Zimbabweans have not seen in a typist who had held the president of about 17 million people spell-bound for about 22 years. Surely, one of the things we are learning again is that age is mere figure where love is concerned. If age counts, how could a 39-year-old President of France, Emmanuel Macron, have married a woman 25 years older than himself?

However, irrespective of whatever has been happening to give the impression that Mugabe still has any chance of continuing as President of Zimbabwe after last week’s humiliation, the old man’s time is up, as far as I am concerned. The soldiers who announced his ouster must have known that this is not the time to beat a retreat, no matter who is brokering the truce between them and the embattled president. In Mugabe’s 37 years as president, he has never been this humiliated. So, if he knows what is good for him, he too should quietly pack his bag and baggage and leave the “Blue House” (the president’s official residence). And for the soldiers, it is simply too late to beat a retreat. Having succeeded in humiliating the president this far, it is simply too late to surrender. They must be ready to defend their patriotic action with the last drop of their blood.

I am here referring to the convocation of the University of Zimbabwe that Mugabe attended on Friday morning (when he was supposed to be under house arrest). This should not be seen as evidence that he is still in control. Given the experiences in many other African countries, those who hold this view may be right. But we should also not forget the peculiar African situation where ethnicity plays a major role in the power equations. The Zimbabwean situation has to be delicately managed. I see what is playing out there as a possible paradigm shift in how soldiers handle such delicate situations on the continent. With his political party saying on Friday that it had given Mugabe up till today to relinquish power or get impeached on Tuesday, Mugabe’s removal after 37 years in the saddle would appear a done deal.

Meanwhile, the soldiers are encouraged to continue to pick the rogues in the cabinet, with a view to handing them over to Mugabe’s successor for prosecution. But they should do so with a human face.

All said, for me, the lesson of Mugabe’s fall is not for Robert Mugabe again. As they say, it is too late to cry when the head is (cut) off! The lesson is for the few remaining African dictators who cling to power, or those who might be aspiring to such, that they can never end well.

November 19, 2017
Go, Mugabe

No fait accompli yet in Zimbabwe

Many who think President Robert Mugabe has been ousted can dream in the form of the following folklore in Yoruba that does not yet apply. Robert Gabriel Mugabe, the Zimbabwe strongman is the hubris-smitten tortoise. Tortoise announced he was travelling; but was adamant he wouldn’t return until he was disgraced. Mugabe went on a 37-year trip of power. Like the tortoise, he never returned until the disgrace of November 14. But the man, who was said to be under house arrest, walked out of the so-called captivity and attended a graduation ceremony in a university. He was not even under military spell. It was like a state function, and he was accorded some of the respect of the head of state.

Some may liken him to the Biblical Samson, dazed by luxuriousness (excessive love for a woman), led to easy slaughter by Delilah the Philistine, despite his supernatural might. To please Delilah, Samson, drunk with love and wine, gave away the secret of his power — his locks. Shorn of those, he became just a jelly.

For the love of scheming Grace, a graceless power plotter, Mugabe moved against his staying power, purporting to sack Emmerson Dambuzo Mnangagwa, Vice President, and liberation war hero. With Army Chief, Constantine Chiwenga, Mnangagwa belonged to the inner core that has sustained the Mugabe power mystique, these past 37 years. It has proved a kiss of death and Mugabe is all but history. No, sir. Mugabe is walking back a deal with the army, and he seems to be dictating to the soldiers. If he is not, it seems he has corralled his captors into corner. Nothing is certain.

Still out there, it’s a peculiar mess. Mugabe sapped Zimbabwe with civilian fascism. The best the so-called Mnangagwa-Chiwenga ouster offers is military dictatorship — or at best, the Zimbabwe military purporting to guarantee democracy (just as the Turkey Army guaranteed state secularism), with all the possible abuses that could come with that. Neither can be of cheer.

The Mugabe fascism defoliated an otherwise promising country, from the utter pit of Ian Smith’s Rhodesia. In fact, after surviving the illegal regime of Mr. Smith, the new nation, now renamed Zimbabwe, took itself so seriously it even enacted a strict leadership code that underscored unstinted service and the supremacy of the people. But the nation dreamt too soon, for under Mugabe, everything has wilted.

Yet, after 37 years of criminally personalising the state, even the military seemed defensive of the method used to throw off the Mugabe yoke. Others jeer it is coup d’etat that, with force, shoved off the president. The Zimbabwe military insists it is coup de grace, that nudged him off the throne, to correct the old man’s breach of the constitution, particularly as it affects the succession process. But the devil is in the detail. Mugabe, 93, even if by “a coup in slow motion” (used by BBC to describe Mugabe’s loss-flipped-victory election of 2008), is unwilling to leave his brazen perch of power and impunity.

It is, therefore, a crucial juncture of history and taking a wrong direction, at this crossroads, could be telling for Zimbabwe’s future.

But even with the Mugabe mess, there would appear some severe beauty in the Zimbabwe system, given the rare cohesiveness and synergy between the army under Chiwenga and the ZANU-PF. The military statement claimed they had no problems with Mugabe per se, but only with some “criminals” around him — euphemism for First Lady, Grace Mugabe, seriously plotting, with her Generation 40 (G-40) faction of the ZANU-PF and the vibrant women’s league of the party.

Indeed, as Mrs Mugabe is uncertainly holed up in the Blue House (the president’s official residence), under house arrest, Mugabe has entertained a chain of visitors, mainly the ZANU-PF, the army and at least a negotiating cleric, nudging Mugabe to step down. But the old man countered he was still president; and would serve out his term till 2018.

He even reportedly gave the assurance his wife would not run in 2018; and promised not to arrest and try the army chief, Chiwenga, for treason. But the other party has declared the long-drawn negotiation as a “football match” that would last “not more than 90 minutes”. By Sunday (today) the army said, if the president still did not budge, he would be impeached.

In all of this, blood has not flowed; and Mugabe was even allowed to sit through his so-called last days in power by attending a convocation ceremony at the University of Zimbabwe, though his wife doesn’t enjoy such a luxury. Such order in chaos is rare in Africa; and it perhaps requires some further study, for good or for ill.

Yet, how long can Zimbabwe sustain such ultra-narrow cohesiveness without something giving? Mugabe (and the presidency after him), the army and the ZANU-PF, even as the ruling party, are only agents of the state. They are not the state. For 37 years, this minority has formed a narrow core that virtually made themselves the state and monopolised its goodies, running down their country in that process.

That must stop. But it must do so not in an abrupt manner that could conjure the living tragedy of post-Gaddafi Libya. What the international community must do, aside from relaxing its crippling sanctions against the country, is to nudge ZANU-PF to genuinely open up the political space.

Fortunately, there is already a thriving, if suppressed opposition, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, the fellow who in 2008 drubbed Mugabe in the first round of elections, but ran for dear life from the follow-up. Then, in ZANU-PF itself, there is the G-40 bloc, which the ultra-ambitious Grace Mugabe has built as a counter-force to the liberation war era old guard that controls the ruling party as well as the military. The opposition cadre, with G-40 elements could fuse to give the veterans a run for the soul of their country.

In all of this, however, extra care must be taken that the whole process doesn’t peter down to some ethnic struggle. In Zimbabwe, as well as the rest of Africa, the ethnic demon is never far from the surface.

Mugabe, aside from his acute mind and doughty liberation war credentials, still needed his ethnic majority to trump the late Joshua Nkomo, to emerge Zimbabwe’s first prime minister in 1980. That was before he amended the constitution, after two terms, to become an executive president. Nkomo, was Ndebele from Matabeleland, which chief city is Bulawayo.

However things pan out in Zimbabwe, Mugabe deserves little pity. He is the very epitome of the African power megalomaniac, the type The Economist of London dismisses as “African Big Man”. Under him, the Zimbabwe state became so personalised even his wife, Grace, was fancying her chances of becoming president after her husband’s demise.

That might be a pipe dream now but it hasn’t quite sprung Zimbabwe from the trap of the Mugabe era. But for the disgrace caused by Grace, Mugabe would probably have died in office; and handed over to one of his cronies, who would then go ahead to impose his own brand of extreme personalisation of the public space.

This is a dangerous trend that would blow up one day — and the chief victims would most likely be innocent, ordinary citizens. That is why the world must help a post-Mugabe Zimbabwe to strengthen its democracy and broaden opportunities.

November 19, 2017
Zimbabweans celebrate end of Mugabe’s era

Jubilant scenes are unfolding on the streets of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, as protests demanding the resignation of President Robert Mugabe have turned to a celebration of the army’s role in ending the nonagenarian’s grip on power.

BBC say protesters are hugging soldiers in the crowd and cheering for them.

One man told the BBC the day was “about a new beginning.”

READ ALSO: Mugabe to go on exile

The rally is supported by the army and members of the ruling Zanu-PF party.

War veterans – who until last year were loyal to President Mugabe – also want him to quit.

The BBC says this is a watershed moment and there can be no return to power for Mr. Mugabe.

A man arriving at the rally said: “As Zimbabweans, we are saying to our army: Thank you very much for the peaceful intervention.

“And it’s time for the masses of Zimbabwe to say: Mugabe must go and must go, like, yesterday. We can’t wait to see his back. For us, it’s about a new beginning.”

November 18, 2017
No going back on Mugabe’s dismissal – ZANU-PF

Leaders of Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party are meeting on Friday to draft a resolution to dismiss President Robert Mugabe at the weekend.

A senior party source said the leaders would lay the ground for Mugabe’s impeachment on Tuesday if he refused to stand down.

“There is no going back,” the source told Reuters. “If he becomes stubborn, we will arrange for him to be fired on Sunday. When that is done, it’s impeachment on Tuesday.”

Zimbabwe’s military said it was engaging President Mugabe in talks on the way forward for the country and that it would advise the nation on the outcome as soon as possible.

The military added in a statement broadcast on Zimbabwean television that it had made “significant progress” in its operation targeting “criminals” around Mugabe.

READ ALSO: The fall of Mugabe

The Zimbabwean opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, had urged President Mugabe to resign in the interest of the country after the military seized power.

Mugabe is insisting he remains Zimbabwe’s only legitimate ruler and has baulked at mediation by a Catholic priest to ensure his graceful exit after a military coup, sources said on Thursday.

“In the interest of the people, Robert Mugabe must resign and step down immediately,” Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, told a news conference on Thursday.

Earlier, the political opposition in Zimbabwe called for the intermediate installation of an interim government, a day after a surprise military takeover.

“At the moment the transitional government is the best way to go,” said Douglas Mwonzora, Secretary-General of Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party.

November 17, 2017
Mugabe ‘resisting’ calls to resign

Zimbabwe’s long-time President, Robert Mugabe, is reportedly refusing to step down immediately, despite growing calls for his resignation.

The BBC reports that the 93-year-old was put under house arrest during a military takeover on Wednesday, amid a power struggle over who would succeed him.

The military said on Friday it was “engaging” with Mr. Mugabe.

It also said it had been arresting “criminals” around the President, but gave no names.

Several senior officials are said to have been detained since Wednesday.

READ ALSO: Mugabe under house arrest

“Others are still at large,” the military said.

In a televised statement, the military said it would advise the nation on the outcome of talks with Mr. Mugabe “as soon as possible.”

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said it was “in the interests of the people” that Mr. Mugabe “resign immediately.”

The army moved in after Mr. Mugabe last week sacked Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa, signalling that he favoured his wife Grace Mugabe to take over his Zanu-PF party and thus the presidency.

November 17, 2017
Mugabe to go on exile

President Robert Mugabe last night agreed to step down.

A new government is to be formed within 48 hours, a twitter handle claiming to be speaking on behalf of the provisional government of Zimbabwe said.

Mugabe will then proceed on exile to South Africa.

Fresh elections will be held in the spring of 2018 once order and peace have been established.

The likely presidential election date is April 18, 2018, Zimbabwe’s independence day.

“The structure of government will remain the same under the provisional government of Zimbabwe. However, the introduction of new posts, such as ‘prime minister’ are being negotiated. “The new, provisional government of Zimbabwe will be formed within the next 48 hours. It is likely that vice presidential posts will remain vacant.

“Comrade R.G Mugabe is not going to be prosecuted for his actions and crimes throughout his tenure as Prime Minister (1980–1987) and President of the republic (1987–2017). He has accepted H.E Jacob Zuma’s offer and will depart to South Africa after the resignation.

“Mugabe is currently negotiating with the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. The provisional government will soon address the nation to update you all with the current situation.”

Mugabe’s wife Grace and two key figures from her G40 political faction are under house arrest at Mugabe’s “Blue House” compound in Harare and are insisting the 93-year-old finishes his presidential term, a source said.

The G40 figures are cabinet ministers Jonathan Moyo and Saviour Kasukuwere, who fled to the compound after their homes were attacked by troops in Tuesday night’s coup, the source, who said he had spoken to people inside the compound, said.

Zimbabwean intelligence reports seen by Reuters suggest that former security chief Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was ousted as vice-president this month, has been mapping out a post-Mugabe vision with the military and opposition for more than a year.

Fuelling speculation that that plan might be rolling into action, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has been receiving cancer treatment in Britain and South Africa, returned to Harare late on Wednesday, his spokesman said.

He urged President Mugabe to resign in the interest of the country.

“In the interest of the people, Robert Mugabe must resign and step down immediately,” Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, told a news conference, reading from a statement.

The opposition called for the intermediate installation of an interim government.

“At the moment the transitional government is the best way to go,” said Douglas Mwonzora, Secretary-General of Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party.

“We back the military move but the country should quickly go back a constitutional government.”

Armoured vehicles that were stationed at key government buildings during the political upheaval on Wednesday remained in place.

The soldiers appeared relaxed, even smiling and chatting with onlookers.

Most people were going about their daily business and children went to school.

Special envoys sent by South African President Jacob Zuma were holding discussions on Mugabe’s fate with Zimbabwe’s leaders.

Officials from the Southern African Development Community were also meeting in Botswana’s capital Gaborone yesterday to discuss the situation in Zimbabwe.

“What is needed is an inclusive government to run the affairs of Zimbabwe until a time it is right to have elections,” said Didymus Mutasa, a long-time minister in Mugabe’s government, who was fired in 2014 for backing Joice Mujuru as the president’s successor.

Jacob Mafume, a spokesman of the People’s Democratic Party led by Tendai Biti, said that any interim government “should be inclusive of all the stakeholders, including the church and all parties.”

While the army has said Mugabe is safe, there were mixed reports in the media about his wife Grace Mugabe’s whereabouts, with some saying she had fled the country.

Speculation had been growing before the coup that 52-year-old Grace was preparing to take over from her husband.

The potential ascendency appears to have faced resistance from senior military officials.

There was an uneasy calm on the streets of Harare, after initial jubilation on Wednesday when the army announced it had seized control from Mugabe.

November 17, 2017
Mugabe and the tale of tortoise
SIR: In different parts of Africa, local folklore is a way of life, especially in the rural areas. Aside their huge entertaining perspective, local fables also teach several morals that tend to help shape children into holding the right standpoints in life. Of all local tales that are told across Africa, the ones revolving around the tortoise seem to be quite thrilling. By casting tortoise in the mould of a shrewd, tricky and sly character, tortoise stories are always full of intrigues and suspense.

In one of its famous accounts that I could still very much recall, tortoise was about to embark on a journey and was asked about when it would return from the trip. Characteristically, its response was intriguing: “Not until I am disgraced”.

There is a huge parallel between the aforementioned tortoise tale and the story of (erstwhile?) Zimbabwean strongman, Robert Mugabe. Going by tales coming out of the country, Zimbabwe’s military leaders have seized control of the poor southern African nation, placing its life-leader, Robert Mugabe, under house arrest and deploying tanks to the streets of the capital, Harare.

To keen watchers of event in Zimbabwe, if Mugabe is eventually overthrown from power, it is merely a tale of good radiance to bad rubbish. Robert Mugabe, 93, has been the country’s ruler since 1980. Undoubtedly, he has defined the history of his country. Born in the colonial era, he actually witnessed the various complications of colonial rule in his native land. He was at the forefront of a bitter struggle to end white minority rule in Zimbabwe. He was imprisoned for 11 years by the colonial government for anti-colonial activities. As providence would have it, he had the rare honour of leading his country to independence and actually became the first post -colonial black leader of the country.

As good as his anti-colonial exploits were, Mugabe was however beclouded by a faulty sense of judgment after becoming his country’s leader. He launched ceaseless attacks on all whites in the country, majority of whom controlled the country’s economy. Unfortunately, Mugabe’s onslaught was not only against the whites in his country as the various black opposition groups, opposed to his prolonged stronghold on power, had to contend with his iron hold on power.

Rather than concentrate on policies and programmes that would usher in the much needed prosperity for his people, Mugabe was majorly preoccupied with building a fortress for himself. Regrettably, he didn’t do much to improve the economic condition of his people who lived in abject poverty as all economic indicators keep pointing to a nation on the brink of socio-economic collapse.

It is rather sad that by perpetuating himself in power, Mugabe has rubbished every effort he made in the past towards fighting colonial overlords in his country. The tragedy of the African continent is that most of its leaders, especially those who have little or nothing to offer the people, have continued to tow the ignoble path of authoritarianism. Is it not funny that most of the leaders’ whose stay in power have pauperized their people would rather prefer to die in power rather than giving opportunities to others with fresh ideas to rule?

For those who argue that Mugabe’s prolonged hold on power is as a result of the love and affection his people have for him, they need to be reminded that Mandela was equally held in high esteem by South Africans across racial divide. But the difference is that he knew when to quit. That is one of the hallmarks of a great leader.

A good leader should know when to quit. Perhaps, more importantly, a good leader must invest quality time and resources in developing new crop of leaders for the purpose of progress and stability. This is where Mandela differs remarkably from Mugabe and other similar sit-tight African leaders. At 93, isn’t it so obvious that Mugabe needed a break?

The truth of the matter is that Zimbabwe and her people deserve a brand new beginning. Perhaps, this could be it!
- Tayo Ogunbiyi,
Ikeja, Lagos.
November 17, 2017
Morgan Tsvangirai calls on Mugabe to resign

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai urged President Robert Mugabe to resign in the interest of the country after the military seized power.

Mugabe is insisting he remains Zimbabwe’s only legitimate ruler and has balked at mediation by a Catholic priest to allow the 93-year-old former guerrilla a graceful exit after a military coup, sources said on Thursday.

“In the interest of the people, Robert Mugabe must resign and step down immediately,” Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, told a news conference, reading from a statement.

Earlier, the political opposition in Zimbabwe called for the intermediate installation of an interim government, a day after a surprise military takeover.

“At the moment the transitional government is the best way to go,” said Douglas Mwonzora, Secretary-General of Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party.

“We back the military move but the country should quickly go back a constitutional government.”

Armoured vehicles that were stationed at key government buildings during the political upheaval on Wednesday remained in place.

The soldiers appeared relaxed, even smiling and chatting with onlookers.

Most people were going about their daily business and children went to school.

Special envoys sent by South African President, Jacob Zuma, were holding discussions on Mugabe’s fate with Zimbabwe’s leaders.

Officials from the Southern African Development Community were also meeting in Botswana’s capital Gaborone later Thursday to discuss the situation in Zimbabwe.

“What is needed is an inclusive government to run the affairs of Zimbabwe until a time it is right to have elections,” said Didymus Mutasa, a longtime minister in Mugabe’s government, who was fired in 2014 for backing Joice Mujuru as the president’s successor.

Jacob Mafume, a spokesman of the People’s Democratic Party led by Tendai Biti, said that any interim government “should be inclusive of all the stakeholders including the church and all parties.”

While the army has said Mugabe is safe, there were mixed reports in the media about his wife Grace Mugabe’s whereabouts, with some saying she had fled the country.

Speculation had been growing before the coup that 52-year-old Grace was preparing to take over from her husband.

The potential ascendency appears to have faced resistance from senior military officials.

There was an uneasy calm on the streets of Harare, after initial jubilation on Wednesday when the army announced it had seized control from Mugabe, 93, who had been in power almost four decades.

Several Mugabe allies from his Zanu-PF party, including Finance Minister Ignatius Chombo, detained, some political players have been swift to show the army they’re on side.

A grovelling apology by Zanu-PF youth leader, Kudzai Chipanga, who had criticised the army only hours before, was published by state media late Wednesday.

“We are still young and make mistakes,” Chipanga said, adding that he was making his apology voluntarily and had not been coerced.

“I have personally reflected and realised my mistake,” Chipanga added. (Reuters/NAN)

November 16, 2017
Mugabe resisting army pressure to quit: senior source

President Robert Mugabe is insisting he remains Zimbabwe’s only legitimate ruler, an intelligence source said on Thursday.

The source said Mugabe is resisting mediation by a Catholic priest to allow the 93-year-old former guerrilla a graceful exit after a military coup.

The priest, Fidelis Mukonori, is acting as a middle-man between Mugabe and the generals, who seized power on Wednesday in a targeted operation against “criminals” in his entourage, a senior political source told Reuters.

The source could not provide details of the talks, which appear to be aimed at a smooth and bloodless transition after the departure of Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since independence in 1980.

Mugabe, still seen by many Africans as a liberation hero, 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.

Zimbabwean intelligence reports seen by Reuters suggest that former security chief Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was ousted as vice-president this month, has been mapping out a post-Mugabe vision with the military and opposition for more than a year.

Fuelling speculation that that plan might be rolling into action, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has been receiving cancer treatment in Britain and South Africa, returned to Harare late on Wednesday, his spokesman said.

South Africa said Mugabe had told President Jacob Zuma by telephone on Wednesday that he was confined to his home but was otherwise fine and the military said it was keeping him and his family, including wife Grace, safe.

Inspte of the lingering admiration for Mugabe, there is little public affection for 52-year-old Grace, a former government typist who started having an affair with Mugabe in the early 1990s as his first wife, Sally, was dying of cancer.

Dubbed “DisGrace” or “Gucci Grace” on account of her reputed love of shopping, she enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks of Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF in the last two years, culminating in Mnangagwa’s removal a week ago, a move seen as clearing the way for her to succeed her husband.

In contrast to the high political drama unfolding behind closed doors, the streets of the capital remained calm, with people going about their daily business, albeit under the watch of soldiers on armored vehicles at strategic locations.

Whatever the final outcome, the events could signal a once-in-a-generation change for the former British colony, a regional breadbasket reduced to destitution by economic policies Mugabe’s critics have long blamed on him.(Reuters/NAN)

November 16, 2017