Zimbabwe tense after army chief’s warning to Mugabe

Several tanks seen moving on the outskirts of Harare, say witnesses

HARARE: Zimbabwe was reeling on Tuesday after the army warned it could intervene if President Robert Mugabe continued to purge veteran ruling party igures in an apparent effort to help his wife succeed him.

Both the ruling party’s youth wing and the main opposition party called for civilian rule to be protected, while analysts called the crisis a potential turning point.

Several tanks were seen moving on the outskirts of the Zimbabwean capital, witnesses told AFP.

“I saw a long convoy of military vehicles, including tanks, about an hour ago. I don’t know where they were heading,” a female fruit seller near Westgate shopping centre about 10 kilometres from central Harare said.

Army chief General Constantino Chiwenga on Monday warned Mugabe to “stop” purges of the ruling ZANU-PF party after the president abruptly sacked vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa last week.

Mnangagwa had clashed repeatedly with First Lady Grace Mugabe who is widely seen as vying to replace the 93-year-old leader when he dies.

“We must remind those behind the current treacherous shenanigans that when it comes to matters of protecting our revolution, the military will not hesitate to step in,” Chiwenga told top brass at Harare’s King George VI military headquarters in an unprecedented intervention.

He appeared to be referring to the increasingly open efforts of Grace Mugabe to elevate her public position and publicly undermine her opponents — including Mnangagwa.