MUGABE FACES PROTESTS IN FIRST PUBLIC OUTING SINCE ARREST.
Thousands of demonstrators are expected to rally in Harare Saturday as an unprecedented alliance of Zanu PF hardliners and opposition activists seek to force Robert Mugabe to step aside as Zimbabwe’s president.
The rally, which has been organized by the country’s influential War Veterans Association but endorsed by opposition parties and civil society groups, is intended to convince Mugabe he has lost public support and lend an air of legitimacy to the de facto military coup that saw him placed under house arrest.
The march comes as further details emerged of plans by Zanu PF, the party Mugabe has led for four decades, to impeach him if he refuses to resign.
“The game is up,” said Christopher Mutsvangwa, the head of the War Veterans Association, at a press conference in Harare. “It’s done, it’s finished ... The generals have done a fantastic job.
“We want to restore our pride and tomorrow is the day ... we can finish the job which the army started.”
Mutsvangwa’s association of veterans of the war for independence from white rule was for years a bastion of Mugabe’s administration and played a key role in the seizure of white-owned farms and intimidation of opposition groups.
In a twist unthinkable just a few weeks ago, they will be joined by opposition parties, including the Movement for Democratic Change and pro-democracy civil society groups.
Evan Mawarire, a pastor who was jailed by Mugabe for organizing protests and strikes last year, called on his followers to set aside political differences to join the demonstration.
“We are joining hands across social groups, we are joining hands across political divides, and we are uniting for a new and fresh Zimbabwe,” Mawarire said in a live streamed address. “This is a big and defining moment for Zimbabweans.”
Mugabe, 93, has been under house arrest since Tuesday night.
The generals’ goal is to prevent Mugabe from handing power to his 53-year-old wife. They are believed to be hoping to install Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former security chief Mugabe fired as vice president two weeks ago, as his successor.
Mugabe, meanwhile, emerged for the first time Friday, presiding at a university graduation ceremony in a fragile show of normalcy.
The leader sat in a highbacked chair in front of sev- eral thousand students and guests, a routine he has conducted for many years as the official chancellor of Zimbabwe’s universities.