Mugabe relieved after quitting, says mediator
Zimbabwe’s former president Robert Mugabe knew it was “the end of the road” days before he quit, and appeared relieved when he signed his resignation letter after 37 years in power, a Catholic priest who mediated talks leading to his ouster said Sunday.
Fidelis Mukonori, who has known Mugabe for decades, said in an interview with The Associated Press that Mugabe, under immense pressure in his final days as president, wanted a gradual and “smooth” transition of power to Emmerson Mnangagwa, the vice-president he had recently fired and who is now Zimbabwe’s new leader.
Mugabe had to resort to “Plan B” — an immediate resignation — after Mnangagwa did not return from exile in South Africa at Mugabe’s request, according to Mukonori.
The interview at the Chishawasha mission church east of Harare, the capital, revealed some of the behind-the-scenes manoeuvring at the frantic
CATHOLIC PRIEST HELPED NEGOTIATE LEADER’S ‘SMOOTH’ EXIT FOLLOWING 37 YEARS IN POWER
end of Mugabe’s rule, which began with promise after the end of white minority rule in 1980 and unravelled under pressure from virtually all sectors of a society worn down by economic decline, government dysfunction and restrictions on basic freedoms.
Events moved quickly after the military deployed troops in Harare on Nov. 14. The 93-yearold leader resigned a week later, and Mnangagwa was inaugurated Friday in a joyous ceremony attended by tens of thousands of people yearning for change.
While Mugabe had realized several days before his resignation that he couldn’t stay on as president, he clung to the idea that he could remain in his post at least until a ruling party congress next month to ensure a “smooth handover,” Mukonori said.
In a televised address on Nov. 19, Mugabe shocked many Zimbabweans who had expected him to announce his resignation by instead saying that he would preside over that congress, even though the ruling ZANU-PF party had fired him as party leader just hours before.
“I sympathize with the people in the street. They didn’t know what was happening,” Mukonori said. “The man had already realized that this is the end of the road.”
Mugabe was unable to control the terms of his exit after a lifetime of exercising the deft political skills and outright ruthlessness that kept him in power for so long.
Iranian state television aired videos Sunday targeting a Briton and an American serving time on espionage charges, likely trying to pressure the U.S. and Britain as London considers making a US$530 million payment to Tehran.
The case of IranianBritish national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has gained momentum in recent weeks as British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson faces tremendous criticism at home over his handling of it.
Meanwhile, state television aired footage of an emotional Chinese-American national Xiyue Wang as U.S. President Donald Trump continues his hard line against Tehran and its nuclear deal with world powers.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, already serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly planning the “soft toppling” of Iran’s government while travelling there with her toddler daughter, faces new charges that could add 16 years to her prison term.