Ousted VP returns to Zimbabwe, Mugabe clings on
HARARE: Zimbabwe’s former vice-president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose sacking last week triggered the military’s takeover, has returned to the country, an aide said yesterday as ageing leader Robert Mugabe clung to power.
Mnangagwa, a leading candidate to succeed Mugabe, flew back here on Thursday after nearly a week abroad as army chiefs and the 93-year-old president met to negotiate.
Mugabe has refused to resign, sources said, after soldiers this week put him under house arrest in a turnaround for the veteran leader who has ruled Zimbabwe with an iron fist since 1980.
“He is refusing to step down. I think he is trying to buy time,” said a source close to the army leadership.
The generals took over on Tuesday after Mnangagwa was sacked and Mugabe’s wife, Grace, emerged in prime position to succeed her increasingly frail husband.
The military is strongly opposed to Grace’s rise, while Mnangagwa has maintained close ties with the defence establishment.
Mugabe’s motorcade on Thursday took him from his private residence to the State House for the talks, which were also attended by envoys from the Southern African Development Community regional bloc.
Government TV showed Mugabe, the world’s oldest head of state, dressed in a navy blue blazer and grey trousers standing next to army chief General Constantino Chiwenga.
Zimbabwe was left stunned by the military intervention, which came after Mugabe’s advanced age sparked the bitter succession battle between Grace and Mnangagwa.
Mnangagwa, 75, was previously one of Mugabe’s most loyal lieutenants, having worked alongside him for decades.
But he fled to South Africa following his dismissal and published a scathing rebuke of Mugabe’s leadership and Grace’s presidential ambitions. AFP