Army ‘coup’ puts end to Mugabe era

HARARE: Robert Mugabe’s four-decade grip on Zimbabwe appeared to be nearing its end last night, at the hands of the same soldiers who hoisted him to power after the war against the white-minority regime of Rhodesia.

The military takeover carried out yesterday appeared to be a coup in all but name — parliament is closed, soldiers are on the streets and the country’s leader is under house arrest.

The army says the safety of Mr Mugabe and his family is “guaranteed”.

Mr Mugabe — the world’s oldest head of state at 93 — sealed his fate by firing his deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former spy chief who helped him take power i n 1980 and keep it.

For armed forces commander Constantino Chiwenga, the president and his 52-yearold wife, Grace — who’s commonly known as “Gucci Grace” for her extravagant lifestyle — had gone too far.

After he announced the military would stop “those bent on hijacking the revolution”, the ruling party called Gen Chiwenga’s comments “treasonable” and the die was cast.

Hours later, armoured vehicles appeared on the streets of the capital, Harare.

Indications now are that Mr Mugabe is trying to negotiate a graceful way out, while the military says it’s rounding up the “criminals around him”.

Despite the armed forces’s denial of a coup, the country is now under military rule, said Alex Magaisa, a Zimbabwean law lecturer.

“When you see a man in uniform reading news on national television, you know [it’s a coup],” he said.