Mugabe resignation met with cheers
Street parties ensue as impeachment awaits
HARARE: Robert Mugabe — who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980 and once proclaimed that “only God will remove me!” — resigned as president on Tuesday shortly after lawmakers began impeachment proceedings against him.
Parliament speaker Jacob Mudenda read out a letter in which Mr Mugabe said he was stepping down “with immediate effect” for “the welfare of the people of Zimbabwe and the need for a peaceful transfer of power”.
Lawmakers erupted into cheers, and jubilant residents poured into the streets of Harare, the capital. It seemed to be an abrupt capitulation by Mr Mugabe, 93, the world’s oldest head of state and one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders.
“It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to Zimbabwe,” Perseverance Sande, 20, said in central Harare minutes after news of the resignation began spreading, as crowds of people started singing around her. “I’ve been waiting so long for this moment.”
Mr Mugabe, who controlled the nation by handing out the spoils of power to his allies and crushing dissent, had refused to step down even after being expelled on Sunday from Zanu-PF, the political party he had led for four decades.
Then on Tuesday, party members introduced a motion of impeachment, invoking a constitutional process that had never before been tested.
The party’s political rival, the Movement for Democratic Change, seconded the motion, a striking sign of the consensus in the political class that Mr Mugabe must go — one that formed with astonishing speed after the military took Mr Mugabe into custody last week.
Lawmakers were still discussing the impeachment motion when Mr Mugabe’s justice minister, Happyton Bonyongwe, walked up to the stage. He was booed, because of a rumour that he had been offering bribes to sway votes against impeachment. Then he whispered into the ear of Mr Mudenda, the speaker, and handed him a letter.
Calling the lawmakers to order, the speaker announced that he had received an urgent communication from the president. As the crowd grew quiet, Mr Mudenda — with a wide smile across his face — read out the letter.
Lawmakers immediately screamed and shouted. Once-bitter rivals from Zanu-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change shook hands and hugged.
Even Mr Mugabe’s closest allies appeared taken aback. Reached by telephone, George Charamba, the president’s longtime spokesman, declined to comment, saying only, “I’m concerned about the stability of my country”.
In Africa Unity Square, the capital’s main public area, scattered shouts were heard a few minutes after the announcement by the speaker. Then, as word began spreading by mouth and by phone, the shouts, cries and honking of cars rose in a deafening crescendo. Hundreds of people ran to the square, hugging and jumping, as the crowd soon swelled into the thousands.
The state broadcaster interrupted its programming to report that Mr Mugabe had resigned and that a new leader could be sworn in as early yesterday. Emmerson Mnangagwa, the vice president whom Mr Mugabe abruptly fired last week, setting off an internal revolt, is widely expected to lead the country, at least until national elections scheduled for next year.
For nearly four decades, Mr Mugabe ruled through a heavy mix of repression of his opponents and rewards for his allies.