Don’t hold Zimbabwe to ransom, Mugabe told

Sacked deputy urges president to quit as MPs start impeachment bid

ROBERT MUGABE should resign immediately and not hold Zimbabwe “to ransom”, the country’s sacked vicepresident urged today.

Emmerson Mnangagwa piled pressure on the 93-year-old to finally stand down after 37 years in power.

He issued the call as MPs prepared to begin impeachment proceedings to force the president out of office.

Mr Mnangagwa, who was fired earlier this month, said in a statement: “The people of Zimbabwe have spoken with one voice and it is my appeal to President Mugabe that he should take heed of this clarion call and resign forthwith so that the country can move forward and preserve his legacy.

“Never should the nation be held at ransom by one person ever again, whose desire is to die in office at whatever cost to the nation.”

Mr Mnangagwa had left for South Africa after his sacking amid signs that Mr Mugabe — the world’s oldest head of state — wanted to make his wife Grace his successor. The former vice-president said there had been plans to kill him and he would only come back once it was clear he would be safe: “I will be returning as soon as the right conditions for security and stability prevail.”

The ruling Zanu-PF party was today due to begin impeachment proceedings against Mr Mugabe in parliament. At the weekend its central committee voted to oust him as party leader and select Mr Mnangagwa as his replace- ment. Known as “The Crocodile”, Mr Mnangagwa, who is in his seventies, served for decades as the president’s spy chief and enforcer, and hopes for reform in Zimbabwe are laden with fears that he might be little better than his predecessor.

Zanu-PF instructed ministers to boycott a Cabinet meeting that Mr Mugabe called today at State House in Harare.

Chief whip Lovemore Matuke said they were told instead to attend a meeting at party HQ to work on impeachment.

Military chiefs seized control of Harare last week in an apparent attempt to stop Grace Mugabe from being confirmed as his successor. The 52-year-old is deeply unpopular among many Zimbabweans who accuse of her misuse of power and lavish spending as the coun-

try has slid into poverty. Former guerrilla leader Mr Mugabe has been in power since Zimbabwe’s independence from white minority rule in 1980.

Zimbabwe’s constitution allows for impeachment on the grounds of “serious misconduct”; “violation” of the constitution or “failure to obey, uphold or defend” it; or “incapacity”. @nicholascecil