Army chief: Don’t take revenge against Mugabe henchmen

ZIMBABWE’S military chief today threatened to deal “severely” with any acts of revenge against members of Robert Mugabe’s regime, as the jubilant country waited for the deposed leader’s former deputy to be sworn in as president.

At the end of a wild night of celebration on the streets of the capital Harare, Defence Forces commander General Constantino Chiwenga urged “maximum restraint”.

The general, whose forces effectively seized power last week, said: “Acts of vengeful retribution or trying to settle personal scores will be dealt with severely.

“Zimbabweans across the political divide should exercise maximum restraint and observe law and order to the fullest. Our vaunted character and tradition as a peaceful and law-abiding nation must now show in practical terms through unconditional observ- ance of the law.” His warning came after a bloodless coup saw 93-year-old former guerilla leader Mugabe deposed after 37 years in power, since the country of 16 million people won independence from Britain.

His former deput y Emmerson Mnangagwa was set to return to Zimbabwe this evening, two weeks after he fled the country in fear of his safety following his sacking by Mugabe. He is expected to be sworn in as the new president on Friday.

Mugabe’s dramatic re signation yesterday came after ruling party ZanuPF began impeachment proceedings against him.

However, many Zimbabweans still harbour doubts about Mnangagwa, 75, who was internal security chief in the mid-Eighties when Mugabe deployed a North Korean-trained army brigade against rebels in Matabeleland and up to 20,000 civilians were killed.

Piers Pigou, from the conflict resolution body International Crisis Group, said: “The dark past is not going to disappear. It will be following him around like a piece of chewing gum on his shoe.

“For him to really be seen to be doing the right thing, he’s going to have to

introduce policies that fundamentally undermine the power structures of Zanu-PF, through a shift to genuine political pluralism and a decoupling of the party and state.”

Mr Mnangagwa is nicknamed “The

Crocodile”, an animal which is feared in Zimbabwe for its stealth and ruthlessness. Meanwhile China’s foreign ministry said it respected Mugabe’s decision to quit and added that he “is still our good friend”. @JonPrynn