Protest brings life to a halt in Harare
African nation with a disintegrating economy and a mood of fear about the consequences of challenging Mr. Mugabe, became something new, with a population united, at least temporarily, in its fervor for change and a joyful openness that would have seemed fanciful even a few days ago.
The euphoria, however, will eventually subside, and much depends on the behind-maneuvering to get Mr. Mugabe to officially resign, jump start a new leadership that could seek to be inclusive and reduce perceptions that the military staged a coup against Mr. Mugabe. The president was to meet military commanders Sunday in a second round of talks, state broadcaster ZBC reported.
“The common enemy is Robert Mugabe. That’s for starters,” said Talent Mudzamiri, 37, an opposition supporter who was born soon after Zimbabwe’s independence.
He had a warning for whoever takes over Zimbabwe: “If the next leader does the same, we are going to come out again.”
Many Zimbabweans believe the most likely candidate will be Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former vice president with close military ties whose dismissal by Mr. Mugabe triggered the intervention of the armed forces, which sent troops and tanks into the streets this week, effectively taking over the country. The increasing presidential ambitions of Mr. Mugabe’s wife, Grace, a polarizing figure who denounced Mr. Mnangagwa amid a factional battle within the ruling ZANU-PF party, alarmed those who feared a dynastic succession.
“Leadership is not sexually transmitted,” read a poster at the Harare rallies. Other signs denounced “Gucci Grace,” a reference to the first lady’s record of high-end shopping expeditions outside Zimbabwe, which suffered hyperinflation in the past and is currently struggling with a cash shortage and massive unemployment.
The discussions over Mr. Mugabe’s fate come ahead of a key ruling party congress next month, as well as scheduled elections next year.
The president, who is believed to be staying at his private home in Harare, a well-guarded compound known as the Blue Roof, is reported to have asked for more time in office. He has been deserted by most of his allies, with others arrested. The ruling party has turned on him, asking for a Central Committee meeting this weekend to recall both him and his wife, who heads the women’s league of the party. Impeachment is also a possibility when Parliament reconvenes this week.
Even as concerns remained about who next would be in charge and what freedoms might be available if the military lingers in power — or if Mr. Mugabe’s recently fired deputy leads a new government — people reveled Saturday in the rare chance to express themselves freely.
In Harare, people ran through intersections, raising their arms in triumph. Young men shouted, laughed and embraced. Others danced on top of moving buses. One man stripped to his underwear and danced on a car roof.
Some marchers had posters with an image of the military commander who swept in to take control, with the slogan: “Go, go, our general!!!” Marchers handed flags to soldiers, who accepted and waved.
“It’s like Christmas,” said one marcher, Fred Mubay, who said Zimbabweans have been suffering for a long time.
Veterans of the long war against white minority rule, once close allies of Mr. Mugabe, took part in the demonstration, along with opposition activists who long have faced police crackdowns by the Mugabe government. Thousands gathered for speeches at the Zimbabwe Grounds, where Zimbabweans gathered to cheer Mr. Mugabe’s return from exile in 1980after the liberation war.
Elizabeth Sithole, 60, said her husband died in 2004, she lives with her children in a 2room apartment and her business selling vegetables has collapsed. On Saturday, though, she had a big smile while standing near soldiers indowntown Harare.
“I’m very happy,” she said.
During elections nine years ago, thugs hired by Zimbabw’s ruling party banged on Nonoza Ncube’s door at 2 a.m., took her to a temporary military-style base and beat her on her back and legs with clubs.
Yet when she heard that ruling party ZANU-PF war veterans were staging a mass rally in Harare on Saturday to support the removal of Mr. Mugabe, she just had to come. And what she saw were scenes of wild jubilation that many said reminded them of Zimbabwe’s independence day ending white minority rule in 1980.
“We are free! We are free!” said Milkah Naraha, who supports one of the country’s anti-Mugabe opposition parties.
It was an extraordinary moment in a nation where dissent is repressed, opposition activists have been beaten, arrested and disappeared, and anti-government protests have met a heavy-handed response.
Saturday’s rally also sent a strong message to other African leaders clinging to power for decades that a military intervention or a coup is possible, even for the likes of Mr. Mugabe. Some analysts believe his determination to stay on has encouraged leaders in the region like Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, Burundi’s Pierre Nkurunziza and Democratic Republic of Congo’s Joseph Kabila to ditch or avoid a two-term limiton power.