MUGABE GONE AT LAST
HARARE: “Today is Christmas. The devil is gone. I am going to sleep peacefully tonight.”
These words, uttered in Shona, came from a man who was part of a group of protesters at Africa Unity Square, across the road from the parliament of Zimbabwe, when news filtered across the capital yesterday that after 37 years in power, Robert Mugabe had finally resigned.
The man, dancing and singing, waved his Zimbabwean flag and disappeared into the crowd as wild celebrations engulfed Harare and a bright cloud of hope and freedom descended on the country.
The resignation of the former Zimbabwe president, 93, was being celebrated long into the night in Harare and beyond the country’s borders, while some wondered who would become the new president and what path Zimbabwe would take from today.
Hooters blared and hordes of jubilant Zimbabweans filled the streets, dancing and screaming their lungs out as soon as Speaker of parliament Jacob Mudenda announced having received Mugabe’s resignation letter.
In his resignation letter, addressed to Mudenda, Mugabe said he had decided to call it quits “to allow for a smooth transfer of power”.
It was this official announcement that triggered wild celebrations in Harare and across the world.
The words Mugabe couldn’t utter when he addressed the nation on Sunday night finally came out yesterday.
Many, including Pastor Evan Mawarire, one of the victims of Mugabe’s brutality, openly wept at the news.
“I never thought I would live to see this day,” said a woman who abandoned her stall on Kwame Nkrumah Avenue in central Harare to join her compatriots in the celebrations. “Freedom has come. We have waited too long for this,” she said, tears welling in her eyes.
The mood in Harare, where the biggest party rocked in scenes last seen when Zimbabwe celebrated winning its independence from Britain in 1980, was electrifying and infectious.
With a flag draped around his shoulders, Vivian Mashavave was so happy that he did not even know what to do with himself.
Whenever a car went past and hooted, the 36-year-old man would fly the Zimbabwean flag very high, screaming and cheering.
“I’ve never been so excited in my life. For the first time since I was born I feel free.
“We have been oppressed for far too long. This is our time. We will now know life without Mugabe. Good riddance to him. We don’t care about who takes over now; we’ll think about that tomorrow. Today we are celebrating,” he said.
“Dictatorship is a problem in Africa and we have shown the continent that we can get rid of a dictator.
‘‘We have shown Africa that it can be done and peacefully so.”
Nkululeko Sibanda also joined in the celebration, happy to see Mugabe go.
The 34-year-old man said that from when he was a child until he got married and later had a child, he knew only Mugabe as the president of Zimbabwe.
However, now that he was gone Zimbabweans would taste freedom for the first time.
“This is real Zimbabwean freedom. For the first time we can also say we are really free.
“It is the people of Zimbabwe who spoke and made him leave. He realised that he was not wanted,” said Sibanda.
The 37-year reign came to end after a sustained week of peaceful revolt in the capital that started with the army confining the 93 year old to his private Borrowdale residence.
The turning point for Mugabe was, however, the pressure from thousands of ordinary Zimbabweans who put aside political squabbles, religious differences, tribal and racial divisions to march together in a solidarity protest that sent out one clear message – Mugabe must go.
Zanu-PF central committee member Obert Mpofu summed up the unity of purpose from the citizens to free themselves of the misery of Mugabe’s later years of rule when he said: “The people have spoken.”
Still, victory did not come without a fight for the Zimbabweans, who finally decided to do things their own quiet but effective way and not look to the international community for salvation.
Even with the writing on the wall after being sacked by his own party, dumped by fellow war veteran comrades and held captive by the military, Mugabe remained defiant.
It wasn’t until a joint sitting of the senate and national assembly instituted an impeachment process against him yesterday that Mugabe finally realised it was game over and tendered his resignation.
A long road now lies ahead to rebuild the once prosperous country.
It is the people of Zimbabwe who spoke and made him leave
HARARE was one big party last night as Zimbabweans filled the streets of the capital to celebrate the end of Robert Mugabe’s 37-year reign as president.
“We are free at last, Mugabe has fallen,” screamed a young man draped in a Zimbabwean flag.
He was part of the multitudes that had no plan on sleeping last night and had been dancing since speaker of the Zimbabwe Parliament Jacob Mudenda’s impromptu adjourning of a joint sitting of the Senate and National Assembly to announce that Mugabe had resigned.
The news triggered wild celebrations in the House and on the streets, with hooters blaring, car radios at full blast and strangers hugging and dancing with each other in a spontaneous outbreak of joy.
The atmosphere in Harare was electric and one of unparalleled joy, with most Zimbabweans believing that the end of Mugabe would bring about a new dawn for the country, once the bread basket of Africa.
“I don’t care who replaces him. It is impossible that anyone can do a worse job than this man,” said Munyaradzi Denhera, as he joined in the celebrations.
Father of one Musa Masango, 33, said he never thought this day would come. “I was a kid, became a man, got married and had a son but have only known one president in my whole lifetime. This is exciting new ground for me,” he said.
Emmerson Mnangagwa who has been in self-imposed exile in South Africa since being fired by Mugabe on November 6, is expected to be the frontrunner to replace Mugabe.
It remains to be seen how the country will navigate the rigid constitutional process to install him as president. This, however, was very much a secondary thought for Zimbabweans last night.
“We will think about the next president tomorrow; today it’s our time to celebrate,” said Masango.
In neighbouring South Africa, home to hordes of Zimbabweans who have fled the oppression and economic hardship, the outpouring of joy was equally intense.
Shelton Chiyangwa, 34, who was born in Harare but moved to South Africa in 2005 and lives and works in Port Elizabeth, said: “I am feeling so excited, if you had to see me a few minutes ago, I was actually crying. I burst into tears, tears of joy, tears of shock and tears of excitement.
“The president I have known all my life has finally decided to step down. I was born when Mugabe was in power, I grew up when Mugabe was in power and then I joined politics fighting the system that he had put into place.
“As I tuned into the TV and saw that he has resigned, I am so excited. The feelings I have right now, the joy and excitement is the same as all the Zimbabweans scattered across the diaspora here in South Africa and across the world.”
A Zimbabwean woman who has been in Cape Town for 11 years quipped: “I am packing my bags for home tonight.”