Mugabe has no plans to resign – source
Rumours fill the streets of Harare
Soon after the departure of a South African negotiation team dispatched by the Southern African Development Community, unconfirmed news spread like a veld fire that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe may have agreed to a compromise.
However‚ for ministers aligned to a faction called G40‚ it was a case of hide and seek with military intelligence that had already captured Finance Minister Ignatius Chombo, whose guard was killed protecting his boss. That sent a clear message that the military was on the warpath on Wednesday morning after announcing the takeover.
Mugabe’s nephew Patrick Zhuwao‚ the Minister of Public Service‚ Labour and Social Welfare‚ was in Argentina when the army struck. He chose to stay put there.
Two leading figures in the faction, Jonathan Moyo and Savior Kasukuwere‚ who were credited with blocking former vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ascent to power‚ kept a low profile and the army failed to get them.
When the army arrived at Moyo and Kasukuwere’s houses they opened fire, but the two ministers were long gone‚ having sought refuge at Mugabe’s private residence‚ the “Blue Roof” in Borrowdale‚ the richest suburb of Harare. The president‚ his wife and children were also holed up there.
“Basically there is no government in Zimbabwe. Cabinet failed to sit on Tuesday because all ministers chose to stay away fearing for their lives‚” said a senior government employee.
Foreign Affairs Minister Walter Mzembi was in Zambia on official business. He said he would not go back to Zimbabwe until normalcy had returned.
Minister of Sports‚ Art and Culture‚ Makhosini Hlongwane, only managed to leave the country for Mozambique yesterday morning. It was an unfortunate case for Masvingo provincial minister Paul Chimedza who was arrested at an army roadblock on his way to South Africa.
“More ministers will go into hiding fearing that they could be linked to G40. The army was clear that those ministers are ‘criminal elements’‚” added the source.
By time of going to press‚ no communique had been issued in relation to the mediation process chaired by South Africa. Earlier, Mugabe was pictured shaking hands with the military chief a day after the army seized power, throwing confusion over predictions that the 93-year-old’s nearly four-decade rule had come to an end.
Mugabe is insisting that he remains Zimbabwe’s only legitimate ruler and refuses to quit, but pressure was mounting on the former guerrilla to accept offers of a graceful exit, sources said yesterday.
A political source who spoke to senior allies holed up in the compound with Mugabe and his wife Grace, said he had no plans to resign voluntarily ahead of elections next year. “It’s a sort of stand-off, a stalemate,” the source said.
A priest mediating between Mugabe and the generals, who seized power in what they called a targeted operation against “criminals” in Mugabe’s entourage, has made little headway, a senior political source said.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai called for Mugabe’s departure “in the interest of the people”.
In a statement Tsvangirai pointedly referred to him as “Mr Robert Mugabe”, not president. The army may want Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, to go quietly and allow a smooth and bloodless transition to Emmerson Mnangagwa, the vice-president Mugabe sacked last week triggering the political crisis.
The main goal of the generals is to prevent Mugabe from handing power to his wife Grace, who has built a following among the ruling party’s youth wing and appeared on the cusp of power after Mnangagwa was pushed out.
Zimbabwean intelligence reports seen suggest that the ailing Mugabe’s exit was in the planning for more than a year. – Additional reporting by Reuters