‘You will always be my father’
How a priest helped to convince Mugabe that his time as president was up
On the day the military coup began in Zimbabwe last month, former president Robert Mugabe begged Emmerson Mnangagwa to return from South Africa so they could jointly manage a handover of power.
Mnangagwa, who had been fired as vicepresident the week before, confided to Mugabe in a phone conversation that he had fled Zimbabwe in fear of being murdered in a plot that would appear to be a suicide.
The man in the middle of the intense behind-the-scenes talks that resulted in Mugabe’s resignation and Mnangagwa being sworn in as president, Catholic priest Father Fidelis Mukonori, revealed this week that he enabled the talks between the two leaders.
The talks began hours after Zimbabwe Defence Force generals seized temporary control of the country.
In an interview at the Chishawasha Catholic mission outside Harare, where he serves as parish priest and school principal, Mukonori recounted the events during the tense hours as the coup unfolded.
He said Mnangagwa called him from South Africa to say: “I really would like to talk to Baba.”
At the time, Mukonori was on his way to the military barracks in Harare to hear the army generals’ grievances with Zanu-PF. Early that morning, tanks had rolled into the streets and soldiers had taken over key state installations in the capital.
Mukonori went to the presidential compound, known as “Blue Roof”, to give Mugabe the 11 reasons the generals had listed. He told Mugabe about the call from Mnangagwa who, before his firing, had been in a power battle with former first lady Grace Mugabe. Both aimed to succeed Mugabe.
Mukonori said Mugabe responded: “What? Where is he? I want to talk to him!”
The priest then called Mnangagwa, saying: “I am sitting next to Baba.” He handed the phone to Mugabe and the two spoke for about 10 minutes.
He said Mugabe asked about Mnangagwa’s health, following reports that he had been poisoned, and wanted to know why he had fled to South Africa.
Mnangagwa told him he had learnt he was to be strangled with twine and the scene made to look like a suicide.
Mugabe said: “I never thought anyone could do that to you.”
Then, referring to Mnangagwa’s wife, he asked: “Now where is my muzukuru [niece]. Are you dragging her with you?”
Mnangagwa said his wife and children were in Zimbabwe because there were no fears about their safety.
Mugabe said he wanted to talk about Mnangagwa’s “beautiful letter” to him in which the axed vice-president acknowledged that Mugabe had been more than a father to him and had saved him from execution.
Mukonori said Mnangagwa said in the letter: “You shall continue to remain my father and my mentor. But this time the enemies have prevailed.”
Mugabe said he wanted them to discuss the way forward, “just the two of us”.
“Come! Come! Come right away, please,” Mugabe told Mnangagwa.
Mukonori said Mugabe had envisaged a process where Mnangagwa would take over leadership of Zanu-PF and contest elections as party leader, while Mugabe would manage the transition in the state.
Mnangagwa agreed to return, but was still worried that his life was in danger.
In another telephone conversation, Mukonori asked defence force chief General Constantino Chiwenga to assure Mnangagwa of his safety.
Mukonori said Grace Mugabe had remained in Zimbabwe throughout.
“We called her in when we wanted her . . . She was angry or confused or both,” he said.
After announcing a purge in the party, which included her expulsion, Zanu-PF told Mugabe to step down or face impeachment.
Mugabe had not intended to resign in his address to the nation on the Sunday night after the Zanu-PF central committee had removed him as leader, said Mukonori.
There was speculation that Mugabe might have read the wrong speech or that key sections went missing after the generals were seen hiding some pages under their chairs.
Mugabe then still believed he could manage the handover of power, said Mukonori. Mugabe had written the statement himself and muttered that it had been a “long” speech.
He said the generals had picked up pages that had blown off the table and that they all knew what was in the speech.
Zanu-PF, unaware of the back-channel discussions, began the process of impeachment when Mugabe failed to meet the deadline to resign.
“When parliament was called I said: ‘Mr President, it is time to rest.’ He had already been thinking about it. There was no big fuss about it,” said Mukonori.
But Mugabe was “not impressed” when he called the speaker of parliament to inform him of his intention to resign and asked for time to do so.
The speaker responded “My hands are tied” and said he could not delay the process of impeachment.
Mukonori said they then summoned the attorney-general, the minister of defence and chief secretary of cabinet to advise Mugabe of the procedure to resign.
The letter of resignation was drafted.
“The third draft was final. He read it, took his pen and gracefully signed it,” said Mukonori. “After he signed, his face just glowed. The handsomeness of the guy just came out.”
After he signed, his face just glowed. Father Fidelis Mukonori On Robert Mugabe’s resignation letter