Political News
Mugabe Confirms House Arrest In Phone Call To South Africa 24 Hours After Coup
Nov 16, 2017 – Mugabe Confirms House Arrest In Phone Call To South Africa As Military Holds On To Power
Mugabe is insisting he remains Zimbabwe’s only legitimate ruler, an intelligence source said on Thursday.
The source said Mugabe is resisting mediation by a Catholic priest to allow the 93-year-old former guerrilla a graceful exit after a military coup.
The priest, Fidelis Mukonori, is acting as a middle-man between Mugabe and the generals, who seized power on Wednesday in a targeted operation against “criminals” in his entourage, a senior political source told Reuters.
The source could not provide details of the talks, which appear to be aimed at a smooth and bloodless transition after the departure of Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since independence in 1980.
Mugabe, still seen by many Africans as a liberation hero, is reviled in the West as a despot whose disastrous handling of the economy and willingness to resort to violence to maintain power destroyed one of Africa’s most promising states.
Zimbabwean intelligence reports seen by Reuters suggest that former security chief Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was ousted as vice-president this month, has been mapping out a post-Mugabe vision with the military and opposition for more than a year.
Fuelling speculation that that plan might be rolling into action, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has been receiving cancer treatment in Britain and South Africa, returned to Harare late on Wednesday, his spokesman said.
South Africa said Mugabe had told President Jacob Zuma by telephone on Wednesday that he was confined to his home but was otherwise fine and the military said it was keeping him and his family, including wife Grace, safe.
Inspite of the lingering admiration for Mugabe, there is little public affection for 52-year-old Grace, a former government typist who started having an affair with Mugabe in the early 1990s as his first wife, Sally, was dying of cancer.
Dubbed “DisGrace” or “Gucci Grace” on account of her reputed love of shopping, she enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks of Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF in the last two years, culminating in Mnangagwa’s removal a week ago, a move seen as clearing the way for her to succeed her husband.
In contrast to the high political drama unfolding behind closed doors, the streets of the capital remained calm, with people going about their daily business, albeit under the watch of soldiers on armored vehicles at strategic locations.
Whatever the final outcome, the events could signal a once-in-a-generation change for the former British colony, a regional breadbasket reduced to destitution by economic policies Mugabe’s critics have long blamed on him.
[Reuters/NAN]
Praize Mannuel
November 16, 2017 at 6:08 PM
Take heart mugabe you are done
Kingsley Ogubor
November 16, 2017 at 6:12 PM
U have rule ?Zimbabwe for son long man. Eat and let’s other let. It is time to step aside.
That you liberate Zimbabwe doesn’t mean you have to rule forever
iron bar
November 16, 2017 at 6:20 PM
U CAME TO POWER IN 1980,CONQUERED YEARS LATER AFTER FIGHTING MISRULE,INJUSTICE AND REVOCATION OF WHITE FARMS.BUT U SCREWED UP AND THINK THE WORLD REVOLVES AROUND YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.U FIRED THE VP AND APPOINTMENT ANOTHER PERSON ONLY TO FIRE HIM AGAIN BECAUSE THE WIFE SEE HIM AS UNSTOPPABLE PRESIDENT IN THE WAITING.YOU COULD NOT LIFT PEOPLE OUT OF POVERTY AND POVERTY IS HOVERING HARERE AND BEYOND.PLEASE ENJOY THE HOUSE ARREST AND REFLECT DEEPLY THAT POWER IS TRANSIENT AND CAN SLIP AWAY FROM ANYONE IN A FLASH.DOUBT IF U AND YOUR WIFE WILL AVOID JAIL TERM PENDING PROBE DEPENDING IF THE INCUMBENT ACTING PRESIDENT DECIDE TO SET UP A PANEL.
Whaaaat?!
November 16, 2017 at 9:33 PM
The poverty you speak of was caused by illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the West. Don’t be fooled. He must go but he’s not the one who caused poverty. What of the Lancaster Agreement? Africans, open your eyes. How was Zimbabwe before sanctions? The West loved him and even knighted him for 14yrs they called him
Sir Robert Mugabe, a knight of the British empire. until he took the land from the white farmers who stole it from Black Africans, suddenly he was called an evil dictator. Any country suffers economically due to sanctions. Look how sanctions affect a mighty nation like Russia, what more Zimbabwe? The West knew some people would be fooled by those actions and wanted him to look bad. Some of us will not be fooled. The same whites who killed hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans to steal their land and minerals now say he’s bad for taking that land back and giving it to its rightful owners? Mugabe is a hero. A true legend. Make no mistake. But he must step down regardless.
DB
November 16, 2017 at 10:39 PM
Many of these African presidents just dont like to die peacefully. This Mugabe is a re-writer of the modern day animal farm