Mnangagwa to take charge of Zimbabwe

– Political comeback –

The 2008 elections, when he was made Mugabe’s chief election agent, changed Mnangagwa’s fortunes.

Mugabe lost the first round vote, and Mnangagwa allegedly supervised the wave of violence and intimidation that forced the opposition to pull out of the run-off vote.

In the same year Mnangagwa took over as head of the Joint Operations Command, a committee of security chiefs which had been accused by rights groups of organising violent campaigns to crush dissent.

He was targeted by EU and US sanctions imposed on Mugabe and his close allies over the elections and ensuing violence, but was promptly handed control of the powerful defence ministry.

Born in the southwestern Zvishavane district on September 15, 1942, Mnangagwa completed his early education in Zimbabwe before his family relocated to neighbouring Zambia.

His grandfather was a traditional leader and his father a political agitator for the repeal of colonial laws that disadvantaged blacks.

In 1966, Mnangagwa joined the struggle for independence from Britain, becoming one of the young combatants who helped direct the war after undergoing training in China and Egypt.

He was arrested and sentenced to death but his sentence was later commuted to 10 years in prison because of his young age.

After independence in 1980, he directed a brutal crackdown on opposition supporters that claimed thousands of lives in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces.

The Gukurahundi massacres remain the biggest scar on his reputation among many Zimbabweans.

He once remarked that he had been taught to “destroy and kill” — although he later claimed to be a born-again Christian.