Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa was set to be sworn in as president on today, marking the final chapter of a political drama that toppled his predecessor Robert Mugabe after a military takeover. Mnangagwa, until recently one of Mugabe’s closest allies, will take the oath of office …
Read More »A ray of hope for Zimbabwe’s ruined economy?
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Every time Chareka Mutungwazi, 76, tries to collect his pension money, he spends the night, like scores of others, sleeping outside a bank in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital. He is lucky if he is allowed to take out just $20 of his monthly $63 (53 …
Read More »Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa: key dates
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Emmerson Mnangagwa, who will be inaugurated on Friday as Zimbabwe’s next president, is a political veteran and party hardliner who for decades worked closely with Robert Mugabe. Here are key dates in his career: – September 15, 1942: Born in the British colony of Southern Rhodesia …
Read More »Zimbabwe’s ‘Crocodile’ to snap up the top job
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Nicknamed “the Crocodile” for his ruthlessness, Emmerson Mnangagwa who will take over as Zimbabwe’s next president, is a hardliner with ties to the military who could prove as authoritarian as his mentor Robert Mugabe. It was his political ambition to take over which set off …
Read More »Mnangagwa: More of the same for suffering Zimbabwe?
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Even before Robert Mugabe’s resignation, many Zimbabweans tempered their yearning for his downfall with the knowledge that his likely successor has a similar reputation for brutality and corruption. Emmerson Mnangagwa, who until recently was one of Mugabe’s longest-serving and closest allies, will be sworn in …
Read More »Zimbabwe’s next leader says post-Mugabe era is ‘full democracy’
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s incoming president Emmerson Mnangagwa told adoring crowds in Harare on Wednesday that they were witnessing “unfolding full democracy” as he returned to take power after Robert Mugabe stepped down after 37 years in power. It was his first public speech since Mugabe fired him …
Read More »Why push is increasingly shove in African regime change
Dakar, Senegal | AFP | Regime change in Africa may not guarantee greater democracy but, as Robert Mugabe’s downfall shows, patience for autocrats who overstay their welcome is wearing ever thinner, experts say. After 37 years of outmanoeuvring his political enemies, Mugabe was finally cornered on Tuesday and handed in …
Read More »Zimbabweans celebrate in S. Africa years after fleeing Mugabe
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Hundreds of Zimbabweans who fled their homeland for South Africa during the despotic rule of Robert Mugabe took to the streets of Johannesburg to celebrate the resignation of the hated president. Blowing vuvuzelas, waving Zimbabwean flags and stamping their feet, Zimbabweans danced their way …
Read More »Mugabe: the last of Africa’s ‘fathers of independence’
Paris, France | AFP | Robert Mugabe, who resigned as Zimbabwe’s president on Tuesday, was the last living African head of state to have fought for his country’s independence before becoming its leader. Mugabe, 93, had used his aura of liberator from a colonial power to stay in power but had …
Read More »Zimbabwe’s former vice president to return home: aide
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa will return home on Wednesday, more than two weeks after fleeing the country following his ouster by Robert Mugabe, his aide said. Mugabe resigned as president on Tuesday, swept from power as his 37 years authoritarian rule crumbled within …
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