Local media and Zimbabwean sources said Mnangagwa would be sworn in Wednesday to replace Mugabe who resigned Tuesday afternoon after 37-years in office.

The 75-year-old was removed from office and exiled 13 days after Mugabe accused him of disloyalty and insubordination.

Mugabe had reportedly taken the action to pave way for his wife, Grace, to emerge as the new leader of ruling Zanu-PF ahead of the country’s general election next year.

Mnangagwa is said to be popular amongst the powerful War Veterans group and the Zimbabwean military chiefs.

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Mugabe’s grip on power was broken last week when the military took over, angered at his wife Grace’s emergence as the leading candidate to succeed the 93-year-old president.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of overjoyed demonstrators flooded the streets of Zimbabwe in peaceful celebrations marking the apparent end of his long and authoritarian rule.

Outside a ZANU-PF meeting in Harare, a delegate told AFP that Mugabe had been ousted as party chief and replaced by Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was previously Grace Mugabe’s chief rival to succeed the ageing president.

“A resolution has been adopted to recall the president and elevate Mnangagwa as the party president,” said the delegate, who declined to be named.

Mugabe — the world’s oldest head of state — remains national president for the time being but now faces overwhelming opposition from the generals, much of the Zimbabwean public and from his own party.

“(Mugabe’s) wife and close associates have taken advantage of his frail condition to usurp power and loot state resources,” party official Obert Mpofu told the ZANU-PF meeting.

Army chiefs who led the takeover were due to hold further talks with the president later Sunday.

The two sides first met on Thursday, smiling in photographs that attempted to present a dignified image of the tense process of negotiating Mugabe’s departure.

Veterans of the independence war — who were also formerly key Mugabe allies — added their voice in support of him resigning, demanding that he leave office on Sunday.

Zimbabweans have experienced a historic week in which the military seized power and put Mugabe under house arrest in response to his sacking of vice president Mnangagwa, who has close military ties.

On Saturday, in scenes of public euphoria not seen since Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, huge crowds marched and sang their way through Harare and other cities.

The demonstrations included citizens of all ages, jubilant that Mugabe appeared to be on his way out.

In central Harare, a group of young men tore down a green metal street sign bearing Robert Mugabe’s name and smashed it repeatedly on the road.

Such open dissent would have just a week ago would have been routinely crushed by security forces.

“What you saw yesterday, it shows that the people have spoken,” Mordecai Makore, 71, a retired teacher told AFP after attending a Sunday morning service at the Catholic cathedral in central Harare.

“All we want is peace, a good life with a working economy that creates jobs for our people. We will continue praying for that. I want my children and grandchildren to live a normal good life.”

The majority of Zimbabweans have only known life under Mugabe’s rule, which has been defined by violent suppression, economic collapse and international isolation.

Sources suggest Mugabe has been battling to delay to his exit and to secure a deal guaranteeing future protection for him and his family.

He attended a university graduation ceremony on Friday, in a show of defiance after the talks with General Constantino Chiwenga, who led the military power grab.

The factional succession race that triggered Zimbabwe’s sudden crisis was between party hardliner Mnangagwa — known as the Crocodile — and a group called “Generation 40” or “G40” because its members are generally younger, which campaigned for Grace’s cause.

“She is very acceptable. Very much accepted by the people,” Mugabe said of Grace in a faltering interview to mark his 93rd birthday last February.

The president, who is feted in parts of Africa as the continent’s last surviving liberation leader serving as a head of state, is in fragile health. But he previously said he would stand in elections next year that would see him remain in power until he was nearly 100-years-old.

He became prime minister on Zimbabwe’s independence from Britain in 1980 and then president in 1987.

Zimbabwe’s economic output has halved since 2000 when many white-owned farms were seized, leaving the key agricultural sector in ruins.

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General Constantino Chiwenga, commander of Zimbabwe Defence Forces and a political ally of Mnangagwa who was also expelled from the ruling ZANU-PF, said instability in the party was causing anxiety in Zimbabwe.

Chiwenga’s statement, read out at a news conference packed with army top brass, comes at a time of a deepening rift within ZANU-PF over who will eventually lead the party after the 93-year-old Mugabe goes.

Mnangagwa’s removal provides a boost for Grace Mugabe, the wife of the president, who is supported by the largely youthful G40 faction of ZANU-PF to succeed her husband.

Chiwenga said ZANU-PF had been hijacked by people who did not fight in the 1970s liberation war, a clear shot at G40 wing and Grace Mugabe who is a vocal critic of Mnangagwa.

“We must remind those behind the current treacherous shenanigans that, when it comes to matters of protecting our revolution, the military will not hesitate to step in,” Chiwenga said in a statement read to reporters at the news conference.

“The current purging … targeting members of the party with a liberation background must stop forthwith,” he said.

Mugabe’s 37 years in power has been anchored by support from the military, which has always said it will not back anyone for president who did not fight in the liberation war. But the aging leader has been accusing the generals of taking sides in the succession race.

It is rare for the defense forces to publicly take sides in the affairs of ZANU-PF. When Joice Mujuru, a war veteran and Mugabe’s deputy of 10 years, was sacked from the ruling party in 2014, the military remained quiet.

Political analysts however say the military stayed quiet then because the beneficiary of Mujuru’s downfall was the 75-year-old Mnangagwa, a war veteran.

Grace, now poised to become a vice president, did not fight in the liberation war.

The party appears split over the succession with the G40 faction supporting Grace and another faction, that includes war veterans, rooting for the ousted Mnangagwa.

Chiwenga said ZANU-PF had since 2015 been rocked by infighting, which had afflicted the economy, causing serious cash shortages and soaring prices of basic commodities – rare criticism of those in government by the military.

Analysts said if Mugabe responded to Chiwenga’s statement, he would be compelled to choose sides between war veterans and the young turks rallying behind his wife.

“He is in a corner. He has to declare his allegiance. If he condemns that statement, then he is saying therefore I am for the young turks against the war veterans,” said Eldred Masunugure, a political science lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe.

“What we are witnessing is the military saying: ‘We are willing to intervene if the red line is crossed’. It is a warning that the political class in ZANU-PF is about to cross that red line.”

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President Robert Mugabe, 93, accuses his former deputy of plotting to take power from him.

“He went to apostolic church prophets to find out when Mugabe would die. But he was told he would die first,” Mugabe told supporters on Wednesday.

First Lady Grace Mugabe is now the favourite to succeed her husband.

Mrs Mugabe had been pushing for the removal of the vice-president, referring to him as a snake that “must be hit on the head.”

She is now expected to be appointed vice-president at a special congress of the ruling Zanu-PF party next month.

Zanu-PF expelled Mnangagwa from the party on Wednesday.

Mugabe called his former deputy a conspirator and warned that he was planning to purge others in the party.

“We knew a long time ago what he [Mnangagwa] was like. But we tried to shield you from it. He thought that by being close to me, I would carry him on my back to the presidency. But I didn’t die, I didn’t resign,” he told his supporters at the headquarters of Zanu-PF in Harare.

“We hope we can deal with others who were conspirators alongside him,” he added.

Mrs Mugabe’s supporters staged a rally at the party headquarters
Although Mr Mnangagwa has not commented in person, the angry, five-page statement attributed to him and apparently signed by him says he had been loyal to President Mugabe.

He said that he was being “vilified” by people who draw their power “not from the people or party but from two individuals in the form of the first family”.

The statement said the former vice-president said he planned to return to lead Zimbabwe and accused President Mugabe and his wife of privatising and capturing the party.

It also criticised Zanu-PF officials for allowing the party to be hijacked, saying that it was “not personal property”.

“We must reject this insane and ‘idiotic’ habit of expelling and suspending members of the party merely because we differ in opinion or have brighter and more progressive ideas of improving the lives of our people,” the statement added.

Given that this statement has been issued by a third party, Emmerson Mnangagwa could disown it in future.

Last year, the same group of war veterans who are speaking on his behalf reportedly issued an unsigned communiqué criticising “genocidal” President Mugabe and labelling him a dictator.

They disavowed the statement when they were arrested.
If this five-page letter is from Mnangagwa, he would probably be arrested on his return to Zimbabwe and charged with treason.

Although the letter is not specific about the actions to be taken so that he can lead Zimbabwe, ordinary Zimbabweans have been charged for trying to overthrow the government for merely posting critical tweets.

Mnangagwa, a former intelligence chief, had been a leading candidate to succeed President Mugabe.

He had worked closely with Mr Mugabe for more than 40 years, serving as his special assistant during the liberation war in 1977.

His nickname in the party was the “crocodile”, so-called due to his shrewdness. As yet, he has not commented on his dismissal.

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President Robert Mugabe and his wife arrived back in Harare early on Sunday.

Mrs Mugabe, 52, is accused of assaulting model Gabriella Engels a week ago at a Johannesburg hotel where her sons were staying. She has not commented publicly on the case.

A lawyer for Ms Engels told the BBC that they were planning to challenge the immunity decision in court.

Willie Spies said he would argue that the first lady should not have been given special treatment as she had been in South Africa on private business.

The South African government’s decision came in a notice from International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, published in the Government Gazette on Sunday.

“I hereby recognise the immunities and privileges of the First Lady of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Dr Grace Mugabe,” she said.

On Saturday, Mrs Mugabe had been due to take part in the first ladies’ programme at the Southern African Development Community heads of state summit in Pretoria, which Mugabe, 93, was attending. However, she failed to show up.

South African police had said they wanted to interview Mrs Mugabe and had set up a “red alert” at the borders to try to ensure she did not leave the country.

But Zimbabwe’s ZBC state broadcaster reported that President Mugabe and his wife “arrived on board an Air Zimbabwe flight early on Sunday morning”.

It showed pictures of her greeting officials at Harare airport.
Ms Engels’ lawyers have said their client was offered money to drop the case but she refused.

She appeared at a press conference on Thursday with a large plaster on her forehead. She has alleged that Mrs Mugabe beat her with an extension cable at the hotel where the model was staying with Mrs Mugabe’s two sons.

She told the BBC: “She hit me with the plug and the extension cord. And I just remember being curled down on the floor with blood rushing down my face and down my neck.”

The South African Broadcasting Corporation said the Mugabes were scheduled to attend a funeral for a state minister at Harare’s Heroes Acre on Sunday.

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Dyanda told Reuters that Air Zimbabwe would cut 200 jobs in its fourth round of lay-offs in eight years.

“We were overstaffed by a lot and we are also trying to weed out people without the right qualifications.

“The retrenchment is meant to give space to the airline so that we can redeploy the money saved back into the company,” Dyanda said.

She said Air Zimbabwe required a ratio of 45 workers per aircraft.

The airline currently flies four planes which has forced Mugabe to hire private jets for his foreign travels at times.

“As part of the strategic plan, we would like to get more reliable planes and expand our routes,” Dyanda said, without giving details.

Air Zimbabwe cut 300 jobs in August 2015 following cuts in 2009 and 2013, but has since re-hired some of the workers.

Like most state-owned companies in the southern African country, Air Zimbabwe has been making losses for years due to mismanagement, high operating costs, old aircraft and equipment.

President Robert Mugabe’s son-in-law, Simba Chikore, was appointed chief operating officer last October, drawing accusations of nepotism from the opposition and critics of the government.

An official at Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Transport said the airline, which has debts of more than $300 million, is looking to lease aircraft from Malaysia.

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Editor of independent newspaper NewsDay Wisdom Mudzungairi and journalist Richard Chidza were released ahead of a court appearance on Saturday.

The front-page story said that Mugabe, 93, had “sneaked out of the country” this week, and quoted an unnamed source saying “it’s a tricky health situation”.

The report, headlined “Mugabe in fresh health scare”, said that first lady Grace Mugabe had flown to Dubai to organise the charter flight.

“They have been arrested and charged with undermining and insulting the office of the president,” said their lawyer Obey Shava before their release.

He said their arrest was “in relation to the paper’s lead story”.

Mugabe’s trip to Singapore, shortly after his lavish 93rd birthday party, was announced by his press spokesman on Wednesday.

The president is expected to return early next week.

Mugabe’s health has been subject of increased speculation in recent years, and he regularly flies to Singapore for medical attention.

Despite his advanced age, Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF party last year endorsed him as its candidate for the 2018 general elections.

In recent speeches, he has paused for lengthy periods and mumbled at times.

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The national stay-away day, fronted by social-media movement #ThisFlag, followed violent clashes between taxi drivers and police on Monday that led to the arrest of 95 people. It also coincides with a strike by doctors, teachers and nurses over delayed salaries.

The southern African nation has been gripped by a devastating drought, adding to the problems of high unemployment and an acute shortage of cash that has angered its citizens.

#ThisFlag was started in April by 39-year-old Zimbabwean pastor Evan Mawarire to protest against the government “for allowing corruption, injustice and poverty.”

The campaign has attracted thousands of followers, who have been speaking out against government excesses. Tuesday’s stay-away was organized via Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp.

“We have got to a point now where everyone is saying enough is enough. The response has been outstanding…this is what we all needed, something that we can all do together,” Mawarire told Reuters TV when asked about the success of the stay-away.

State telecoms regulator POTRAZ said in a statement it would arrest people sending “subversive” messages that cause unrest.

In the volatile township of Mufakose, to the west of Harare, hundreds of youths barricaded roads to stop people from going to work, Reuters witnesses said. The police arrested a dozen people.

Local units of Barclays and Standard Chartered shut their branches in central Harare while clothing retailers Edgars Stores and Truworths also closed stores.

Siyaso, one of the biggest and oldest informal markets in Mbare township near central Harare was also shut down and there were few vehicles on Harare’s roads.

Government departments were open while supermarkets like Pick’n’Pay, Ok Zimbabwe and Choppies reported low business.

“As you can see there are very few customers here. It is not usual for a Wednesday to have these small volumes,” a supervisor at an OK Zimbabwe store in the central business district said.

Local private media said Zimbabweans in other major cities had also stayed at home, with most businesses closed. Zimbabwe last witnessed a stay-away in April 2007.

Mugabe was on Wednesday attending a scheduled meeting of his ZANU-PF’s politburo, the party’s top executive organ. Party spokesman Simon Khaya-Moyo declined to say whether ZANU-PF would discuss the recent protests.

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The veteran Zimbabwean leader, who has been in power for 36 years and is the world’s oldest serving head of state, was reported to have left the country on Monday to attend the World Culture Festival in New Delhi, which kicks off in the Indian capital on Friday.

Since then, however, his whereabouts have become something of a mystery. Mugabe canceled his visit to the festival on Wednesday, with his spokesman George Charamba citing “substantial inadequacies in protocol and security arrangements” and saying that Mugabe would return home in “a couple of days.”

Yet the president does not appear to have returned to Zimbabwe, with speculation that Mugabe may have traveled to Singapore, where he is reported to have previously received medical treatment.

U.S. diplomatic cables leaked by Wikileaks in 2011 claimed that Mugabe was suffering from prostate cancer, though it is not known whether the president still suffers from the disease.

Zimbabwe’s higher education Jonathan Moyo took to Twitter to defend the president’s cancellation of the trip but only added to the mystery by indicating that, while Mugabe did not go to India, he was not in Zimbabwe either.

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Debris from Emmerson Mnangagwa’s office ceiling was shown on state TV along with tears to his leather sofa. There was no sign of damage to the door.

The police are investigating, State Security Minister Kembo Mohadi said.
Factions in the governing Zanu-PF party disagree over who should succeed the president. who turns 92 in February.

Celebrations for Mr Mugabe’s birthday are to be held in the south-eastern Masvingo province for the first time, local media reported.

Mr Mugabe is currently on holiday with his family in east Asia, his office said.

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