LIVE updates: #Mugabe trying to wriggle out of agreed deal… military threaten to “escalate stand off”
Summary
- Robert Mugabe makes first public appearance since coup
- Zimbabwean President appears in academic cap and gown
- Comes as military says it has made ‘significant progress’ in talks
- Party drafting motion to fire leader on Sunday if he doesn’t quit
Journalist Hopewell Chin’ono
“Robert Mugabe has stuck to his guns saying that the law must be primary to everything.
The Generals are now using the ZANUPF constitution to fulfill his wishes. #Lawfare”
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Botswana President Ian Khama says President Robert Mugabe should end his attempts to remain in office after the military seized power this week as he has no regional diplomatic support to stay.
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“Robert Mugabe told the South African ministers that his people still love him, citing the last 9 stage managed interface rallies as evidence.
Stark choices including a medical to prove his unworthiness to rule are now on the table. The Zimbabwean military is seeking a bloodless and peaceful outcome and also something within the law.
It’s ironic that Mugabe seems to know the importance of his rights, something he has been denying Zimbabweans for 37 years!” Journalist Hopewell Chin’ono
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*Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has arrived at a graduation ceremony at Harare’s Open University, in the leader’s first public appearance since the military seized control of the country.
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The spokesperson for the UN secretary-general says Antonio Guterres welcomes the efforts of the southern African regional bloc to “facilitate a peaceful solution to the situation” in Zimbabwe.
The spokesperson says the UN chief is in contact with regional leaders and calls for continued calm.
Cabinet ministers from four countries in the 15-nation Southern African Development Community have called for an emergency summit to discuss the political turmoil in Zimbabwe.
It is widely seen as essential to giving Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe a dignified exit from power after the military stepped in this week. Associated Press
Zanu PF plans to impeach Mugabe if he resists graceful exit
Leaders of Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party are meeting on Friday to draft a resolution to dismiss President Robert Mugabe at the weekend and lay the ground for his impeachment next week if he refuses to stand down, a senior party source said.
“There is no going back,” the source told Reuters. “If he becomes stubborn, we will arrange for him to be fired on Sunday. When that is done, it’s impeachment on Tuesday.” Reuters
Thursday
On Thursday a smiling President Mugabe was pictured shaking hands with Zimbabwe’s military chief a day after the army seized power, throwing confusion over predictions that the 93-year-old’s nearly four-decade rule had come to an end. Mugabe is insisting he remains Zimbabwe’s only legitimate ruler and is refusing to quit, but pressure was mounting on him to accept offers of a graceful exit.
23: 52: Update from Harare based journalist Hopewell Chin’ono – This should not surprise anyone. It is typical Mugabe behavior!
So the deal had been agreed on only waiting for Mugabe’s signature, but Robert Mugabe is now refusing to sign it making reference to constitutional obligations. He is now demanding that he be allowed to be party President until December and State President until next year.
The Military has given him a firm NO and have told him that they will now escalate the stand off.
Initially, he was demanding that Emmerson Mnangagwa shouldn’t succeed him, now this. My guess is that Mugabe wants to pull a fast one and the longer this takes, he gets a firmer grip on issues.
He is also banking on his SADC friends! So this might end badly
19:32: Publisher Trevor Ncube on Twitter
This might take longer than we expected. The going part seems agreed. The how and when are sticking points. December after ZanuPF Congress? Before 2018 elections ? Who blinks first?
17:07: Trevor Ncube on Twitter
“I am reliably informed that a deal is being finalized. It appears Mugabe’s demands for safe passage for his family have been granted. Final details might be confirmed in a few hours.”
Reuters
The official Herald newspaper carried no reports of the outcome of the meeting, leaving Zimbabwe’s 13 million people in the dark as to what was happening as night fell on Thursday.
Mugabe is insisting he remains Zimbabwe’s only legitimate ruler and is refusing to quit, but pressure was mounting on the former guerrilla to accept offers of a graceful exit, sources said on Thursday.
Earlier, a political source who spoke to senior allies holed up in the compound with Mugabe and his wife Grace said he had no plans to resign voluntarily ahead of elections due next year.
“It’s a sort of stand-off, a stalemate,” the source said. “They are insisting the president must finish his term.”
Video footage obtained by Reuters from the houses of two key allies of Grace Mugabe – cabinet ministers Jonathan Moyo and Saviour Kasukuwere – indicated that the army was also prepared to use force if necessary.
Moyo’s front door was blown open with explosives, scattering glass across the entrance hall, while the inside walls of Kasukuwere’s house were pocked with bullet holes.
The pair managed to escape on the evening of the coup and make it to Mugabe’s compound, where they remain under effective house arrest, one political source said.
Constitutional lawyer Fadzayi Mahere on Twitter
“When Zimbabwe has faced real security issues, including 2016 uprisings and 2008 election violence, SADC was nowhere to be seen. South Africa said there was “no crisis.” Zim is at its most peaceful today. SADC wants to come and ruin it. Please just stay out of it. Bob must go.”
