Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF will discuss the impeachment of President Robert Mugabe on Monday, its chief whip said, after a noon deadline expired for the 93-year-old to end his nearly four decades in power by resigning.
Impeachment could see Mugabe kicked out by a vote in parliament in under a day and would represent an end to the career of the “Grand Old Man” of African politics.
ZANU-PF chief whip, Lovemore Matuke, said the party’s members of parliament would meet at 1230 GMT (7.30 a.m. ET) to start mapping out Mugabe’s impeachment.
On paper, the process is relatively long-winded, involving a joint sitting of the Senate and National Assembly, then a nine-member committee of senators, then another joint sitting to confirm his dismissal with a two-thirds majority.
However, constitutional experts said ZANU-PF had the numbers and could push it through in as little as 24 hours.
“They can fast-track it. It can be done in a matter of a day,” said John Makamure, Executive Director of the Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust, an NGO that works with the parliament in Harare.
Mugabe was once admired, even in the West, as the “Thinking Man’s Guerrilla”, a world away from his image in his later years as the stereotypical African dictator proudly declaring he held a “degree in violence”.
ZANU-PF’s action follows a weekend of high drama in Harare, culminating in reports that Mugabe had agreed on Sunday to stand down — only for him to dash the hopes of millions of his countrymen in a bizarre and rambling national address.
Flanked by the generals, who sent in tanks and troops last week to seize the state broadcaster, Mugabe spoke of the need for national unity and farming reform, but made no mention of his fate, leaving the nation of 16 million people dumbstruck.
“I am baffled. It’s not just me, it’s the whole nation,” shocked opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai told Reuters. “He’s playing a game.”
Two senior government sources told Reuters Mugabe had agreed on Sunday to step aside.
Also CNN said on Monday that his resignation letter had been drawn up, with terms that included immunity for him and his hot-headed and unpopular 52-year-old wife Grace.
On Saturday, hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Harare to celebrate Mugabe’s expected downfall and hail a new era for their country. (Reuters/NAN)
