Mugabe concludes (1980-2017)
Mugabe Wept After He Resigned, Called Friends ‘chameleon’
Former President of Zimbabwe, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, aged 93, wept after he agreed to resign and handed in his resignation to the parliament, a local newspaper, the Standard newspaper said in its Sunday edition.
The paper said Mugabe cried and lamented “betrayal by his lieutenants” and pressure from the military and his party after 37 years in power.
Mugabe was scheduled to attend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s, his former loyalist, inauguration on Friday but he eventually declined, citing weakness as a result of his age. Mugabe chose to watch the inauguration from his home.
The newspaper quoted sources within Mugabe’s inner circle as saying the devout Catholic held a rosary as he told his close associates and a team of negotiators at his “Blue House” Harare mansion that he was resigning. He announced the decision as parliament heard a motion to impeach him.
So we are not talking about a bitter man. I told him that it was good for him to see someone running the country.
“He looked down and said ‘people were chameleons’,” one of the sources was quoted as saying.
The state-owned Sunday Mail quoted Father Fidelis Mukonori, a Jesuit priest who is a close Mugabe friend and mediated his resignation with the military, as saying Mugabe’s face “just glowed” after he signed the resignation letter.
“So we are not talking about a bitter man. I told him that it was good for him to see someone running the country…,” Mukonori told the Sunday Mail.
Neither Father Mukonori nor Mugabe’s close aides were immediately available for comment.
“Mugabe’s fall after 37 years in power was spurred by a battle to succeed him that pitted Mnangagwa, who had stood by him for 52 years, and Mugabe’s wife Grace, who is 52.
The privately-owned Standard newspaper, which has been critical of Mugabe and his government over the years, urged Mnangagwa to “walk the talk on graft”, said Reuters.
Recent Comments