Trouble Brewing In Zimbabwe?

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"I've never seen Zimbos so happy, so united & so free. The world mightn't understand why most have chosen to side with the army instead of choosing one interpretation of the Constitution. It's cause we've been played repeatedly by a man who'll use any device available. We're done."

"What happened in ZIMBABWE today will impact at least 3 other African Countries in the next 12 months. Despots are having chestpains. Mugabe was their Godfather and he is being dealt with properly. They are watching and very concerned"
 
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Granny says, "Dat's right - dey need to tar n' feather him n' run him outta town...
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Zimbabwe’s Mugabe ignores calls to quit, faces impeachment
19 Nov.`17 — Zimbabweans mobilized Monday for a major push to oust President Robert Mugabe, an increasingly isolated figure who faces impeachment proceedings and more street demonstrations even as he ignores calls to resign.
While there is a widespread consensus that the 93-year-old president should step down after nearly four decades in power, Mugabe has refused. The country has known no other leader since independence from white minority rule in 1980. The conflicted role of the military, widely hailed as a savior after effectively stripping Mugabe of his authority last week, is under scrutiny after its generals flanked him during a televised address Sunday night in which he asserted that he remained the “commander in chief” and referred to “our well-cherished constitutional order.” The generals have been involved in talks with him on a way out of the leadership crisis. While they acted outside his authority by sending tanks into the streets, they also projected deference in sitting by at the official residence, State House, as Mugabe told the nation he was still in charge.

Although Mugabe’s powers as a wily, ruthless tactician have faded with age, his remarks seemed to reflect a keen understanding of the quandary of those trying to pry him from office: It would be easy enough at this stage to eject him, but perceptions that he is being illegally toppled, or is the target of a military coup, would undermine the credibility of any successor and muddy the international relationships of a new government. Zimbabwe’s association of war veterans, which is close to the military, said the generals are in an awkward position because their formal role requires them to protect Mugabe from civilian protesters such as those who poured into Harare’s streets on the weekend. It is time for the military to step back and let the parliament and, if necessary, demonstrators remove the longtime leader, said Chris Mutsvangwa, head of the association. “We cannot continue to have the generals seen as arbiters of the political destiny of Zimbabwe. It is not their purpose,” Mutsvangwa said.

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Later Monday, the military said in a statement that it held further meetings with Mugabe since his speech in which he ignored calls to resign. The statement said Mugabe is working toward “a definitive solution and roadmap for the country.” In a news conference on state-run television, the military said it was encouraged by new developments that include “contact” between Mugabe and ousted Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has close ties to the military and is poised to succeed him. The military said Mnangagwa will return to Zimbabwe “shortly.” Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party expressed confidence that it could impeach Mugabe this week if it secures the support of opposition lawmakers in reaching a two-thirds majority in parliament. On Sunday, the party’s Central Committee stripped him of his ZANU-PF leadership post in a decision to be ratified at a party congress on Dec. 12-17. The plan is to move a motion for impeachment on Tuesday, set up a parliamentary committee to investigate the matter, and then refer it to all lawmakers for a vote by Wednesday, said Paul Mangwana, the party’s deputy secretary for legal affairs.

The main charge against Mugabe is “allowing his wife to usurp government powers” and that “he is too old and cannot even walk without help,” Mangwana told reporters. However, some analysts believe the impeachment process could take weeks and would, if conducted properly, allow Mugabe to make a case in his defense. Zimbabwe’s polarizing first lady, Grace Mugabe, had been positioning herself to succeed her husband, leading a party faction that engineered the ouster of Mnangagwa. The prospect of a dynastic succession alarmed the military, which threw its lot in with Mnangagwa by confining Mugabe to his home and targeting what it said were “criminals” around him who were allegedly looting state resources — a reference to associates of his wife. Zimbabweans are disillusioned by the country’s economic collapse under Mugabe, who acknowledged “a whole range of concerns” about the national disarray on his watch, in his Sunday night address.

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Zimbabwe latest: Mugabe faces impeachment by parliament
20 Nov.`17 - The party of Zimbabwe's embattled President Robert Mugabe is to begin moves to impeach him.
A Zanu-PF official said a motion to strip him of the presidency would be presented to parliament on Tuesday, and the process could take just two days. The motion accuses the 93-year-old of charges including allowing his wife Grace to "usurp constitutional power". Military leaders, who last week intervened, said he will meet his exiled former vice-president soon. Emmerson Mnangagwa fled Zimbabwe after Mr Mugabe stripped him of his position, seen by many as a way clearing the way for his wife to succeed him as leader. The move riled top army officials, who stepped in and put Mr Mugabe under house arrest, though he nominally remains the president. The military said they have planned a "roadmap" with Mr Mugabe for the future. On Sunday, despite intense pressure Mr Mugabe surprised many by refusing to resign, instead in a TV speech vowing to preside over next month's Zanu-PF party congress.

What is President Mugabe accused of?

Impeachment proceedings are set to go ahead after a deadline set by the party for Mr Mugabe to stand down came and went. Speaking outside a party meeting on Monday, member of parliament Paul Mangwana said of the president: "He is a stubborn man, he can hear the voices of the people, but is refusing to listen." Impeachment in Zimbabwe can only occur in specific scenarios, on grounds of "serious misconduct", "violation" of the constitution or "failure to obey, uphold or defend" it, or "incapacity". "The main charge is that he has allowed his wife to usurp constitutional power when she has no right to run government. But she is insulting civil servants, the vice president, at public rallies. They are denigrating the army - those are the charges," Mr Mangwana said. "He has refused to implement the constitution of Zimbabwe - particularly we had elections for the provincial councils, but up to now they have not been put into office. He added that the process - which some experts had thought would be lengthy - could be fast-tracked and completed by Wednesday, "because the charges are so clear".

How does impeachment work?

Votes are expected to be held in both the National Assembly and the Senate - Zimbabwe's two parliamentary houses - on whether to begin impeachment proceedings. If they pass by a simple majority, a joint committee from both chambers will be appointed to investigate removing the president. Then, if the committee recommends impeachment, the president can then be removed if both houses back it with two-thirds majorities. The opposition has tried and failed to remove Mr Mugabe using this process in the past. But now that the president has lost the support of his own ruling party and its overwhelming majority in both houses, reaching a two-thirds majority is achievable.

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President Mugabe is under pressure from the public and his own Zanu-PF party​

The vice-president would then take over Mr Mugabe's position. The military, which supports Mr Mnangagwa, would like to see him step into that role. But when he was removed from office, Phelekezela Mphoko - a known supporter of Grace Mugabe - became vice-president, and in theory would assume the presidential role. It is not clear if Mr Mnangagwa could be restored to his former position, and military leaders simply said the public would "be advised on the outcome of talks" between Mr Mugabe and his former deputy.

Mugabe 'could lose presidency in days'
 
Things settlin' down after Mugabe resignation...
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Zimbabwe army leaves streets a month after Mugabe's ouster
December 18, 2017 - Zimbabwe’s army declared an end on Monday to the military intervention that ousted Robert Mugabe, promising to shut down their last roadblocks in the capital and hand over to police.
The armed soldiers who took to the streets during last month’s de facto coup had largely disappeared from the city center by Monday afternoon. Just a handful could be seen standing around with civilian police. “Normalcy has now returned to our country. It is for this reason that ... we announce the end of Operation Restore Legacy today,” Commander Phillip Sibanda said, referring to the name of the intervention which the army said targeted criminals in the entourage of the 93-year-old leader and his wife, Grace.

Civic groups have been urging the soldiers to leave the streets since Mugabe’s former deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa, was sworn in to replace him as president of the southern African country on Nov. 24. Defence Forces Commander General Constantino Chiwenga, who spearheaded the de facto coup, was initially billed to address reporters, but he did not turn up and no explanation was given for his absence.

He is widely seen as a contender to become vice president - a post that Mnangagwa has promised to fill in the next few days. Mnangagwa made three generals members of the ruling ZANU-PF party’s executive Politburo on Friday.

Zimbabwe army leaves streets a month after Mugabe's ouster
 

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