Zimbabwe

[Diable Rouge]

Seems to be a rather confused sequence of events occurring in Harare - firstly, the head of the Zimbabwean army threatened to launch a coup, and now there are reports of tanks heading towards the capital, though the Beeb suggest they are not directed at Mugabe.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-41984813

[Various Artist]

This sentence sums up the whole confused pathos of the scenario, rather:

It is not clear where they were heading but they have not been seen on the streets of Harare. One of the vehicles had broken down on the side of the road.

[Nefertiti2]

Reports that Zimbabwe's State Broadcaster ZBC now in Army Control.

[Satchmo Distel]

If Mugabe has lost the military, I assume he is fucked.

[ursus arctos]

Military say that they are in charge, that they are targeting “criminals around Mugabe”. but that he and his family are safe.

Most curious.

[G-Man]

They don't want to topple Mugabe, who is a godfather of liberation struggles and still commands much respect among other African leaders.

It all hinges on his succession. Bob clearly wants his truly awful wife Grace to succeed him. To that end, he fired the more likely successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa, last week. Mnangagwa is another veteran of the liberation war, so obviously the army rather prefers him to the corrupt Grace. We can read that the "criminals around Mugabe" is Grace and her faction, which rather clumsily tried to begin a purge of Mnangagwa supporters by drumming up disciplinary charges.

While it is great news that Grace Mugabe is apparently not going to become president, Mnangagwa is a rather unlovely customer himself. Mugabe's first minister for state security in 1980, he has a long record of masterminding and/or supervising violence against political opponents.

With the parliamentary opposition to Zanu-PF so weak -- Tsvangirai has proven himself not much better than Mugabe in clinging to power -- the ruling party is expected to be returned to government. So the Zanu-PF succession battle is a powder keg which I fear might cause a civil war. The army's action -- I'm nit sure it qualifies as a coup yet -- will, I hope, forestall that.

South Africa has indicated that it has no interest in interfering in the situation.

[Nefertiti2]

ZANU PF

Zimbabwe has not had a coup. There has been a decision to intervene because our constitution had been undermined, in the interim Comrade E Mnagngawa will be president of ZANU PF as per the constitution of our revolutionary organisation.

Last night the first family was detained and are safe, both for the constitution and the sanity of the nation this was necessary. Neither Zimbabwe nor ZANU are owned by Mugabe and his wife. Today begins a fresh new era and comrade Mnangagwa will help us achieve a better Zimbabwe.

There was no coup, only a bloodless transition which saw corrupt and crooked persons being arrested and an elderly man who had been taken advantage of by his wife being detained. The few bangs that were heard were from crooks who were resisting arrest, but they are now detained


zanu pf has a way of solving our own problems, the situation is stable and Zimbabwe is open for business. There was no coup, but a bloodless peaceful transition- the centre is strong and there is peace with honest leadership.

from an unverified zanu pf account in the last few minutes







ZANU PF
@zanu_pf
24m24 minutes ago
More

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

Lots of Twitter stuff. Mostly saying that Bob's been held hostage for the last couple of days and Grace is negotiating a move to South Africa.

[Gerontophile]

... where she can be charged for beating that woman with an extension cord.

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

... where she can be charged for beating that woman with an extension cord.

Every little helps.

[Kevin S]

Well, at least it's made new Tweeter Mark Lawrenson's day.

https://twitter.com/MTLawrenson/status/930699691771252736

[ursus arctos]

https://twitter.com/govzimbabwe/status/930956235070992385

[Hot Pepsi]

This shit is fcked up

[Sam]

Everything about this is bizarre, from the fact that it's apparently a coup-but-not-a-coup to the fact that the Zanu-PF Twitter account Nef linked to above is, apparently, a parody account that might (or might not) now be in the hands of one faction of Zanu-PF people. (That's not a dig, by the way Nef; it fooled the BBC as well!)

A lot of Zimbabweans are apparently quite happy with this, but then one wonders whether those are just the ones whose stories the international press are choosing to tell.

In summary: what Reed said.

[G-Man]

What makes this coup very unusual is that it's an intra-party leadership battle involving the army in a (increasingly nominal) democracy, with elections coming up. It's as if an opposition doesn't exist. And given Emmerson Mnangagwa, I fear that it soon won't. Mugabe paid lip-service to democracy; Mnangagwa has been giving democracy a good kicking for many years. It's no accident that his faction is called "Lacoste" and he the Crucodile.

Mugabe's removal is a time to take a breath of fresh air before the stench resumes.

[ursus arctos]

ZANU-PF removes Mugabe as leader and expels his wife from the party.

Hie now faces a choice of standing down as President or being impeached by the legislature,

[Toby Gymshorts]

Mugabe has just addressed the nation and seems to have forgotten to resign.

[Sean of the Shed]

He'll probably still be refusing to stand down even as they are hanging him and his delightful wife from lampposts.

[Lang Spoon]

This is a forerunner of Trump’s last days, I suppose.

[Diable Rouge]

This is a forerunner of Trump’s last days, I suppose.

Wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if Trump were re-elected, unless an engaging Democrat candidate emerges. Zanu-PF will reportedly impeach Mugabe tomorrow, given his failure to resign tonight.

[ursus arctos]

He’s resigned

[Various Artist]

Amazing, didn't think he'd ever voluntarily let go of power. Of course, how "voluntary" this is remains to be seen, possibly.

Zimbabwe's President Mugabe 'resigns'

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has resigned, parliament speaker Jacob Mudenda has said.
A letter from Mr Mugabe said that the decision was voluntary and that he had made it to allow a smooth transfer of power, the Reuters news agency reports.
The surprise announcement halted an impeachment hearing that had begun against him.
Lawmakers roared in jubilation and people have begun celebrating in the streets.
Mr Mugabe had previously refused to resign despite last week's military takeover and days of protests.
He has been in power since independence in 1980.

[Tactical Genius]

What makes this coup very unusual is that it's an intra-party leadership battle involving the army in a (increasingly nominal) democracy, with elections coming up. It's as if an opposition doesn't exist. And given Emmerson Mnangagwa, I fear that it soon won't. Mugabe paid lip-service to democracy; Mnangagwa has been giving democracy a good kicking for many years. It's no accident that his faction is called "Lacoste" and he the Crucodile.

Mugabe's removal is a time to take a breath of fresh air before the stench resumes.

Excellent summary from Gman there.
Watching the west celebrating the overturning of an African leader is usually a sign that things are about to get a lot worse for the people.

[Tactical Genius]

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/lond...-a3699766.html

I heard this a lot about 15 years ago and it still makes my teeth grind along with this breadbasket of Africa stuff.

[anton pulisov]

What an absolute muppet.