Harare - Wild celebrations broke out in parliament and on the streets of Harare after Robert Mugabe resigned as
Zimbabwe's president on Tuesday.
The 93-year-old had clung on for a week after an army
takeover and expulsion from his own ruling ZANU-PF party, but
resigned shortly after parliament began an impeachment process
seen as the only legal way to force him out.
Celebrations broke out at a joint sitting of parliament
when Speaker Jacob Mudenda announced Mugabe's resignation and
suspended the impeachment procedure.
People danced and car horns blared on the streets of Harare
at news that the era of Mugabe - who has led Zimbabwe since
independence in 1980 - was finally over.
Some held posters of army chief General Constantino Chiwenga
and former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose sacking this
month triggered the military takeover that forced Mugabe out.
"I am very happy with what has happened," said Maria Sabawu,
a supporter of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC), outside the hotel where the impeachment process was
happening.
"I have suffered a lot at the hands of Mugabe’s government,"
she said, showing her hand with a missing finger that she said
she lost in violence during a presidential run-off election
between Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in 2008.
Mugabe is the only leader Zimbabwe has known since a
guerrilla struggle ended white-minority rule in the former
Rhodesia.
During his reign, he took the once-rich country to economic
ruin and kept his grip on power through repression of opponents,
although he styled himself as the Grand Old Man of African
politics and kept the admiration of many people across Africa.
Despite the outpouring of joy on the streets, Mugabe's
downfall was as much the result of in-fighting among the
political elite as a popular uprising, although thousands of
people rallied against him in the days after the army intervened
last week.
The army seized power after Mugabe sacked Mnangagwa,
ZANU-PF's favourite to succeed him, to smooth a path to the
presidency for his wife Grace, 52, known to her critics as
"Gucci Grace" for her reputed fondness for luxury shopping.
Mugabe's refusal to resign prompted the impeachment
procedure. His resignation letter, read out by the parliamentary
speaker, did not indicate any preferred successor. Speaker
Mudenda said he was working on legal issues to make sure a new
leader was in place by the end of Wednesday.
Mnangagwa, the former vice president whose whereabouts are
unknown after fleeing the country in fear for his safety, is
seen as the most likely to take over.
A former security chief known as The Crocodile, he was a
chief lieutenant to Mugabe for decades and stands accused of
participating in repression against Zimbabweans who challenged
the leader.
Reuters reported in September that Mnangagwa was plotting to
succeed Mugabe, with army backing, at the helm of a broad
coalition.
The plot posited an interim unity government with
international blessing to allow for Zimbabwe's re-engagement
with the world after decades of isolation from global lenders
and donors.
Mugabe led Zimbabwe's liberation war and is hailed as one of
post-colonial Africa's founding fathers and a staunch supporter
of the drive to free neighbouring South Africa from apartheid in
1994.
But many say he has damaged Zimbabwe's economy, democracy
and judiciary by staying in power for too long and has used
violence to crush perceived political opponents. The country
faces a foreign exchange payments crisis and roaring inflation.
Since the crisis began, Mugabe has been mainly confined to
his "Blue Roof" mansion in the capital where Grace is also
believed to be.