Zimbabwe’s former vice president has returned to the country to serve as interim President, the state broadcaster reports, following veteran leader Robert Mugabe’s resignation after 37 years of rule.
Emmerson Mnangagwa is scheduled to be sworn in on Friday and is expected to address his ruling ZANU-PF party later today, according to state broadcaster ZBC.
Mugabe, 93, fired Mnangagwa as his deputy more than two weeks ago, triggering a political firestorm that culminated in his own humiliating defeat on Tuesday. Mnangagwa fled the country after his dismissal.
Following a night of cheering, singing and dancing in euphoric celebration, Zimbabwe awoke Wednesday to its first day in almost four decades without the leader who had ruled the country with an iron fist.
Thousands of Mnangagwa’s supporters gathered at the airport and the ruling ZANU-PF party’s headquarters in the capital, Harare, to wait for the man dubbed “The Crocodile” to return and open a new chapter in the country’s history.
But for many others, the joyous end of Mugabe’s reign is tempered with apprehension — Mnanagagwa served as Mugabe’s right-hand man for his entire career, and to many Zimbabweans, he is more feared than the leader he replaces.
The main opposition MDC-T has shown no resistance to Mnangagwa serving as transitional leader. It will be looking instead to make inroads in elections slated for next year.
“We are very excited that we have gotten rid of Robert Mugabe, but we have gotten rid of one man, we have not gotten rid of the system that was oppressive for 37 years,” MDC-T Secretary General Douglas Mwonzora told CNN.
“Therefore we have to work towards conditions for free and fair elections. The Zimbabwean people still have to choose a president by themselves.”
Mnangagwa had previously said that he wouldn’t return to Zimbabwe until his safety was guaranteed. Sources told CNN that Mnangagwa was instrumental in plans to dethrone Mugabe.
He was widely tipped to take over for Mugabe in the event of the president’s resignation or death, but his dismissal confirmed suspicions that Mugabe was clearing the way for his wife, Grace Mugabe, to succeed him.
Generals in the military staged an apparent coup in Harare last week, determined to keep Grace Mugabe from seizing power, and placed Robert Mugabe under house arrest as pressure mounted on him to stand down.
Emmerson ‘The Crocodile’ Mnangagwa
Mnangagwa is known as “The Crocodile” for his political cunning and longevity and is among the country’s combat-hardened veterans of the struggle for liberation from white-minority rule.
His background and experience is almost entirely hitched to Mugabe’s career. He was Mugabe’s closest aide for much of his career and presided over some of the leader’s most ruthless actions.
Mnangagwa was the country’s spy chief in the 1980s when a campaign of terror was unleashed by the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade against political opponents and civilians, in which thousands were killed. Mnangagwa has denied involvement and blamed the army.
He is placed in the center of Zimbabwe’s cluster of power, with strong backing from the country’s elite and the military, but it is unclear whether he will be able to win the hearts of the people and be victorious in next year’s election.