Mugabe

[Capetonian]

Dragging it out. I'm watching a live feed from ZBC relay on eNCA.

It's almost exactly 10 years to the day that Ian Smith died.

[Cacophonix]

So am I and the bugger still hasn't resigned.

Caco

[Cacophonix]

Can kicked down the road to the party conference...

Caco

[Cacophonix]

The party is the biggest issue for the country, apart from Mugabe himself. He clearly didn't say what he was given to read by the generals.

I wonder where Lady Macbeth (aka Grace) is?

Caco

[Cacophonix]

They are either going to have to impeach him. Or shoot him.

He is going to humiliate himself and the whole country to the very last.

The man is a like a limpet. A rambling limpet. The man looks and sounds partly senile.

Will violence break out now?

Caco

[Capetonian]

They deserve public humiliation and execution, Ceaucescu style.

[ian16th]

Mugabe is about to announce his resignation.

Caco

Except he didn't!

He still thinks he is the president of ZANU-PF and is going to oversea the party conference.

[Cacophonix]

He really has lost his marbles and possibly any chance of emerging with his so-called "legacy" intact. He is effectively now taking on the whole party apparatus who clearly wanted an orderly handover and would have gone easy on Mugabe. Now, who knows?

That nobody has been murdered, as you seem to want, is a very good sign for Zimbabwe Capetonian. At least the appearance of the rule of law is being preserved.

Caco

[Cacophonix]

Mugabe is about to announce his resignation.

Caco

Except he didn't!

He still thinks he is the president of ZANU-PF and is going to oversea the party conference.

Well like you I was hoping he might (see previous posts).

Caco

[Capetonian]

I only wish to see the Mugape couple executed. I am not sure that would count as murder.

[Cacophonix]

I only wish to see the Mugape couple executed. I am not sure that would count as murder.

It would be a bad start to a new era don't you think and let's hope that justice will prevail in the future.

Caco

[Capetonian]

I think it would be just and fair closure considering what they have done, and a good start to new and better era.

[Cacophonix]

I think it would be just and fair closure considering what they have done, and a good start to new and better era.

Sadly murder is not closure but the opening up of the potential for further strife and would certainly deligitmise the next regime in the eyes of many in Zimabawe and elsewhere in the world.

Bring them to trial by all means, but extrajudicial executions and murders are the last thing that Zimbabwe needs now.

Caco

[Bob]

Is there anyone in ZPF who once made leader will actually do a better job?.
I don't know, I assume his successor would at least have more in the way of faculties and ability to stay awake than Bob has and frankly anyone that isn't Called Mrs Mugabe could be considered Progress, but how much and in what direction?

[CharlieOneSix]

I was in Harare on the day Mugabe was elected and saw the joy and celebrations. I saw the same on TV yesterday with his downfall imminent. I hope those people are not disappointed. I’m not usually a pessimist but I fear not much will change if Emmerson Mnangagwa becomes President.

[ExSp33db1rd]

.........and is going to oversea the party conference.

be nice if he did go overseas !

Sorry, couldn't resist !

( hat, coat door ..... )

[ian16th]

.........and is going to oversea the party conference.

be nice if he did go overseas !

Sorry, couldn't resist !

( hat, coat door ..... )

I noticed it after the edit window shut

[Ex-Ascot]

Mystery of the location of Mrs Mugabe solved by the Daily Snail:

'Grace Mugabe, 53, has not been seen in public since the military seized power in Zimbabwe this week. She is reportedly being held at secret locations around the country.'

They have obviously chopped her up. That's her sorted then.

[ian16th]

Mystery of the location of Mrs Mugabe solved by the Daily Snail:

'Grace Mugabe, 53, has not been seen in public since the military seized power in Zimbabwe this week. She is reportedly being held at secret locations around the country.'

They have obviously chopped her up. That's her sorted then.

In my best Larry Grayson impersonation.

Oh! You are an optimist!

Why has the spillcker started wking agn?

[Cacophonix]

A good article on the current impasse in Zimbabwe...

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/th ... spartandhp

Now that Mugabe is likely headed for retirement, despite his last-ditch efforts to hang on, Zimbabweans must reckon with difficult choices that will decide their fate. Will their country remain an autocracy, run primarily by the same old men who will simply trade in their military fatigues for expensive designer suits? Or can the country put itself on a path toward inclusive democracy?

The immediate issue of concern is what shape the political transition takes. Unfortunately, the most likely outcome is a military junta that retains only a fig leaf of legitimacy. The various opposition groups, especially the party of former labor leader Morgan Tsvangirai, would be wise to avoid a coalition trap again. A notional government of national unity, with Tsvangirai as prime minister, presided over the country from 2009 to 2013 after a disputed election that Mugabe lost. During that time, Mugabe and his cronies in ZANU-PF kept firm control and merely consolidated their political power. This culminated in a July 2013 election in which the opposition was thoroughly routed.

Zimbabwe’s civil-society organizations, including its influential religious and human-rights groups, are also deeply skeptical of the potential backroom political dealings. These groups took to the streets in full force this weekend, mobilizing citizens online and marching alongside soldiers and the country’s war veterans. But they also know that Zimbabwe’s long-ruling elite didn’t reform overnight with their move against Mugabe. In a twist of irony, for example, prominent activist Itai Dzmara was abducted and has not been seen since March 2015 after courageously calling for Mugabe to step down. Now, the same individuals likely responsible for the disappearance and likely death of Dzamara—and countless other dissidents and activists—are on the verge of assuming power after advancing the same demand.

Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s likely successor, was a longtime security chief and the prime architect of a massacre of at least 20,000 civilians in the 1980s. General Constantino Chiwenga, the organizer of the coup, launched a vicious campaign of violence against Tsvangirai’s supporters and civic leaders in 2008, which killed hundreds and left tens of thousands homeless. Both men are also part of ZANU-PF’s vast, corrupt business empire. The party meeting to expel Mugabe, for instance, was chaired by Obert Mpofu, a Mnangagwa ally who oversaw the nation’s diamond mines at a time when billions of dollars of revenue went missing, never making it into government coffers. Meanwhile, Mpofu and other ZANU-PF bigwigs live in extravagant mansions and own fleets of luxury cars.

The other decisive issue is the timing of new elections. ZANU-PF has proposed an extended transitional period of up to five years, a plan reportedly backed by South Africa and Britain, Zimbabwe’s former colonial ruler. The country certainly needs time to overhaul its flawed voting system, and to align its laws with the 2013 constitution, if it hopes to have a truly free, fair, and credible poll. Holding a vote in August as scheduled might be ambitious, but delaying it too long also comes with inherent risks.

The best-case scenario is a truly broad-based coalition authority, followed by elections as soon as they are feasible. South Africa has reportedly tried to negotiate the Mugabe family’s exit and to broker a peaceful political transition. But the regional power has largely squandered its credibility after years of being viewed as propping up Mugabe and too ready to accept short-term “stability” at the expense of long-term reform. This notion is certainly not lost on the people of Zimbabwe, many of whom carried banners over the weekend asking their neighbor to keep its nose out of their affairs. Britain, for its part, is also seen as too close to Mnangagwa.

The United States has so far remained on the sidelines. At a time when America’s global reputation is in serious jeopardy, the upheaval in Zimbabwe offers a low-cost and timely opportunity to stand firm on democratic values and demand that basic principles of human rights be respected. On Friday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called for “a quick return to civilian rule” and asserted that “Zimbabwe has an opportunity to set itself on a new path, one that must include democratic elections and respect for human rights.” This rhetoric is a good start, but it must be reinforced through action.

Zimbabweans often bristle at any perceived foreign meddling in their affairs, and rightfully so. But their country will need external support, both in the short and long run, to prosper. At a minimum, the United States could back democratic forces by strategically countering the apparent support for Mnangagwa from South Africa and Britain. Washington would do well, on the other hand, to advocate for a genuinely representative political transition and a timely path to credible elections, as it did in Liberia after its civil war and after Mali’s 2012 coup. American assistance, including much-needed diplomatic pressure and principled engagement, can expedite electoral changes and raise the odds that Zimbabwe’s new leadership will reflect the will of the people, which is long overdue.

The United States will be even more relevant for Zimbabwe’s economic revival. Over half of Zimbabwe’s rural population relies on outside food assistance, a stunning statistic for a country that was once a net food exporter. The average Zimbabwean is poorer today than in 1980; by some estimates, unemployment is at 95 percent. The country is desperate for cash to jumpstart its once productive farms and factories. Although Mnangagwa and his political allies have long-standing ties to China, the road to recovery inevitably runs through Washington—the country is more than $9 billion in debt to western institutions, including the World Bank. A bailout plan proposed two years ago received British backing, but the United States blocked any financial support to the abusive Mugabe regime. The Americans will now need to be convinced that commitment to reform is real before agreeing to any restructuring or new loans to Zimbabwe. Importantly, too, Mnangagwa and Chiwenga are still under U.S. Treasury sanctions due to their involvement in widespread human rights abuses.

Despite the confusion that currently prevails in Zimbabwe, the country appears to finally be waking from the nightmare of Mugabe’s catastrophic misrule. But what happens in the next few days will be critical. Vigilance is required, a vigilance that is mindful of the past but also buoyed by the hope of a fresh start and a more prosperous future.

Caco