Zanu-PF: Fired VP Mnangagwa should be president
Emmerson Mnangagwa (Picture: AP)
The party accuses Grace Mugabe of “preaching hate, divisiveness and assuming roles and powers not delegated to the office”. She is removed as head of the women’s league.
The party’s decisions on Sunday will be formalised at a special congress next month.
15:15
Zimbabwe’s ruling party Central Committee says longtime President Robert Mugabe must resign as president by noon Monday or impeachment proceedings will start.
The Zanu-PF party has fired Mugabe as party chief, expelled his wife and named the recently dismissed Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa as the party chief.
Parliament resumes Tuesday and impeachment proceedings would begin then.
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14:45
A Zimbabwe ruling party official confirms that the Central Committee has fired President Robert Mugabe as party leader and replaced him with the recently dismissed Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The emergency meeting also has recalled first lady Grace Mugabe as head of the women’s league “forever.” The meeting continues.
Mugabe on Sunday is meeting with the army commander who put him under house arrest in a second round of negotiations on his departure as president after nearly four decades.
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13:20
A Zimbabwean ruling party member says there could be prosecutions of members of a party faction close to the wife of President Robert Mugabe.
Lawmaker Emmanuel Fundira also says he thinks it is a “fait accompli” that recently fired Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa will be reinstated and chosen to lead Zimbabwe after Mugabe’s expected resignation.
The ruling party’s Central Committee has opened an emergency meeting to recall Mugabe as party leader.
Fundira says “corrupt and rotten” leaders in the ruling party should be punished.
“There are some resources which have been taken away from this country,” Fundira says. “Naturally, the laws will follow up and make sure that all those people are brought to book.”
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12:40
Zimbabwe’s ruling party Central Committee members have stood and cheered as the official chairing the emergency meeting announces plans to remove longtime President Robert Mugabe from his leadership post.
Obert Mpofu says they are meeting with “a heavy heart” because Mugabe had served the country and contributed “many memorable achievements.”
But Mpofu says in his opening remarks that Mugabe’s wife “and close associates have taken advantage of his frail condition” to loot national resources. The party is meeting to discuss demands to recall Mugabe as party leader and reinstate recently fired Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The 93-year-old Mugabe is meeting Sunday with the army commander who put him under house arrest days ago in a second round of talks on his departure after nearly four decades in power.
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12:00
Zimbabwe’s ruling party Central Committee has begun meeting on demands to recall President Robert Mugabe as party leader.
The Zanu-PF emergency meeting is also discussing the call to reinstate former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose firing by Mugabe earlier this month led the military to step in and put the president under house arrest.
The ruling party also will consider recalling unpopular first lady Grace Mugabe as head of the women’s league. She had been poised to replace Mnangagwa as vice president at a party congress next month and even succeed her husband.
Mugabe was set to meet Sunday with the army commander in a second round of negotiations on his exit from power after nearly four decade
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11:50
An influential figure in Zimbabwe’s ruling party says he is concerned about possible violence if President Robert Mugabe does not resign immediately.
Chris Mutsvangwa, head of the liberation war veterans, says he is concerned that the military could end up opening fire to protect Mugabe from protesters. He says there will be more demonstrations like the massive one Saturday if Mugabe’s negotiations with the military on his departure from power don’t end soon.
He hopes Mugabe “gives into the fact that he has got to tender his resignation and leave.” Mugabe was set to meet Sunday with the army commander who put him under house arrest in a second round of talks.
“We would expect that Mugabe would not have the prospect of the military shooting at people, trying to defend him,” Mutsvangwa says. “The choice is his.”
The ruling party is meeting on demands to recall Mugabe as party leader, while lawmakers to impeach him when Parliament resumes Tuesday.
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10:35
The youth league of Zimbabwe’s ruling party says President Robert Mugabe should resign and take a rest as an “elder statesman,” while his wife, Grace, should be expelled from the party “forever.”
The Zanu-PF ruling party is holding an emergency meeting to discuss demands to recall Mugabe as party leader.
Youth league leader Yeukai Simbanegavi praises the military for moving against what she describes as a group of “criminals” led by Grace Mugabe.
“It is unfortunate that the president allowed her to usurp executive authority from him, thereby destroying both the party and the government,” Simbanegavi says at ruling party headquarters.
She says the youth league also wants the reinstatement of Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former vice president whose firing by Mugabe followed harsh criticism by Zimbabwe’s first lady
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9:50 a.m.
Senior figures in Zimbabwe’s ruling party are gathering ahead of an emergency meeting to discuss calls to expel longtime President Robert Mugabe as party leader.
A Zanu-PF party committee is meeting at headquarters in the capital, Harare. Soldiers are checking vehicles at the gate and a military vehicle is parked inside the grounds. The military has Mugabe under house arrest after moving in last week, angered by Mugabe’s firing of his longtime deputy.
At the edge of the party’s compound, a ruling party banner that showed Mugabe’s face has been partly torn down, possibly by demonstrators who surged through Harare on Saturday to demand that the president resign.
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09:10
Zimbabwe’s parliament will “definitely” put in motion a process to impeach President Robert Mugabe, the main opposition’s parliamentary chief whip says, adding that they have been in discussions with the ruling ZANU-PF party to act jointly.
Innocent Gonese with the MDC-T party tells The Associated Press: “If Mugabe is not gone by Tuesday, then as sure as the sun rises from the east, impeachment process will kick in.”
The MDC-T has unsuccessfully tried to impeach Mugabe in the past, but now the ruling party has turned against him.
The ruling party on Sunday is likely to fire Mugabe as party leader at a Central Committee meeting. State-run media also says Mugabe will meet the army commander who put him under house arrest for another round of talks.
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08:45
Clinging to his now-powerless post, longtime Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is set to discuss his expected exit with the army commander who put him under house arrest.
And a day after huge crowds rallied in the capital for Mugabe to go, the ruling party’s Central Committee is expected to meet Sunday on demands by provincial branches to recall Mugabe as party leader.
The meeting also is expected to reinstate the vice president whose firing nearly two weeks ago led the military to step in.
Mugabe’s talks with army commander Constantino Chiwenga are the second round of negotiations on an exit with a veneer of dignity as the military tries to avoid accusations of a coup.
This time, the talks do not appear to include a South African government delegation.
