Ousted Zimbabwe VP To Be Sworn In As President

Former Vice President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, will on Thursday be sworn in as the next President, the country’s ruling party ZANU-PF says.

Mnangagwa will replace Robert Mugabe, who resigned on Tuesday after 37-years in power.

The former vice-president would serve the remainder of Mugabe’s term until the next general election in September 2018, Lovemore Matuke, ZANU-PF chief whip, told Reuters.

Mnangagwa has not been seen in the country since being dismissed as vice president on November 6 and had previously said that he wouldn’t return until his safety was guaranteed.

The former VP was reportedly sacked to pave the way for Mugabe’s wife Grace to succeed the 93-year-old leader.

The military had warned Mugabe over his action but he refused, resulting in his arrest, threatened impeachment and eventual resignation.

Mugabe, who has been the President of Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, tendered his resignation letter to parliament on Tuesday.

There was jubilation in the country as the man who had ruled them with an iron fist in almost four decades is gone.

Many in Zimbabwe and in the international community are hoping that it will be a transitional arrangement; the country’s next general elections are scheduled for 2018.

“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,” Douglas Mwonzora, Secretary-General of the Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai (MDC-T), Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, 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.”