Zimbabwe’s former president Robert Mugabe cried and lamented “betrayal by his lieutenants” when he agreed to step down last week under pressure from the military and his party after 37 years in power, the Standard newspaper said in its Sunday edition.
President
Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former Mugabe loyalist, was sworn in on Friday
and attention is focused on whether he will name a broad-based
government or select figures from Mugabe’s era.
The
newspaper quoted sources within Mugabe’s inner circle as saying the
devout Catholic held a rosary as he told his close associates and a team
of negotiators at his “Blue House” Harare mansion that he was
resigning. He announced the decision as parliament heard a motion to
impeach him.
“He looked down and said ‘people were chameleons’,” one of the sources was quoted as saying.
The state-owned Sunday Mail
quoted Father Fidelis Mukonori, a Jesuit priest who is a close Mugabe
friend and mediated his resignation with the military, as saying
Mugabe’s face “just glowed” after he signed the resignation letter.
“So
we are not talking about a bitter man. I told him that it was good for
him to see someone running the country...,” Mukonori told the Sunday Mail
Neither Father Mukonori nor Mugabe’s close aides were immediately available for comment.
Mugabe’s
fall after 37 years in power was spurred by a battle to succeed him
that pitted Mnangagwa, who had stood by him for 52 years, and Mugabe’s
wife Grace, who is 52.
“walk the talk on graft”
The privately-owned Standard newspaper, which has been critical of Mugabe and his government over the years, urged Mnangagwa to “walk the talk on graft”.
At
his swearing in ceremony on Friday, Mnangagwa said he valued democracy,
tolerance and the rule of law and would tackle corruption. He has also
urged citizens not to undertake “vengeful retribution”.
The
new government is already moving to bring some of Mugabe and his wife’s
close associates to book and former finance minister Ignatius Chombo
was in court on Saturday on corruption charges.
Chombo
was among several members of a group allied to Grace who were detained
and expelled from the ruling Zanu-PF party after the military seized
power in “Operation Legacy” which it said was meant to remove the
“criminals” around Mugabe.
Chombo, who told the court
he was forcibly removed from his home on November 15 by armed men
wearing military uniform, was detained until Monday when his bail
application will be heard.
He was led away in leg irons together with ousted head of the ruling Zanu-PF’s influential youth league Kudzanai Chipanga.
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