Zimbabwe grants Robert Mugabe immunity

Former President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe was granted immunity from prosecution, according to reports on Thursday.

According to the source, Mugabe was assured that his safety would be protected in his home country as part of a deal that led to his resignation.

Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe for close to four decades but stepped down on Tuesday after the army seized power and the ruling party turned against him.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, the former vice president, is set to be sworn in as president on Friday.

Zimbabwe was once one of Africa’s most promising economies but suffered decades of decline as Mugabe pursued policies that included the violent seizure of white-owned commercial farms and money-printing that led to hyperinflation.

Most of its 16 million people remain poor and face currency shortages and sky-high unemployment, something Mnangagwa promised to address.

“We want to grow our economy, we want peace in our country, we want jobs, jobs, jobs,” he told the crowd, adding: “The will of the people will always, always succeed.”

Mnangagwa’s dismissal was the trigger for the army and former political allies to move against Mugabe, feted as an independence hero when Zimbabwe broke with former colonial power Britain in 1980 but later feared as a despot.

He resigned as president on Tuesday as parliament began an impeachment process, after resisting pressure to do so for a week.

People danced in the streets following his downfall, some brandishing posters of Mnangagwa and army chief Gen. Constantino Chiwenga, who led the takeover.

Parliamentary speaker Jacob Mudenda said on Wednesday that Mnangagwa would be sworn in as president on Friday after being nominated by ZANU-PF to fill the vacancy left by Mugabe.

The demise of Mugabe leaves Zimbabwe in a different situation to a number of other African countries where veteran leaders have been toppled in popular uprisings or through elections.

The army appears to have engineered a trouble-free path to power for Mnangagwa, who was for decades a faithful lieutenant of Mugabe and member of his elite.

He was also in charge of internal security when rights groups say 20,000 civilians were killed in the 1980s.

“Mugabe has gone but I don’t see Mnangagwa doing anything different from that old man.

“This is not the change I expected but let us give him time,” said security guard Edgar Mapuranga, who sat by a bank cash machine that was out of money.

Restoring the country’s fortunes and international standing will be a challenge.

Alleged human rights abuses and flawed elections prompted many Western countries to impose sanctions in the early 2000s that further hurt the economy, even with Chinese investment to soften the blow.

Staging clean elections next year will be key to winning fresh funds.

Although Mnangagwa is almost certain to win any vote, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s personal representative for Africa, Guenther Nooke, said it would be a victory for Zimbabwe’s “old elites” with the help of China.

“He will manage to get elected using fear or many tricks, and then we’ll have a succession from one tyrant to the next,” Nooke told broadcaster SWR2.

China’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday it respected Mugabe’s decision to resign.

In London, Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain wanted Zimbabwe to rejoin the international community now that Mugabe has resigned.

Mnangagwa met neighbouring South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma before his return on Wednesday.

Source: ( NAN )