A week after he was detained by military, Robert Mugabe has resigned as president of Zimbabwe after 37 years in power.
The announcement comes during a parliamentary hearing to impeach him following last week’s military takeover. The 93-year-old sent a letter to parliament stating that his decision to resign was voluntary after his previous refusal to resign. Emmerson Mnangagwa, until recently Mugabe’s vice-president and right hand man, had been encouraging Mugabe to “accept the will of the people”.
Apparently happiness and celebration broke out among MPs when speaker Jacob Mudena told parliament.
Mugabe’s decision came in the midst of impeachment proceedings against him which began on Tuesday by the ruling party, Zanu PF, as they attempted to remove him from office by introducing the motion to impeach. The opposition seconded it.
At the weekend the party voted to make Mnangagwa its leader and demote Mugabe to a rank-and-file member. Thousands of Zimbabweans turned up outside parliament to protest Mugabe, urging on MPs and waving placards in Africa Unity square.
