Zimbabwean : When Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe sacked his vice-president in front of 12,000 baying party members in 2014, Emmerson Mnangagwa sat quietly in the crowd, a green baseball cap pulled low over his eyes.
The man who stood to gain most from the dismissal betrayed nothing through his expression and gentle clapping – a survival tactic honed during five decades of service to the mercurial Mugabe. His cap, however, spoke volumes.
Emblazoned across its front, next to a portrait of Mugabe, were four words: “Indigenise, Empower, Develop, Employ” – a slogan of the ruling ZANU-PF party. That day, he became Mugabe’s official deputy.
Mnangagwa, whose sacking from the post this month brought Zimbabwe’s political crisis to a head, is now poised to take over after Mugabe, 93, resigned on Tuesday, ending almost four decades of rule.
Mnangagwa will be sworn in on Wednesday or Thursday, ZANU-PF’s legal secretary Patrick Chinamasa told Reuters. The party’s chief whip said Mnangagwa would serve the remainder of Mugabe’s term until the next election due by September 2018.
But there are questions over how Mnangagwa will lead the country led by Mugabe since independence in 1980.
In a statement issued from hiding on Tuesday, Mnangagwa said Zimbabweans from all walks of life had to work together to rebuild a shattered economy and deeply polarised society.
Zimbabweans gather at Unity square opposite the Parliament to protest against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in Harare. (AFP Photo)
“My desire is to join all Zimbabweans in a new era, where corruption, incompetence, dereliction of duty and laziness, social and cultural decadence is not tolerated,” he said.
“In that new Zimbabwe, it is important for everyone to join hands so that we rebuild this nation to its full glory. This is not a job for ZANU-PF alone but for all people of Zimbabwe.”
Crocodile
The 75-year-old was one of Mugabe’s most trusted lieutenants, having been at his side in prison, during wartime and then in government. With his appointment in 2014 as Mugabe’s official deputy, Mnangagwa had appeared well set as the eventual successor to Africa’s oldest head of state.