Robert Mugabe resigned as president
of Zimbabwe Tuesday, parliament speaker Jacob Mudenda announced, bringing the
curtain down on a
37-year reign. Mugabe was swept from power as his autocratic rule crumbled within days of a military takeover.
37-year reign. Mugabe was swept from power as his autocratic rule crumbled within days of a military takeover.
Mugabe Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe
resigns “I Robert Gabriel Mugabe in terms of section 96 of the constitution of
Zimbabwe hereby formally tender my resignation… with immediate effect,” said
speaker Mudenda, reading the letter.
The bombshell news was delivered to
a special joint session of parliament. Lawmakers had convened to debate a
motion to impeach Mugabe, who has dominated every aspect of Zimbabwean public
life since independence in 1980. It was greeted on the streets of the capital
Harare with car horns and wild cheering.
It capped an unprecedented week in
which the military seized control, tens of thousands of Zimbabwean citizens
took to the streets to demand the president go and 93-year-old Mugabe wrestled
to remain in power.
Mugabe had ruled Zimbabwe almost
unopposed since the country won independence from Britain. But his efforts to
position his wife Grace as his successor triggered fury in the military that
had underpinned his regime.
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