Harare – After a lifetime of service Emmerson Mnangagwa was fired with immediate effect on Monday by President Robert Mugabe, who accused him of “disloyalty, disrespect, deceit and being unreliable.”
The brief announcement was made by government spokesman and Zanu PF chairman SK Moyo and was aired on the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation’s radio and on other state media, such as The Herald newspaper. Moyo was previously Zimbabwe ambassador to South Africa.
Mnangagwa was humiliated repeatedly over the weekend by Mugabe and his wife Grace at various public events – accused of plotting a coup d’etat from independence etc., and his firing comes after months of a campaign against him run by the G40 which includes the Mugabe’s, and those close to them, ministers Saviour Kasukuwere, Jonathan Moyo and a clutch of former state journalists who lead the twitter and video campaign against Mnangagwa.
Mnangagwa has not yet spoken and has withstood the humiliation, in front of the public, without flinching. Grace Mugabe is expected to be appointed a vice president at the Zanu PF special congress next month, and the family influence continues to grow as various Mugabe enterprises continue to emerge, such as a new airline, Zimbabwe Airways, set to replace debt ridden Air Zimbabwe.
But what will this mean in Zimbabwe’s perilous financial situation ahead of elections next year, probably in March?
So far Mnangagwa has not reacted and he is not comfortable at press conferences.
Mugabe stripped him of the justice ministry recently and criticised Mnangagwa’s support for repeal of the death penalty.
Mnangagwa was previously infuriated when he was not promoted and Joice Mujuru was made vice president in 2004. Grace Mugabe campaigned agaisnt her in 2013 and she was sacked a year later.
Managawa comes from a different clan within the majority Shona tribe from the Mugabe’s. He is widely accused of violence against opposition parties from 1980 independence onwards, along with other senior currently serving members of Mugabe’s cabinet and inner circle.
