Nigeria (Blank NEWS Online) –:
Zimbabwe’s former vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa has been sworn in as president of Zimbabwe, bringing the final curtain down on the 37-year rule of Robert Mugabe.
Taking his oath of office, the 75-year-old known as the Crocodile vowed to uphold the constitution of the former British colony and protect the rights of all Zimbabwe’s 16 million citizens. In a speech he said elections would go ahead next year and acknowledged there had been “errors” under Mugabe.
He has hailed the “voice of the people” during a dramatic ascent to power. But some wonder whether a man who loyally served Mugabe for decades can bring deep change to a ruling establishment accused of systematic abuses of human rights and disastrous economic policies.
Army chief General Constantino Chiwenga attended the inauguration ceremony to swear in Zimbabwe’s former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa as president in Harare, Zimbabwe, November 24, 2017.
Mnangagwa was a faithful aide to Mugabe, who was widely accused of repression of dissent and election-rigging and under whose rule one of Africa’s once most prosperous economies was ravaged by hyperinflation and mass emigration.
Mnangagwa earned the nickname “Ngwena”, Shona for crocodile, an animal famed and feared in Zimbabwean lore for stealth and ruthlessness.
Meanwhile, Mugabe, 93, has been granted immunity from prosecution and assured that his safety will be protected in his home country as part of a deal that led to his resignation, sources close to the negotiations said.
Mugabe, the world’s oldest serving head of state, resigned on Tuesday as parliament started to impeach him, a week to the day after the army stepped in to seize power. Crowds celebrated in the streets of Harare.
Zimbabwe’s neighbors appeared to offer Mnangagwa support on Friday. South African President Jacob Zuma congratulated the new president and the Southern African Development Community, an intergovernmental organization, said it was ready to work closely with his government.
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Nigeria (Blank NEWS Online) –
E.I.C: Albert Eruorhe Ograka
