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Agence France-Presse

Supporters of Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe chanting “tongai, tongai baba” (rule, rule father) have endorsed the 92-year-old leader for a 2018 election run.
The endorsement on Saturday, which is likely to result in his 36-year rule being extended, was greeted with thunderous applause by thousands of party faithful attending the ruling ZANU-PF’s annual conference.
Mugabe accepted dressed in a green floral jacket bearing his own portrait and a map of Zimbabwe.
The veteran leader has held power since independence from British colonial rule in 1980 and has always avoided naming a successor or laying out plans to retire.
He once quipped that he would rule until he turned 100.
The conference, held in the southeastern town of Masvingo, expressed “its support to the president and first secretary comrade Robert Mugabe as the sole candidate for the forthcoming 2018 elections”, deputy secretary Eunice Sandi Moyo said.

The absence of a clear successor to Mugabe has sparked infighting including verbal exchanges on social media in recent weeks between factions angling for his position.
Accepting his endorsement, Mugabe called for unity.
“We agreed that conflicts should end. Infighting should end. The party ideology should be followed,” he said.
Hong Kong photographer Peter Wood on his wild Rhodesian days
Mugabe, who has been dogged by rumours of poor health and is usually animated during lengthy political addresses, spoke slowly during his short acceptance speech.
He stressed that discipline among party members should be maintained and that “leaders should be respected”.
“Let us be one. We are one family, the family of ZANU-PF, bound together by the fact of understanding between its members,” he said.

Large portraits of a younger Mugabe were displayed around a huge marquee where the conference was held, with the majority of about 9,000 delegates donning shirts emblazoned with their leader’s face.
“We want President Mugabe to rule forever and ever because of his clear leadership,” one elated delegate, Janet Mazviwanza, said.
‘Do not cling to power’: UN boss Ban Ki-moon urges African leaders to ‘protect their people’ before Robert Mugabe takes a swipe at western nations
Despite his popularity within the party ranks, Mugabe this year faced unprecedented calls for him to step down, including a series of rare public protests over his failure to turn the ailing economy around.
Critical cash shortages prompted the government at the end of November to introduce the much disliked ‘bond notes’ - equivalent to the US dollar.

Zimbabwe abandoned its own dollar currency in 2009 after hyperinflation hit 500 billion per cent rendering it unusable.
Unemployment in the country is currently at about 90 per cent, and thousands of companies have closed in the last three years.
Among the protest groups at rallies in recent months have been university graduates who wore their caps and gowns to show their anger at the lack of jobs.
The street protests led police to ban demonstrations in the capital Harare, with some activists arrested.

Zimbabwe’s cash-strapped government has on several occasions failed to pay the salaries of civil servants on time, and workers have this month been informed that they will only get their pay in January.
During the five-day ZANU-PF conference, the party raised concern at the abuse of social media and the national flag.
Recently the Zimbabwean flag has been used as a symbol of political defiance by protesters and social activists who challenged Mugabe’s government.

Early this year, #ThisFlag social media movement led by Pastor Evan Mawarire saw a wave of internet activism, as people expressed anger at the growing economic meltdown.
“There are however some concerns about the use of social media at a time when political parties are preparing for 2018 elections,” read a report by the party central committee.
“This phenomenon has been worsened by people who want to create chaos and destabilise the country.”


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Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe's 92-year-old leader Mugabe wins party support for 2018 election

Zimbabwe’s veteran leader Robert Mugabe once quipped that he’d rule his country until he turned 100.On Saturday, his ruling ZANU-PF party endorsed the 92-year-old leader as its candidate for the 2018 presidential election, bringing him closer to achieving his wish. Photo: AP

Zimbabwean first lady Grace Mugabe attends the opening session of the ZANU PF 16th Annual Peoples Conference in Masvingo, about 300 kilometres, south of the capital Harare, Friday Dec. 16, 2016. President Robert Mugabe officially opened the conference where he is set to be endorsed as the ruling party candidate for Presidential elections set for 2018. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

A local poses in front of a display showing old currency notes, along a street in the capital Harare, Zimbabwe, November 18, 2016. Picture taken November 18, 2016. To match Insight ZIMBABWE-MUGABE/ REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo

FILE -- In this file photo taken Aug. 17, 2016 Zimbabwean riot police clash with protestors in Harare during a demonstration against the introduction of bond notes by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. In the country, more vendors demand cash payments, the economy looks more vulnerable than ever and the increasingly frail president, Robert Mugabe, talks ambiguously of retiring as his 93rd birthday approaches. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi - File)

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe attends a rally honoring Fidel Castro at the Revolution Plaza in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016. Schools and government offices were closed Tuesday for a second day of homage to Fidel Castro, with the day ending in a rally on the wide plaza where the Cuban leader delivered fiery speeches to mammoth crowds in the years after he seized power. Fidel Castro passed away Friday Nov. 25. He was 90.(AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

A worker ensures the red carpet is placed correctly before Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe arrives for his annual State of the Nation address at Parliament in Harare, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016. Mugabe has appealed for calm, as his government battles to contain a debilitating economic crisis. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

As police fire tear gas, Mugabe warns protesters that there will be no Arab Spring in Zimbabwe

President Robert Mugabe warned that the Arab Spring style of protests would fall flat in Zimbabwe. Photo: AFP

epa05511242 Zimbabwe Republic Police use a water canon to disperse demonstrating opposition supporters who had gathered outside Harare Magistrates Courts after they were denied permission to demonstrate by the police in Harare, Zimbabwe, 26 August,2016. Opposition parties are demanding electoral reforms to level the political field ahead of the 2018 elections.The supporters later had running battles with the police who had to fire tear gas to disperse them. EPA/AARON UFUMELI

A man wearing a Zimbabwean flag salutes riot police during a protest in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Friday, Aug. 26, 2016. The demonstration organized by opposition political parties calling for reforms, is the first time that the fractured opposition has joined forces in a single unified action to confront President Robert Mugabe's government. (AP Photo)

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