‘New trajectory’: Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa tightens grip on power at first post-Mugabe party congress
The military stepped in to clear Mnangagwa’s route to the presidency after a long-running struggle with supporters of Mugabe’s wife
Zimbabwe’s new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, drew a firm line under the 37-year reign of Robert Mugabe in a keynote speech to the ruling ZANU-PF party on Friday.
Mnangagwa took office last month after Mugabe was forced to quit when the military took power and ZANU-PF lawmakers launched impeachment proceedings against their veteran leader.
Until recently, the new president was one of Mugabe’s closest allies and critics say he is another authoritarian hardliner. But Mnangagwa used his much-awaited speech to an extraordinary congress of the ZANU-PF to declare the party had been defiled, and was now on a “new trajectory”.
“The party ideology, rules and regulations were being desecrated daily,” Mnangagwa, 75, told the one-day gathering in Harare. “Clearly this was no longer the ZANU-PF you and I pledged loyalty to. We must never lower our guard again.”
Mugabe’s final years in power were marked by a bitter inter-party succession battle between Mnangagwa, who was covertly backed by the military, and supporters of Mugabe’s wife Grace.
The party ideology, rules and regulations were being desecrated daily
Mnangagwa has appointed military officials to key government positions, and pledged to revive the shattered economy by boosting farm production and luring foreign investment.