Mugabe fires Mnangagwa

Mnangagwa was Mugabe’s protege and had been at his side through five decades of prison, guerrilla war and then post-liberation government, and questions are being raised about what caused the fallout between the two men.

By firing Mnangagwa, Mugabe has removed one of his last remaining liberation war comrades who have stood by him since independence from Britain in 1980.

However, Grace said yesterday Mnangagwa had always been plotting against her husband, even months after independence.

Mnangagwa’s biggest undoing may well have been his vocal supporters, who kept prodding Mugabe to step down. Mugabe has a history of punishing ambition in ZANU-PF.

Relations also cooled between the two men in August after suggestions by Mnangagwa’s allies that he had been poisoned by ice cream from a dairy owned by the Mugabes.

That Mnangagwa’s expulsion was announced by a government minister and not the chief secretary to the president and cabinet also spoke to the deterioration in the relationship.

Mugabe plans to contest elections due next year and will likely face a weakened and fractured opposition.

His main rival Morgan Tsvangirai has been in and out of a South African hospital after announcing he had colon cancer in 2016.- The Source

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