Jubilation in Zimbabwe as Mugabe era ends

Al Jazeera News
November 22, 2017

Nov 22: Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has submitted his resignation after nearly four decades as the country's leader.

Mugabe defied demands to step down for almost a week after a military takeover and expulsion from his own ruling ZANU-PF party but stepped down on Tuesday, just as parliament started proceedings to impeach him.

Cheers broke out at a special session of parliament as speaker Jacob Mudenda read out Mugabe's resignation letter.

"I Robert Gabriel Mugabe in terms of section 96 of the constitution of Zimbabwe hereby formally tender my resignation ... with immediate effect," said Mudenda, reading the letter.

The news also sparked scenes of jubilation in the capital, Harare, as large crowds cheered, danced and sang celebrating Mugabe's departure for hours.

"People are coming out onto the streets, they are calling this day Independence Day," Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa, reporting from Harare, said.

"It's getting chaotic," she added. "Some people still can't believe this has happened. People say they are really excited and hoping for a better future."

At Harare's Rainbow Towers, crowds cheered as a picture of Mugabe - hung in most public business premises - was taken down.

Celebrations also erupted in central Johannesburg, in neighbouring South Africa, as Zimbabweans there also took to the streets to cheer on the news.

Mugabe's resignation brought an end to the impeachment process initiated by ZANU-PF after its Central Committee voted to dismiss him as party leader.

New era

Mugabe, 93, led Zimbabwe's fight for independence in the 1970s.

He came to power in 1980 and his 37-year rule was criticised for repression of dissent, election rigging, and for causing the country's economic collapse.

"Ever since I was born, I have never thought that I would see this day," Anthony Mutambirwa, a Harare resident, told Al Jazeera as news of Mugabe's resignation spread.

"I'm so glad. For 37 years, we have been suffering."

Mugabe's departure capped a historic week which saw the military seizing power, intervening in party politics over his succession.

Even though Mugabe's resignation letter did not specify who will succeed him, the most likely successor is ousted Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose sacking on November 6 triggered the turmoil.

Before their falling out, Mnangagwa, who has close ties with the army, had for decades been a faithful Mugabe lieutenant.

Nicknamed "The Crocodile", he was often described as the president's enforcer and few would describe him as a democrat.

Mnangagwa is expected to become, within the next 48 hours, Zimbabwe's interim leader ahead of elections scheduled for next year.

"We expect Mnangagwa to play the game fairly," Paddington Japajapa, an opposition party member, told Al Jazeera in Harare.

"If he is not going to play the game fairly, we will take him on also. We are sick and tired of ZANU-PF's rule."

Mudenda, the speaker, said parliament would now ensure the "proper legal processes are put in place so that the country can proceed forward" and elect a new president.

'Overjoyed'

In a surprise move, Zimbabwe's military seized power on November 15, saying it wanted to "target criminals" around the 93-year-old who were leading the ruling ZANU-PF party and state astray.

Both the army and the influential war veterans' association were afraid Mugabe might hand power to his wife, Grace, seen as Mnangagwa's main opponent in the ZANU-PF's succession battle.

In a rare sign of solidarity between the people and the army, which has often been a pillar of support for Mugabe's rule, tens of thousands of Zimbabweans took to the streets on Saturday to express support for the military's operation.

"Over the years, the army has been accused of being implicit with Mugabe," said Al Jazeera's Mutasa.

"People wanted Mugabe to go, so the only way to do this was to work with the military."

Victor Chifodya, a former Harare councillor, said he was "overjoyed at the news" of Mugabe's resignation.

"Mugabe was a very divisive man but now people from all political parties have come together to make him resign," he told Al Jazeera.

"Now we can start a new Zimbabwe," added Chifodya.

However, some expressed concern about what a Mnangagwa presidency may bring.

"People don't know this, but he worked together with Mugabe for 57 years," Garikai Charambarara, a Harare resident, told Al Jazeera.

"Probably people are thinking he is one of the better devils, but, again, let's take it from there."

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News Network
November 13,2024

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Beirut: The Israeli army on Tuesday continued to launch attacks against civilians in Lebanon, targeting them in several areas without prior evacuation warnings.

However, 13 airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs in the space of only three hours were preceded by evacuation warnings.

The attacks caused no injuries but resulted in widespread destruction of residential buildings and commercial, medical and educational centers.

The airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Bekaa region, reaching Akkar in Lebanon’s far north, erased any hope of a near-term ceasefire settlement.

The strikes were accompanied by an announcement on Israel’s Channel 14 that “the Israeli army has expanded its operations in southern Lebanon to areas it had not reached since the beginning of the ground operation.”

About 50 days have passed since Israel intensified its hostile operations in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah. The death toll from these confrontations and attacks has passed 3,200, with more than 14,000 wounded.

For the first time, an airstrike targeted a mountainous area between Baalchmay and Aabadiyeh on the road leading to Aley, destroying a building housing displaced people.

The mayor of Baalchmay, Adham Al-Danaf, confirmed that “the airstrike targeted a residential building in the Dhour Aabadiyeh area.”

The initial toll from the Ministry of Health showed “five people killed and two injured.”

The raids that targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs for the first time in the morning, unlike nightly raids before, caused huge destruction. Those who evacuated their homes after Israeli warnings, used their phones to record the collapse of empty buildings in Sfeir, Haret Hreik, Bir Al-Abed, Mrayjeh, Laylaki and Hadath.

Israeli warplanes also targeted Tyre, where a strike on a building killed three people and injured many others, while a raid on Tefahta killed a man identified as Kifah Khalil and his family.

Attacks were widespread, with Yater and Zebqine subject to artillery shelling, a civilian being killed in Hermel, and further attacks on Bouday and an area between the towns of Srifa and Arsoun.

A raid on the town of Siddiqin killed two people and injured several others, while an attack on the Mechref farm led to one fatality and multiple injuries.

The search for those missing after an Israeli raid on the town of Ain Yaacoub in Akkar, in the northernmost part of Lebanon, continued until dawn.

During the operation, 14 bodies were retrieved, identified as those of residents displaced from the town of Arabsalim in the Iqlim Al-Tuffah area of the south, along with members of a Syrian family, a mother and three of her children. Additionally, there were 10 people in critical condition.

The targeted residence belongs to a Lebanese citizen, Hussein Hashim, who is reported to be a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.

An airstrike on the town of Saksakiyeh in the Sidon region on Monday night resulted in yet another tragedy.

It appeared that the intended target was the Shoumer family, who just days before lost Hussein Amin Shoumer and his two sisters in a drone strike near Al-Awali River.

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued additional evacuation warnings for towns in the southern region along the Litani River, which, according to estimates from the mayors, are currently 90 percent uninhabited.

In the meantime, Hezbollah announced its continued efforts to “combat the intrusions of Israeli forces and to strike military installations and towns in the north.”

Hezbollah said in a statement that it confronted “an Israeli Hermes 450 drone in the airspace of Nabatieh and forced it to leave Lebanese airspace.”

The party also announced that it targeted “Kfar Blum settlement with a rocket salvo.”

On the Israeli side, air raid sirens sounded in areas of Upper and Western Galilee and in the town of Kiryat Shmona and its surroundings.

The Israeli army confirmed that “a drone exploded in Nesher, east of Haifa, without activating the air raid sirens,” and that “a drone launched from Lebanon crashed into a school in Gesher HaZiv, north of Nahariya.”

Israel’s Channel 13 reported the Israeli military’s assessment regarding Hezbollah’s military strength, claiming that the group currently possesses approximately 100 precision missiles, thousands of artillery shells, and hundreds of rockets. Additionally, it was highlighted that “there are around 200 Lebanese towns that remain unvisited.”

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News Network
November 17,2024

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An Israeli airstrike on the office of Syria’s Baath party in Lebanon’s capital Beirut has killed the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah's Media Relations Officer, Mohammad Afif, reports say.

Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported that the Israeli raid struck the Ba'ath party’s building in central Beirut district of Ras Al-Naba'a on Sunday, adding that the strike was an attempt to assassinate the leader of the resistance media front.

According to Baath Secretary-General Ali Hijazi, Afif was having a meeting in the Baath Party headquarters when Israel carried out the attack.

"Afif did not fight with weapons and did not lead a military unit in Hezbollah. Rather, he led a media unit," he said.

Reuters, Sky News, Al Jazeera and a number of Henrew-language media reported that Afif was killed in the Israeli strike.

However, Hezbollah has not yet confirmed Afif’s death or whether he was present at the site or not.

Earlier, the Lebanese Health Ministry said at least one person was killed and three others injured after an Israeli strike targeted a central district in Beirut.

Lebanon's al-Mayadeen television network reported that five people were killed in the attack.

The latest development came after Afif said Hezbollah was behind the Caesarea operation and targeting Netanyahu’s home during a speech at the Ghobeiry area in the southern suburbs of Beirut on October 22.

This was the second assassination attempt on Afif in the last two months, after he survived an attack on the Hezbollah media relations office several weeks ago.

Israel launched a ground assault and massive air campaign against Lebanon in late September after a year of exchanging fire across the Lebanese border in parallel with the Gaza war.

At least 3,287 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon over the past year, with the vast majority in the past seven weeks. Another 14,222 have been wounded, mostly women and children.

In response to the ongoing aggression, the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has been staging hundreds of retaliatory strikes against the occupied Palestinian territories and the Israeli forces trying to advance on southern Lebanese areas.

The movement has vowed to sustain its strikes until the regime ends the escalation.

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News Network
November 25,2024

Udupi: Six junior artists from the prequel of Kannada blockbuster film ‘Kantara’ were injured, when the bus they were travelling in overturned in the district, police said on Monday.

According to police, the accident occurred near Jadkal on Sunday night when the mini-bus carrying the crew of the film overturned.

“The incident happened while they were returning to Kollur after completing the shoot at Mudoor in Jadkal. The mini-bus was carrying 20 junior artistes when it met with the accident,” a police officer said.

The injured were rushed to hospitals in Jadkal and Kundapur for treatment, they said.

The Kollur police are investigating the matter.

"The news making rounds is completely false. The Kantara: Chapter 1 team began shooting at 06:00 AM today, and everything is proceeding as normal. A minor accident occurred 20 kilometres away from the shooting location, involving a local bus carrying some members of the Kantara team. However, no injuries were reported," a source close to the production said.

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