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 10,2024

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The media office in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli regime has been waging a genocidal war since last October, says as many as 188 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the onset of the brutal military onslaught.

The office provided the figure on Saturday, naming four journalists as the most recent victims of the onslaught.

It identified the foursome as Zahraa Mohammad Abu Sukheil, Ahmad Mohammad Abu Sukheil, Mustafa Khadr Bahar, and Abdel Rahman Khadr Bahar.

The office said it “strongly condemns the targeting, killing, and assassination of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli occupation and holds it fully responsible for committing this heinous crime.”

“We call on the international community, international organizations, and those involved in journalistic work worldwide to take action against the occupation, pursue it in international courts for its ongoing crimes, and pressure it to halt the genocide and the targeted killings of Palestinian journalists,” it said.

Earlier in the day, the office said the Israeli regime had bombed the tents sheltering journalists and displaced persons at the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital in the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza for the ninth consecutive time.

The atrocity that claimed the lives of two people and injured 26 others came as part of “the genocidal crimes committed by the Israeli occupation army against hospitals, civilians, and displaced persons,” it said.

The media office held the regime and the United States, its biggest ally, as well as other countries aiding the genocide fully responsible for such systematic crimes.

At least 43,552 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and 102,765 others wounded since the launch of the war that followed a retaliatory operation by Gaza’s resistance groups.

The fatalities include 44 people, who were killed across the coastal sliver, in the most recent phase of the military onslaught.

As many as 24 of the victims were killed in the northern part of the territory, where the regime has markedly intensified its deadly attacks for weeks.

They included an eight-year-old child and a five-year-old one, who lost their lives after Israeli warplanes targeted a group of minors filling up jerry cans with water alongside their mother at the Jabalia Refugee camp.

Gaza’s heath ministry, meanwhile, said a number of victims remained under the rubble and in the streets following Israeli airstrikes, saying ambulances and civil defense teams could not reach them due to the sheer extent of the destruction caused by the raids and obstruction caused by the regime.

Also on Saturday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, a United Nations-backed assessment, warned that famine was looming in northern Gaza amid escalated Israeli aggression and the regime’s near-total siege of the targeted areas.

The alert from the Famine Review Committee warned of "an imminent and substantial likelihood of famine occurring, due to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip."

On October 17, the body projected that the number of people in Gaza facing "catastrophic" food insecurity between November and April 2025 would reach 345,000, or 16 percent of the population.

The IPC report classified that figure as Phase 5 -- a situation when "starvation, death, destitution, and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels are evident."

The Israeli military, however, questioned the report's credibility.

"To date, all assessments by the IPC have proven incorrect and inconsistent with the situation on the ground," the army said in a statement, denouncing "partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests."

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has killed or captured 69 terrorists linked to the Israeli spy agency Mossad during a major counterterrorism drill in the country's southeast, its spokesman says.  

General Ahmad Shafaei, the spokesman for the “Martyrs of Security” drill, said Friday that a total of 23 terrorists have been killed and another 46 arrested in various clean-up operations ever since the IRGC Ground Force launched it in the Sistan and Baluchestan province on November 1.

Seven terrorists have also turned themselves in during the period.

“The undeniable fact about terrorists is that they rely on arrogant powers, particularly the intelligence service of the wicked and vicious Zionist regime," Shafaei said.

“Unfortunately, weapons and munitions at terrorists’ disposal are among the most sophisticated ones in the world. This accounts for their heavy dependence.” 

The official stated that several members of the disbanded terror teams were non-Iranian nationals, who had been hired by foreign intelligence agencies to carry out acts of sabotage and terror inside Iran.

In a most recent operation, six terrorists were arrested and four others were eliminated, three of whom were non-Iranians, he added. 

On October 26, ten members of Iran's law enforcement forces were killed in a terrorist attack in the Gohar Kuh district of Taftan in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.

The so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault, which was one of the deadliest in the province in recent months.

The group has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in Iran, primarily in Sistan and Baluchestan.

Its tactics include the abduction of border guards as well as targeting civilians and police stations within the province to incite chaos and disorder.

In January, Iran launched a military operation during which the headquarters of the Pakistan-based terrorist group was targeted in missile strikes, destroying its infrastructure.

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News Network
November 18,2024

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Mangaluru: The Ullal police have arrested Manohar, the owner of Vazco Beach Resort, and its manager Bharath in connection with the drowning of three college girls from Mysuru at the resort’s swimming pool on November 17.

City Commissioner of Police Anupam Agrawal confirmed the arrests, stating that a case has been registered under Section 106 of BNS. The bodies of the victims, all in their twenties, have been handed over to their parents. The women had arrived at the resort for a weekend getaway on November 16.

Following the tragic incident, the resort was sealed by officials led by Mangaluru Assistant Commissioner Harshavardhan. The trade license of the resort, issued on June 13, 2024, has been suspended, and the tourism department has temporarily revoked the resort's registration. These actions prohibit the resort from engaging in any tourism-related activities until further notice.

Someshwara TMC Chief Officer stated that the suspension was due to the resort's failure to implement adequate safety measures, which resulted in the loss of three lives. Further investigations are underway.

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