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Mnangagwa is more feared than popular
24 Nov 2017 at 08:12hrs | Views
Mnangagwa served for decades as Mugabe's enforcer and among Zimbabwe's population, he is more feared than popular.
He now urges the country to come together, to "bury our differences and rebuild a new and prosperous Zimbabwe, a country that is tolerant to divergent views."
For weeks before the political turmoil erupted, Mnangagwa had been publicly demonized by Mugabe and his wife, Grace, who was seeking to succeed her 93-year-old husband in power. That gave Mnangagwa time to prepare his strategy.
Within days of his firing, his supporters in the military put Mugabe and his wife under house arrest. When Mugabe refused to resign, a massive demonstration backed by the military brought tens of thousands of people into the streets of the capital, Harare.
It was not a spontaneous uprising. Thousands of professionally produced posters praising Mnangagwa and the military had been printed ahead of time.
He now urges the country to come together, to "bury our differences and rebuild a new and prosperous Zimbabwe, a country that is tolerant to divergent views."
For weeks before the political turmoil erupted, Mnangagwa had been publicly demonized by Mugabe and his wife, Grace, who was seeking to succeed her 93-year-old husband in power. That gave Mnangagwa time to prepare his strategy.
Within days of his firing, his supporters in the military put Mugabe and his wife under house arrest. When Mugabe refused to resign, a massive demonstration backed by the military brought tens of thousands of people into the streets of the capital, Harare.
It was not a spontaneous uprising. Thousands of professionally produced posters praising Mnangagwa and the military had been printed ahead of time.
Source - Associated Press
