Harare: Deposed Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe has blamed his successor Emmerson Mnangagwa and military for his ouster from power on November 15 after ruling the country for 37 years. He said that he was removed from power through a military coup, contrary to observations by the Southern African Development Community, the African Union and other political bodies who viewed his ouster a constitutional matter.
In an interview, Mugabe indicated that President Emmerson is an illegitimate leader of Zimbabwe, who needs to discuss with him how to legalize his presidency. Mnangagwa and the military deposed him last November when the military said it wanted to arrest so-called criminals surrounding him. A defiant Mugabe told journalists at his family Blue Roof mansion, where he was put under arrest by the army last November, that he was forcibly removed from power by a person he saved from the gallows during the liberation struggle of the 1970s. “I always had Emmerson Mnangagwa on my side. I brought him into my government, but I never thought he would turn against me. He was assisted by the army. I said it was a coup d’etat. Some people have refused to call it a coup d’etat.”
Mugabe said the ZDF completely paralyzed other organs of the security services when it staged the coup d’etat with Mnangagwa and his associates, who belonged to a faction of the ruling party known as Team Lacoste. “He (Mnangagwa) could not have assumed the presidency of the country without the army. It’s the army which assisted him. The army made sure that other organs of state were neutralized … completely neutralized.”
The former Zimbabwean leader, who ruled the country for more than 37 years said he played a key role in saving some of the people that were being sought by the army but noted that his staff has been harassed about their whereabouts. Mugabe noted that he has since been abandoned by the current president and his colleagues.
“Today Emmerson (Mnangagwa) is no longer on my side. I’m no longer the president … he is. I called him president the other day and he said oh no don’t call me president call me Emmerson. I said I can’t call you Emmerson anymore. OK, I will call you ED … I don’t hate Emmerson, I brought him in government. I would want to work with him but he is improper. He is improper where he is … illegal.”
