Does Zimbabwe’s Political Crisis Mark the End of Mugabe’s Rule?

FEATURING JENNI WILLIAMS – Robert Mugabe’s 37-year rule of Zimbabwe is most likely at an end after that nation’s military began holding him under house arrest a few days ago. Zimbabwe’s military leader General Constantino Chiwenga is apparently in talks with Mugabe at the President’s residence in the capital Harare.

The arrest came just days after Mugabe fired his Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa who then fled to neighboring South Africa. Mnangagwa, whose nickname is “the crocodile,” rivals Mugabe in his authoritarian streak. He has been vying to take over from the President over the nation’s first lady, Grace Mugabe who has also been eyeing the Presidency. But Mnangagwa’s alliance with the military has now apparently paid off.

Mugabe is the only president that many in Zimbabwe know. He took power in 1980, becoming the first and only president of the country formerly known as Rhodesia, and hailed as one of a number of heroic anti-colonial African leaders. But his subsequent rule has been marked by brutality and anti-democratic authoritarianism.

For more information visit www.wozazimbabwe.org.

Jenni Williams, leading activist in the human rights group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA).