{"id":36277,"date":"2017-11-16T12:17:21","date_gmt":"2017-11-16T12:17:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/in-harare-uncertainty-and-optimism-after-army\/"},"modified":"2017-11-16T12:17:12","modified_gmt":"2017-11-16T12:17:12","slug":"in-harare-uncertainty-and-optimism-after-army","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/in-harare-uncertainty-and-optimism-after-army\/","title":{"rendered":"In Harare, uncertainty and optimism after army takeover"},"content":{"rendered":"

The mood is a major shift considering that people here usually avoid discussing sensitive political matters in public, wary of attracting the attention of authorities with little tolerance for dissent.<\/p>\n

But after the discontent of recent years, the military’s surprise takeover on Wednesday appeared to give a new impetus to free speech on the streets of Harare.<\/p>\n

“If this comes to pass, we will regard this in the future as a ‘second Independence Day’, after that of April 18, 1980,” said Tineyi Chimwanda, who identified himself as a local businessman.<\/p>\n

“This is how it feels.”<\/p>\n

{{‘Pleasing development’}}<\/p>\n

In power since 1980, Mugabe, 93, led Zimbabwe’s fight for independence in the 1970s. <\/p>\n

However, he has frequently faced accusations of political repression and economic mismanagement, and many Zimbabweans – especially the urban population – blame him for a long litany of woes, including rampant unemployment, widespread poverty and acute cash shortage.<\/p>\n

In the early hours of Wednesday, the Zimbabwean army, which has previously been used as a way to suppress the opposition, placed the president under “house arrest”.<\/p>\n

A broadcast by military spokesman Sibusiso Moyo, announcing the army’s seizure of power, was repeatedly aired on the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation’s sole TV channel – for years a mouthpiece of Mugabe and his close associates.<\/p>\n

Moyo’s speech was cheered by a group of restaurant customers during lunch time in central Harare.<\/p>\n

The military denies it is staging a coup, saying its move is meant only to deal with “criminals” within Mugabe’s circles.<\/p>\n

The president and his family, the army said, were “safe and sound”.<\/p>\n

The statement, however, is being seen as a careful attempt by the military to keep a lid on potential unrest and ensure a bloodless transition from Mugabe’s rule.<\/p>\n

The few who reported for duty on Wednesday followed the proceedings via the state TV channel from their workplaces and from bars.<\/p>\n

“As a junior intelligence officer, I can tell you most us are pleased by this development,” said a member of the Central Intelligence Organisation, Zimbabwe’s dreaded spy agency.<\/p>\n

“Only the senior guys, our bosses, who benefit from the oppressive system, will not be happy with this.”<\/p>\n

{{Uncertain future}}<\/p>\n

The army’s intervention is believed to have been prompted by the sacking of Emmerson Mnangagwa, a war veteran, as vice president.<\/p>\n

His dismissal came after months of a power struggle within Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF party over the issue of a successor.<\/p>\n

On Monday, army commander Constantine Chiwenga gave warning that the military would not “hesitate to step in” if what he called the purge of former independence war fighters at ZANU-PF continued.<\/p>\n

Mnangagwa, an ally of Chiwenga, leads a party faction that is at loggerheads with another led by Mugabe’s wife, Grace, and some younger members of the party.<\/p>\n

Speculation is that Mnagangwa, who fled from Zimbabwe after his sacking, will return home to lead a transitional government following Wednesday’s events.<\/p>\n

As the day wore on, residents of Harare could be heard discussing the sudden turn of events with excitement and anticipation.<\/p>\n

Few, though, were ready to view the developments as “the end of Mugabe”.<\/p>\n

“End of Mugabe? No, hard to believe. Too good to be true,” said Daniel Mkwananzi, an accountant.<\/p>\n

“I feel the old man will fulfil his ambition of dying in office.”<\/p>\n

\"Military<\/figure>\n

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The capital of Zimbabwe finds itself caught between hope and uncertainty as it dawns on residents that after 37 tumultuous years Robert Mugabe may no longer be ruling the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-36277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36277\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36277"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=36277"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=36277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}