Possible Military Coup in Zimbabwe

[spacejunk]

Zimbabwe: Why cracks are showing between Robert Mugabe and the military



Zimbabwe is seeing a rift open between the military and long-time ruler President Robert Mugabe.
At least three explosions were heard early Wednesday (local time) in the capital Harare; armed soldiers and military vehicles were seen in the streets; and a TV station was reportedly taken over.
However, Zimbabwe's army says it is not mounting a military takeover, and insists Mr Mugabe and his family are safe and sound.
Here's what you need to know to get up to speed.
The first thing to know is that Mr Mugabe is 93 years old

He's the world's oldest head of state, and he's the only leader his southern African nation has known since it gained independence from Britain in 1980.
He has become increasingly frail, and there's an awareness in Zimbabwe that he won't be around forever.
Frustration has also been growing in the once-prosperous country as the economy collapses. The country was shaken last year by the biggest anti-government protests in a decade.
The military has been a key pillar of Mr Mugabe's power, but there are now cracks

Earlier this week, the army commander threatened to intervene to calm political tensions over Mr Mugabe's possible successor.
"We must remind those behind the current treacherous shenanigans that when it comes to matters of protecting our revolution, the military will not hesitate to step in," Constantino Chiwenga said.
That was off the back of Mr Mugabe last week firing Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa and accusing him of plotting to take power, including through witchcraft.
Mr Mnangagwa enjoyed the military's backing and was once seen as a potential president, but he fled the country and said he had been threatened.
Over 100 senior officials allegedly supporting him have been listed for disciplinary measures by a faction of the ruling ZANU-PF party which is associated with Mugabe's wife, Grace.
The ruling party accused the army commander of "treasonable conduct"

It said his comments about a possible military intervention were "clearly calculated to disturb national peace and stability" and were "meant to incite insurrection".
But it was not clear whether the commander still had his post.
Meanwhile, Grace Mugabe appeared likely to replace Mr Mnangagwa as one of the country's two vice presidents

This would happen at a special conference of the ruling party in December, leading many in Zimbabwe to suspect that the 52-year-old could succeed her husband.
The first lady is unpopular with some Zimbabweans because of her lavish spending as many struggle.
Finally, this isn't necessarily a coup

That's the claim being made by the military, but it's also a view echoed by African Defence Review analyst Conway Waddington.
"Given the past two weeks' political events, it is tempting to speculate that there is a connection between the deployment of military personnel and the comments of the army chief of staff on an 'intervention'," he wrote.
"But there are very real dangers of violence breaking out as a result of rampant and unfounded speculation."
He said there appeared to be no other signs of an "organised coup" and that it could have been an act of intimidation instead.

(From ABC Australia)

 

[BehindtheShadow]

I am in SA so we are right here near ZIM and the border. I have been hearing that there really is a coup going on and that they have told all VIP's to stay indoors as its not safe.

Many people from Zim have come here to RSA to seek asylum and I don't think its much better here to be honest.

Scary stuff. I was wondering when this was all going to come to a head......

 

[spacejunk]

Very scary indeed.
I hope the situation doesn't get any worse, and that if it is a coup, it is bloodless.

 

[BehindtheShadow]

I doubt it will be bloodless it never ever is

 

[spacejunk]

Sadly, i think you're probably right.
Zimbabwe's been a volatile place for a really long time, but i just hope that they doesn't end up with someone even worse than mugabe in charge.

 

[BehindtheShadow]

At the moment I really don't know how much worse it can get for them. 99.5% of the people there are starving and unemployed while he lives in a palace and he has bled that country dry.

I remember going there as a little girl and it was so beautiful but sadly now its a shit hole

 

[spacejunk]

Yeah. Hopefully when the old bastard dies the country will have some positive change and recover from his decades of rule

 

[BehindtheShadow]

To be honest it seems to be a trend here in Africa where there is total misgoverning of countries and complete abuse of the people and the land.
I don't think anything can be done to change the sad state of affairs here.

 

[Jabberwocky]

That would be thanks to the legacy of colonialism, ongoing foreign interfering, resource extraction/the resource curse, etc. As a South African I imagine you know about a lot of this stuff.

It does seem pretty frustrating with the political climate in many African nations. That said, Africa is a BIG continent with many diverse groups, both politically and culturally. More than one African nation does seem to be governed quite well, so perhaps we are better off not just judging the political climate of an entire continent by its more dysfunctional actors.

The political situation is indeed frustrating in many African nations, but by the same token the political climate in other African nations range from from well oiled machines to legitimately democratic governments. Then again, I guess it depends on whether or not we are talking about subsaharan Africa or Africa as an entire continent.

 

[CFC]

To be honest it seems to be a trend here in Africa where there is total misgoverning of countries and complete abuse of the people and the land.
I don't think anything can be done to change the sad state of affairs here.

And yet Botswana, just a stone's throw away, is one of the least corrupt countries in the world. It's also been the world's fastest growing economy for much of the past 50 years - faster than China even. So there is still hope.

 

[Jabberwocky]

^well said

 

[CFC]

Interesting speculation that China may have been partly behind the coup against Mugabe. If so, it attests to their rapidly growing influence in the world.

Zimbabwe army chief's trip to China last week raises questions on coup

General met Chinese military leaders and defence minister in Beijing on eve of move against Robert Mugabe

When one of the architects of Zimbabwe’s low-key coup landed in Beijing last week he was met by two of the most senior members of the world’s largest military force.

“China and Zimbabwe are all-weather friends,” the head of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF), General Constantine Guveya Chiwenga, was told by Li Zuocheng, chief of the Joint Staff Department of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), according to a defence ministry report.

Zimbabwe, Chiwenga told his host, was “willing to deepen exchanges and cooperation in all fields with China to promote the rapid development of bilateral state and military relations between the two countries”.

Two days later, the ZDF chief sat down with China’s defence minister, General Chang Wanquan, thanking him for Beijing’s “long-time selfless help”.

Little else is known about why Chiwenga, who is seen as an ally of Zimbabwe’s ousted vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa, made the call on the Chinese capital, just days before the army chief would declare that the military was ready to “step in” over Robert Mugabe’s purge of the ruling party.

China, which has backed Mugabe since the anti-colonial struggle of the 1970s, is also now Harare’s largest foreign investor, pumping huge sums into the Zimbabwean economy in exchange for natural resources and agricultural products such as diamonds and tobacco.

Recent years have seen China or state-linked Chinese firms bankroll developments including the $100m Zimbabwe National Defence College and the $200m Longcheng Plaza shopping centre in Harare. Last year China agreed to help fund a new 650-seat parliament building in north of Zimbabwe’s capital.

On Wednesday, as the 93-year-old strongman president was placed under house arrest in Harare, the foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang claimed Chiwenga’s visit had been part of “a normal military exchange”. Geng was cagey, however, about what exactly Chiwenga had been doing in China: “As for the details of his visit, I have little to share.”

Geng also tried to scotch speculation that after his sacking last week, Mnangagwa had fled to China, where he is reported to have received military training in the past.

“I can assure you that he is not in China,” Geng said.

Those ambiguous comments will do little to dispel suspicions that Chiwenga may have travelled to Beijing to warn China’s leadership of the impending move against Mugabe, or perhaps even to seek its blessing or help. Li Zuocheng, a rising star in China’s 2.3 million-member military, reportedly enjoys close ties to the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping.

Read the rest here

 

[aihfl]

Not to make light of the situation, but Trevor Noah on The Daily Show last night said when your dictator is 93 years old, you don't commit a coup more than you just don't wake the dictator up. "Shhhh! We're taking over...Don't wake him up..."

 

[CFC]

^ Lol. I suspect that's basically what the military did

 

[Morninggloryseed]

As a supporter of abortion and the death penalty (when there is dna evidence) I feel it inconsistent for those who support abortion, oppose the death penalty, to want to spare the blood of enablers of Kim, Mugabe, et al.

I'll always be inconsistent in that I'm an extremist with abortion and support it up until the point of infanticide (unless a doctor is willing at the request of the mother.). Yeah, I really feel sick now.

Ps...I'll miss comparing Mugabe's face with an aggressive cichlid.

 

[spacejunk]

i'm not sure what any of that has to do with the topic.
abortion and capital punishment are totally different subjects.

either way, you really don't sound like a pro-choice person.

 

[spacejunk]

I am. I've even participated in an abortion of my own unnammed child! Am I liberal enough for you now Spacejunk? Let's explore your psyche....I am staunchly pro choice...always have been. Why should I not sound pro choice to (choose words carefully MGS) your mind?? Now give us a kiss.

Um, ok.
I said you don't sound like any pro-choice people i've ever known, because we don't tend to consider terminating pregnancy to be "extreme", or "sick". Those are both highly emotive words, and seem to place a value judgement on the two concepts.

Nor is it even remotely related to capital punishment.
I don't see anything even vaguely inconsistent about supporting women's right to choose and opposing the death penalty.
Totally different subjects, totally different ethical considerations involved - conflating them seems kind of odd to me.
My comment has nothing to do with being "liberal enough" (?) - or any of the tribalistic stuff you seem to assume.

But yes - this is totally off topic and random.



Now, mugabe is refusing to resign, but his party (zanu-pf) is starting impeachment proceedings against him.

I wonder what will happen now. Will his wife take over as president?

I just sincerely hope that whatever happens, it is peaceful and non-violent.

 

[BehindtheShadow]

That would be thanks to the legacy of colonialism, ongoing foreign interfering, resource extraction/the resource curse, etc. As a South African I imagine you know about a lot of this stuff.

It does seem pretty frustrating with the political climate in many African nations. That said, Africa is a BIG continent with many diverse groups, both politically and culturally. More than one African nation does seem to be governed quite well, so perhaps we are better off not just judging the political climate of an entire continent by its more dysfunctional actors.

The political situation is indeed frustrating in many African nations, but by the same token the political climate in other African nations range from from well oiled machines to legitimately democratic governments. Then again, I guess it depends on whether or not we are talking about subsaharan Africa or Africa as an entire continent.

I grew up in the Apartheid era, I was very young so I don't remember too much but what I do remember was that the country was safe, it was clean and the crime was at a minimum. Please do not get me wrong as I do not support or condone Apartheid I just simply believe that the people running this country have absolutely zero idea on what to do, have the bare minimum of education and are now tasked to govern a country. The way SA is now is how ZIM was 15 years ago and we saw mass migration of people from ZIM coming here because of no work, food, housing etc. SA can barely provide work, food housing for their own people. I am surprised its taken this long for a coup to happen!

And yet Botswana, just a stone's throw away, is one of the least corrupt countries in the world. It's also been the world's fastest growing economy for much of the past 50 years - faster than China even. So there is still hope.

Agreed Botswana is one of the exceptions to the rule here in Africa

Not to make light of the situation, but Trevor Noah on The Daily Show last night said when your dictator is 93 years old, you don't commit a coup more than you just don't wake the dictator up. "Shhhh! We're taking over...Don't wake him up..."

Trevor Noah is from SA - he is truly hilarious I saw him live and I laughed and laughed as he captures the sad things and makes them into a joke that everyone can understand.

 

[Escher's Waterfall]

I grew up in the Apartheid era, I was very young so I don't remember too much but what I do remember was that the country was safe, it was clean and the crime was at a minimum.

In all parts, or just the white parts?

 

[Foreigner]

Wouldn't be surprised if a foreign power is at work here. China would make sense, there's so much oil and resource in the region. Either way, if it turns ugly, I pray that a better government comes out of Mugabe's death. That POS deserves to have his body quartered and fed to the dogs, though I don't care how he loses power I just hope he does asap.