Zimbabwe Celebrates Mugabe's Downfall
A week after members of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces assumed military control of parts of the capital city of Harare and placed President Robert Mugabe under house arrest, the 93-year-old leader of Zimbabwe announced he was resigning after a brutal 37-year reign. The current crisis was initiated by a power struggle between potential successors to Mugabe: First Lady Grace Mugabe and the former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa—who President Mugabe had fired earlier this month. The military sided with Mnangagwa, and Mugabe found he had run out of allies. Amid massive anti-Mugabe protests, a special session of parliament was called to impeach the President on November 21. In the middle of that assembly, the parliament speaker halted the proceedings to read Mugabe’s letter of resignation aloud, setting off wild celebrations across the country.
