Zimbabwe\u2019s ruling party has given its\u00a0 93-year-old leader, Robert Mugabe, less than 24 hours to quit as head of state or face impeachment.<\/p>\n
This came after he was sacked as the leader of the party. His powerful wife, Grace was similarly dismissed.<\/p>\n
Mugabe, the only leader the southern African nation has known since independence from Britain in 1980, was replaced by Emmerson Mnangagwa, the deputy he sacked this month in a move that triggered Tuesday\u2019s intervention by the army.<\/p>\n
In scenes unthinkable just a week ago, the announcement was met by cheers from the 200 delegates packed into ZANU-PF\u2019s Harare headquarters to seal the fate of Mugabe, whose support has crumbled in the four days since the army seized power.<\/p>\n
Mugabe was given until noon (1000 GMT) on Monday to resign or face impeachment, an ignominious end to the career of the \u201cGrand Old Man\u201d of African politics who was once feted across the continent as an anti-colonial liberation hero.<\/p>\n
Even in the West, he was renowned in his early years as the \u201cThinking Man\u2019s Guerrilla\u201d, an ironic nickname for a man who would later proudly declare he held a \u201cdegree in violence\u201d.<\/p>\n
As the economy crumbled and political opposition to his rule grew in the late 1990s, Mugabe showed his true colours, seizing thousands of white-owned farms, detaining opponents and unleashing security forces to crush dissent.<\/p>\n
As the vote was announced, war veterans leader Chris Mutsvangwa, who has spearheaded an 18-month campaign to remove a man he openly described as a \u201cdictator\u201d, embraced colleagues and shouted: \u201cThe President is gone. Long live the new President.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mugabe\u2019s 52-year-old wife Grace, who had harboured ambitions of succeeding her husband, was also expelled from the party, along with at least three cabinet ministers who had formed the backbone of her \u2018G40\u2019 political faction.<\/p>\n
Speaking before the meeting, Mutsvangwa said Mugabe, who has so far resisted calls to quit, was running out of time to negotiate his departure and should leave the country while he could.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s trying to bargain for a dignified exit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
If Mugabe refused to go, \u201cWe will bring back the crowds and they will do their business,\u201d Mutsvangwa told reporters.<\/p>\n
Mnangagwa, a former state security chief known as \u201cThe Crocodile,\u201d is expected to head an interim post-Mugabe unity government that will focus on rebuilding ties with the outside world and stabilising an economy in freefall.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of Harare, singing, dancing and hugging soldiers in an outpouring of elation at Mugabe\u2019s expected overthrow.<\/p>\n
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