Political veteran and Zimbabwe’s President for the past 37 years, Robert Mugabe is not giving up without a fight as it has been reported that he would not be resigning from office despite the military coup that has engulfed the nation.
The country has been in a state of confusion as the military took over activities placing the erstwhile president under house arrest along with many of his loyalists.
Things seem to have gotten really bad when Mugabe fired vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa last week which in turn led to a chain of events that culminated in the coup.
Mugabe, however, has refused to call it quits saying that he is the legitimate ruler of Zimbabwe. It seems that he is still held in some reverence as the army are extremely reluctant to get rid of him through violent means preferring for him to transition bloodlessly.
The main aim seems to be to prevent the transfer of power to Grace Mugabe, wife of Robert and widely seen by many as his successor.
She has also been fingered as the cause of the disconnect between the Presidency and top military leaders who had before now been kept happy with major perks and business opportunities due to their positions.
According to the Punch, one motive for the military might have been knowledge of a plan orchestrated by Grace Mugabe and her supporters to have up to 40 senior officers and officials seen as backing Mnangagwa removed from their posts this week.
This must have severely hurt an already brittle relationship and caused the military to surmise that they were no longer in complete favour with the Mugabe regime.
At this point in time things still seem to be in a stalemate with the military hoping for Mugabe to step down ahead of elections next year and Mugabe refusing to do so.
Zimbabwe is going through a rough time in terms of their economy as they are currently struggling to pay for imports due to a shortage of dollars, which has, in turn, caused severe cash shortages which has worsened the situation of an already impoverished people.