A speech that salvaged Mugabe’s reign amid uncertainties

PHOTO: COURTESY

Days after being placed under house arrest in what can be described as a bloodless coup in Zimbabwe, under fire President Robert Mugabe was to make the long awaited public appearance with a speech on Sunday.

Many people expected Mugabe to yield to the demands of his citizens, to step down and pave way for transition government. But to the contrary, he never mentioned a word ‘resignation’ in his speech.

His words appeared robustly pegged on his intention to stay put and to fight the battle. A video has surfaced on the social media, where an unidentified army general is seen conspiring with Army Chief Constantine Chiwenga plucking pages from the speech as President Mugabe waits in line to read it.

The resilient Mugabe vowed to hold on to his position but remained open to dialogue to break the stalemate that has kept the country hostage for a number of days.

Zimbabwean parliament is resuming the sitting Tuesday morning to begin the process of passing a vote of no confidence in President Mugabe.