Robert Mugabe's face "glowed"
with relief when he agreed to step down as Zimbabwe's president last
week under pressure from the military and his party after 37 years in
power, the priest who mediated his resignation said on Sunday.
Father Fidelis Mukonori, a Jesuit priest who is a
close Mugabe friend, laughed off a report by the privately owned
Standard newspaper that Mugabe cried and lamented the betrayal by close
lieutenants when he agreed to resign.
"When he finished his signature his face just
glowed, no weeping unless there were angels weeping somewhere," Mukonori
told Reuters after mass at the Chishawasha Catholic mission just
outside the capital Harare.
"For me it was a sign that he was accepting that 'ah this is done', he is relieved, not that he is aggrieved but relieved."
He said Mugabe realized it was the end of the road
two days before he resigned, when he saw 60,000 Zimbabweans protesting
and demanding he quit at the Harare grounds where he was inaugurated as
prime minister in 1980.
His signed resignation letter was read out on Tuesday, as parliament heard a motion to impeach him.
Sources have told Reuters Mugabe was defiant when he
met army top brass on Nov. 16 - which was the start of an extraordinary
five-day standoff between Mugabe and Zimbabwe's supreme law on one
side, and the military who had seized power, his party and Zimbabwe's
people on the other.
The 93-year-old president finally accepted defeat
only after he was sacked by his ZANU-PF party and faced the ignominy of
impeachment.
Mugabe's fall after 37 years in power was spurred by
a battle to succeed him that pitted his former deputy Emmerson
Mnangagwa, who had stood by him for 52 years, and Mugabe's wife Grace,
who is 52.
NEW TEAM
Mnangagwa was sworn in as president on Friday and
all eyes now are on whether he will name a broad-based government or
select figures from Mugabe's era.
Mukonori said Mugabe had wanted a gradual and smooth
transition of power to Mnangagwa, whom he had fired as vice president
two weeks ago, but this was thwarted after Mnangagwa failed to
immediately return from exile in South Africa.
The Standard newspaper, which has been critical of
Mugabe and his government over the years, urged Mnangagwa to "walk the
talk on graft".
At his swearing in ceremony, Mnangagwa said he
valued democracy, tolerance and the rule of law and would tackle
corruption. He has also urged citizens not to undertake "vengeful
retribution".
The new government is already moving to bring some
of Mugabe and his wife's close associates to court. Former finance
minister Ignatius Chombo faced magistrates on Saturday on corruption
charges. He did not enter a plea.
Chombo was among several members of a group allied
to Grace who were detained and expelled from the ZANU-PF after the
military seized power in "Operation Restore Legacy" which it said was
meant to remove the "criminals" around Mugabe.
Chombo, who
told the court he was forcibly removed from his home on Nov. 15 by armed
men in military uniform, was detained until Monday when his bail
application will be heard. He was led away in leg irons together with
ousted head of the ZANU-PF's influential youth league Kudzanai Chipanga.
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