Emmerson Mnangagwa is to be sworn in as Zimbabwe’s president, following the dramatic departure of Robert Mugabe after 37 years of authoritarian rule.<\/p>\n
The former vice-president – who returned from exile on Wednesday – will be inaugurated at Harare’s stadium.<\/p>\n
His dismissal this month led the ruling Zanu-PF party and the army to intervene and force Mr Mugabe to quit.<\/p>\n
The opposition is urging Mr Mnangagwa, who has been part of the ruling elite, to end the “culture of corruption”.<\/p>\n
The news on Tuesday that 93-year-old Mr Mugabe was stepping down sparked wild celebrations across the country.<\/p>\n
It came in the form of a letter read out in parliament, abruptly halting impeachment proceedings against him.<\/p>\n
In it, Mr Mugabe said he was resigning to allow a smooth and peaceful transfer of power, and that his decision was voluntary.<\/p>\n
Neither Mr Mugabe nor his wife Grace have been seen in public since Sunday, and their whereabouts are unknown.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, several reports suggested Mr Mugabe had been granted immunity from prosecution.<\/p>\n
He is not expected to attend Mr Mnangagwa’s inauguration, the BBC’s Andrew Harding reports.<\/p>\n
The official explanation for Mr Mugabe’s absence is that the 93-year-old needs to rest.<\/p>\n
But the fact he is not attending is a stark reminder that this is no ordinary transition, our correspondent adds, that despite his official resignation he was forced out by the military.<\/p>\n
The ceremony will be at the 60,000-capacity National Sports Stadium in the capital, with organisers calling on Zimbabweans to come and witness a “historic day”.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the swearing-in, Mr Mnangagwa urged Zimbabweans to “remain patient and peaceful and desist from any form of vengeful retribution”.<\/p>\n
He fled to South Africa two weeks ago – only to return home on Wednesday to a hero’s welcome.<\/p>\n
Mr Mnangagwa pledged to create jobs in a country where some estimates say 90% of people are unemployed.<\/p>\n
“We want to grow our economy, we want peace, we want jobs, jobs, jobs,” he told cheering crowds in Harare.<\/p>\n
Zimbabwe’s main industrial index has slumped by 40% since last week’s military intervention. The stock market has shed $6bn (\u00a34.5bn) in a week.<\/p>\n
Analysts say the market is now correcting itself, optimistic of a change of economic policy under Mr Mnangagwa.<\/p>\n
However,\u00a0the International Monetary Fund has warned that Zimbabwe must act quickly to dig its economy out of a hole\u00a0and access international financial aid.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Emmerson Mnangagwa is to be sworn in as Zimbabwe’s president, following the dramatic departure of Robert Mugabe after 37 years of authoritarian rule. The former vice-president – who returned from exile on Wednesday – will be inaugurated at Harare’s stadium. His dismissal this month led the ruling Zanu-PF party and the army to intervene and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[563],"yoast_head":"\n