After Zimbabwe VP’s Sacking, Tension Mounts in Fight to Replace Mugabe

After Zimbabwe VP’s Sacking, Tension Mounts in Fight to Replace Mugabe
Emmerson Mnangagwa, left, chats with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe after a ceremony during which Mnangagwa was sworn in as vice president, Harare, Zimbabwe, Dec. 12, 2014 (AP photo by Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi).

Editor’s Note: Every Friday, WPR Associate Editor Robbie Corey-Boulet curates the top news and analysis from and about the African continent.

Speculation about the end of Robert Mugabe’s reign as president of Zimbabwe typically centers on the 93-year-old’s health. This week, however, the conversation turned to a different kind of threat, as Mugabe encountered what The Guardian described as “his biggest political challenge in almost two decades.”

On Monday, Mugabe fired Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who had formerly been seen as a potential successor. In announcing the move, Khaya Moyo, the information minister, said Mnangagwa had “consistently and persistently exhibited traits of disloyalty, disrespect, deceitfulness and unreliability.”

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