The 'coup' that wasn't ruled lawful
Publish date: 27 November 2017
Issue Number: 753
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: Zimbabwe
A Zimbabwean High Court judge on Friday ruled that the military action leading to Robert Mugabe's resignation was legal. It is a key decision as the military has sought to show that its actions were not a coup. High Court Judge George Chiweshe ruled that the military's actions ‘in intervening to stop the takeover’ of Mugabe's constitutional functions ‘by those around him are constitutionally and lawful’. The judge said the military's actions ensured that non-elected individuals do not exercise executive functions, an apparent reference to then-First Lady Grace Mugabe. However, a report on the News24 site notes that the ruling was criticised by legal experts and by close allies of Mugabe and his wife. ‘If these breathtaking High Court Orders granted in Harare yesterday represent what is being peddled as a new path, then please pray for Zimbabwe,’ said former Higher Education Minister Jonathan Moyo, the most vocal of the Mugabes' allies. Human Rights Watch director Dewa Mavhinga called the ruling ‘incredible’ and tweeted ‘captured judiciary?’
Also on Friday, tens of thousands of Zimbabweans witnessed former Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa being sworn in as the interim President. The Mail & Guardian, which reportedly interviewed insiders and security people who witnessed Mugabe’s harrowing final days in power, reports that he offered to send Grace into exile in a foreign country in order to retain power. It eventually took an army of Mugabe’s closest allies to persuade the President to leave office, even as four tanks and armed soldiers surrounded him and Grace at their private Harare residence. ‘Mugabe’s security was shaken to the core when his house was put under siege. He was made an ordinary man. His movements were now limited. The army was clearly in control after tanks took position at strategic places at Blue Roof,’ said a senior security officer. In a phone call with Mnangagwa, Mugabe reportedly offered to have Grace flown to a foreign country to live out her days in exile, as part of the negotiations. ‘Ed (Mnangagwa) told him that he should look around him, that he always said he would leave when the people no longer loved him. Saturday showed him that the people no longer loved him,’ said an insider privy to the negotiations.
Mugabe's current whereabouts are unknown, but it has been reported that he may have left Zimbabwe with former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda who was visiting him prior to his resignation. Legalbrief reports that the military's move led the ruling party Zanu-PF to turn against Mugabe, launching impeachment proceedings. Mugabe subsequently announced his resignation. Had the impeachment process taken place, Mugabe would have been fired with no retirement benefits at all. According to Zimbabwean law Mugabe could only have his retirement package denied on grounds of violation of the Constitution. A report on the IoL site notes that the Presidential Pension and Retirement Act's section 6 stipulates that a former President can be denied pension if he or she leaves office having ‘acted in willful violation of the Constitution; or of gross misconduct'. During an interview in 2015, Mugabe claimed to earn $12 000 per month. Recent reports suggest that the most recent figure is closer to $19 000 per month. He will continue to earn the amount he earned as sitting President. The Independent reports that Mugabe negotiated the exit package for himself and his 52-year-old wife Grace through a team of mediators who included a Catholic priest.
Meanwhile, former Zimbabwe Finance Minister Ignatius Chombo has been charged with three counts of corruption over offences that allegedly took place more than a decade ago. Chombo, who was among those detained by the military when they seized power before Mugabe resigned, has made his first public appearance since he was detained almost two weeks ago after the military launched ‘Operation Restore Legacy’ which it said was meant to remove ‘criminals’ around Mugabe. A TimesLIVE report notes that several members of a group allied to Mugabe and his wife Grace were detained and expelled from the ruling party, including Chombo, the ousted head of the influential Zanu-PF youth league Kudzanai Chipanga and a deposed leader in the party's youth wing Innocent Hamandishe. The state prosecutor said Chombo was charged with attempting to defraud the Zimbabwean central bank in 2004. He was Local Government Minister at the time. He was not asked to enter a plea at this first court appearance and the state asked the court to remand him in custody until his trial on 8 December. The Zimbabwe Mail reports that Chombo claims masked men in military uniforms burst into his home on 15 November and pointed assault rifles at him and his wife as the military moved in against Mugabe. He said he was driven to an unidentified location, where for days interrogators told him he had performed badly as a government official. He was subsequently admitted to hospital for high blood pressure and bruises on his hand caused by handcuffs. Addressing the corruption allegations, he said: ‘I found it a little bit odd that it would come up now’.
A survivor of atrocities committed by Mugabe's regime has called for a truth and reconciliation commission. Chairperson of Global Zimbabwe Forum, Sox Chikowero, told News24 the proposed commission must start with the 1983 to late 1984 massacres by the Zimbabwean army. ‘The commission will be an opportunity for Mugabe to make things right before he goes to his grave,’ Chikowero added. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, Mugabe was last week granted immunity from prosecution as part of his deal to step down.
