Outsider: Emmerson Mnangagwa
Zimbabwe’s Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been removed from his post, the country’s information minister announced on Monday afternoon.
Mnangagwa displayed traits of disloyalty, disrespect and deceitfulness, Information Minister Simon Khaya Moyo said at a presser held in Harare.
Mugabe’s axing of Mnangagwa makes it more likely that First Lady Grace Mugabe will follow in her husband’s footsteps as leader of Zimbabwe.
Mnangagwa, a 75-year-old former intelligence chief, has been the subject of unrelenting criticism from supporters of Grace Mugabe, who has emerged recently as a potential successor to her husband.
In August 2017, Mnangagwa fell ill at a political rally led by President Mugabe and had to be airlifted to South Africa. His supporters suggested a rival group within Zanu-PF had poisoned him and appeared to blame tainted ice cream from Mrs Mugabe’s dairy farm.
This story will be updated as more details emerge.