Zimbabwe latest: Robert Mugabe appears in public for first time since military takeover

1/10
Francesca Gillett17 November 2017

Robert Mugabe has appeared in public for the first time since the military took control in Zimbabwe.

Wearing a brightly-coloured academic gown and hat, the president attended a university graduation ceremony in the country's capital Harare.

Mr Mugabe, 93, who has been in power for three decades, was seized by troops and put under house arrest following unrest on Tuesday night.

Attending the Zimbabwe Open University ceremony on Friday, the tyrant leader walked slowly in a red carpet procession while a marching band played.

Mr Mugabe, clad in his blue and yellow academic gown, opened the graduation ceremony.
Al Jazeera

He stood on a podium to listen to the National Anthem before officially opening the graduation ceremony in a speech met with applause.

The several thousand graduates cheered as he delivered his speech. Mr Mugabe's presidential security team were present.

According to sources, the long-serving president has been refusing to step down as leader without a fight.

Talks had been ongoing between Mr Mugabe, the army chief and South African delegates at his luxurious home in Harare.

He was put under house arrest while his wife Grace, who had been tipped as his successor, was reported to have fled the country to Namibia.

Heavy gun and artillery fire were heard in northern parts of the city during the Tuesday night takeover, but the military denied it was a coup, instead claiming it was a “bloodless correction”.

Zimbabwe Military Coup - In pictures

1/18

The military said Mr Mugabe’s security would be guaranteed and claimed it was targeting “criminals” surrounding the leader.

President Mugabe has been in power for 37 years, since the country was liberated from white minority rule.

He is the world’s oldest head of state and one of the longest authoritarian rulers.

In the past he has been blamed for devastating Zimbabwe’s economy, turning it from one of Africa’s most prosperous countries to one of its poorest.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in