Mugabe inauguration expected Sunday
June 28th, 2008
Via the AFP:
Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe, certain of victory following a one-man election, is expected to be inaugurated for a new term as president on Sunday, government sources told AFP.
The rapid swearing-in following Friday’s run-off vote contrasts sharply with the five-week delay in releasing results from the first round of the presidential election on March 29.
“The inauguration is tomorrow (Sunday) at 10 am (0800 GMT),” said one source close to Mugabe.
Another source who is expected to be part of a delegation to an upcoming African Union summit in Egypt said he was expecting Mugabe to be sworn in before his departure on Sunday.
“We have been told to be on standby for the swearing-in and soon after we will go to Egypt,” said the source, who also requested anonymity.
A visitor to State House, Mugabe’s official residence, said tents were already being set up for the ceremony.
Results from the election were expected before the inauguration.
Friday’s run-off went ahead with Mugabe as the only candidate after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of the race, saying violence against his supporters had made a fair vote impossible.
Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in the March first round, but official vote totals released some five weeks afterward showed him just short of an outright majority.
The opposition leader claimed he crossed the 50-percent threshold in the first round and initially agreed to participate in the run-off only under protest.
Western powers branded Friday’s vote a sham after Tsvangirai’s withdrawal, though South Africa blocked a move at the UN Security Council to declare the election illegitimate.
Vote counting remained under way on Saturday, after widespread claims of residents being forced to cast ballots for Mugabe in the run-off.
Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party says more than 80 of its supporters have been killed and thousands injured in a campaign of intimidation.
In announcing his withdrawal, the opposition leader said he could not ask supporters to vote for him when it could cost them their lives.
June 28th, 2008 23:38
While Mugabe is being inaugerated on Sunday 29th June, people in England will be reading the following article in the Sunday Times -
ROBERT MUGABE’S THUGS SHOUT: “LET’S KILL THE BABY”
A baby boy had both legs broken by supporters of President Robert Mugabe to punish his father for being an opposition councillor in Zimbabwe.
Blessing Mabhena, aged 11 months, was seized from a bed and flung down with force as his mother, Agnes, hid from the thugs, convinced that they were about to murder her.
She heard one of them say, “let’s kill the baby”, before Blessing was hurled onto a bare concrete floor. Blessing, who may never be able to walk properly, was one of the youngest victims of atrocities against the opposition party MDC in the run-up to last Friday’s sham presidential election.
June 29th, 2008 00:37
please MDC please do not negotiate with ZANU they cannot be trusted they will destroy MDC slowly they will kill you off remember Mugabe and the rest of them hate you too much to sincerely shake hands do not be pressured by the AU would they trust ZANU? The answer is no so why should we
June 29th, 2008 04:30
Oh, that poor poor baby. I can’t bear it.