Zimbabwean president goes on annual leave for three weeks
According to a statement issued by the presidency, Vice President Dr CDGN Chiwenga will be Acting President during this period.
CAPE TOWN, January 14 (ANA) – Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa has handed power to the vice-president for three weeks as he goes on annual leave.
According to a statement issued by the presidency, Vice President Dr CDGN Chiwenga will be acting president during this period.
Just days before he began his annual leave, the president tweeted saying that Zimbabwe’s international diplomacy is bearing fruit.
“Today, we accepted 10 million Covid-19 vaccines from China. Thank you to the people of China for supporting Zimbabwe’s fight against Covid – your kindness will save many Zimbabwean lives,” the president tweeted.
Mnangagwa, 79, recently fired his state security minister and hitherto ally Owen Mudha Ncube.
In a statement, Dr Misheck Sibanda, chief secretary to the president and cabinet, said Mnangagwa had removed Ncube “with immediate effect for conduct inappropriate for a minister of government.”
Furthermore, late last year, Mnangagwa made headlines when he called for the remains of colonialist Cecil John Rhodes to be exhumed and repatriated to Britain, according to local media.
Rhodes died in 1902. His self-chosen burial place is at Matobo Hills National Park, south of Bulawayo.
Mnangagwa told traditional leaders in Harare that Rhodes’ remains should be returned in exchange for Zimbabweans’ ancestors’ remains in the UK, Business Day Live reported.
Furthermore, it seems the president is making the most of his annual break, as he tweeted a picture of him cheering on the Zimbabwean soccer team who are taking part in the African Cup of Nations 2022.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Naomi Mackay