Zimbabwe Army seizes power, President Robert Mugabe ‘confined to his home’ 

Zimbabwe Army seizes power, President Robert Mugabe ‘confined to his home’ 

Context

• Zimbabwe is under the control of the military after its army chief warned President Robert Mugabe against purging the ruling party’s senior ranks.

What happened?

• Armoured personnel carriers and troops were deployed onto roads leading towards Harare on Tuesday, a day after army chief General Constantino Chiwenga warned the military may intervene after Mugabe fired Mnangagwa last week.
• There is a climax of a power struggle between liberation-era figures loyal to ousted vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa and forces faithful to First Lady Grace Mugabe, who is seen as vying to succeed her 93-year-old husband.
• Zimbabwean soldiers and armoured vehicles blocked roads to the main government offices, Parliament and the courts in central Harare
• Mr. Mugabe’s wife Grace had supposedly been vying to succeed Mr. Mugabe.
• Soldiers were deployed across Harare on November 14 and they seized the state broadcaster after the ZANU-PF party accused the head of the military of treason, prompting frenzied speculation of a coup.
• Mr. Mugabe has led Zimbabwe for the last 37 years.