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Zimbabwe: Robert Mugabe resigns as president amid impeachment proceedings
Robert Mugabe says in a letter that he is resigning immediately and voluntarily as president of Zimbabwe, in order to have a “smooth transfer of power” after 37 years in charge.
The letter was read out in parliament before cheering legislators, who had been pursuing impeachment of 93-year-old Mugabe.
In his official resignation statement, Mugabe said: “I Robert Gabriel Mugabe hereby formally tender my resignation as President of Zimbabwe with immediate effect.”
The resignation comes at the end of a week of extraordinary events that began with the military putting Mugabe under house arrest, angered by his firing of his deputy and the positioning of his unpopular wife Grace to succeed him.
Impeachment allegations against Mugabe included that he “allowed his wife to usurp constitutional power” and that he is “of advanced age” and too incapacitated to govern.
Mugabe had refused to resign until the impeachment proceedings were underway.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press