Zimbabwe: Veteran leader Robert Mugabe to be sworn in Thursday for new term

Robert Mugabe (pictured), will be sworn in on Thursday, beginning a fresh five-year mandate as Zimbabwe’s president following the recently held presidential election, his spokesman said Sunday.

“It is now this Thursday,” George Charamba told reporters on the sidelines of a summit of southern African leaders in Malawi.

On Friday Mugabe’s main challenger, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, withdrew a legal challenge to the election result.

That removed the last hurdle to Mugabe’s inauguration for a new term.

Mugabe at 89 is Africa’s oldest leader. Southern African leaders attending the summit had earlier endorsed the result of the election, congratulating the country for conducting peaceful elections.

Copyright 2013 AFP