ZIMBABWE: Mugabe says he will not vote for successor

Zimbabwe’s ex-president Robert Mugabe has given a surprise press conference on the eve of the nation’s elections. Mr Mugabe said he would not support his successor in the Zanu-PF party, Emmerson Mnangagwa, after being forced from office by the “party I founded”. “I cannot vote for those who tormented me,” he said. “I will make […]

Zimbabwe’s ex-president Robert Mugabe has given a surprise press conference on the eve of the nation’s elections.

Mr Mugabe said he would not support his successor in the Zanu-PF party, Emmerson Mnangagwa, after being forced from office by the “party I founded”.

“I cannot vote for those who tormented me,” he said. “I will make my choice among the other 22 [candidates].”

Zimbabweans go to the polls on Monday in the first vote since Mr Mugabe was ousted in November.

Speaking from his home in the capital, Harare, on Sunday, the former president again said he had been “sacked” as part of a military coup and that he left office in order to “avoid conflict”. 

He said that he now wished the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Nelson Chamisa, well in Monday’s vote.