mugabe

Zimbabwe’s President, Robert Mugabe at 92, is the world’s oldest ruling head of state. He is also the world’s longest serving president having been in office since 1980 when his country acquired political independence.

Now, Mugabe is set to run for another term of five years come 2018. His party, the ZANU-PF, at its annual conference on December 17, in Masvingo handed him the ticket to contest in 2018. What is more! The party says he will be its sole candidate.

In recent years, there have been growing divisions within the party over who should succeed Mugabe. Early this year, and perhaps for the first time, his fellow war veterans who fought with him for the country’s liberation, were up in protest. The veterans wanted a change from the status quo in many areas, not excluding the leadership.

However, Robert Mugabe would always have his way around affairs of Zimbabwe. Within the two days that the conference lasted, party leaders dropped every dissent and began to sing the old man’s praise once again.

A highly elated Mugabe announced to Zimbabweans that the party’s big wigs had acknowledged that there were problems within the party but that everyone agreed there was the need to forget the differences and work together.

Party members sang some of their favourite songs but perhaps, the most significant one, was that which declared that it was okay if Mugabe ruled forever.