IN MANY of the poorest African dictatorships of recent decades, the best-paved road ran from the presidential palace to the airport, in case the Big Man and his entourage needed to escape in a hurry. That is still the case in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, where the president’s cronies know that they are not universally popular.
Some leading figures in ZANU-PF, the ruling party, are said to have shipped belongings abroad already. Some apparently keep bags packed for the moment that Robert Mugabe, the 92-year-old president who has ruled for 36 years, keels over or is pushed aside in a palace coup. Others are said to be sleeping in different places every night, to confound potential assassins or soldiers who they think might be sent to kill or arrest them.
They have reason to be nervous. The regime’s collapse has often been predicted before, and the pundits, including this newspaper, have always been proven wrong. Still, Mr Mugabe cannot live for ever, and the economy is in an even worse state than usual.
Start with the doddering despot. Mr Mugabe has long kept his party in line by playing off one faction against another with...Continue reading
Source: Middle East and Africa http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21709954-broke-and-divided-zimbabwes-government-preparing-mugabexit-life-after-bob?fsrc=rss
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