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In an unconventional move earlier today, the president of Botswana, Dr Ian Khama, took to Twitter via the Botswana government’s twitter profile, to pen an open letter to Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, in which Khama appealed to Mugabe to voluntarily relinquish his power as president.
In a series of tweets all compiled in a thread (tweets which follow on from one another), Khama expressed his concern that the people of Zimbabwe needed to now be put first, and that the country was in need of socioeconomic recovery.
The country’s ruling political party, Zanu-PF, was meant to start impeachment proceedings today, after Mugabe failed to meet yesterday’s midday deadline to tender his resignation.
A Zimbabwean ruling party senior official told Associated Press that Cabinet ministers have snubbed a call by President Robert Mugabe to attend a meeting.
Lovemore Matuke said “all” ministers heeded a party directive to skip the Cabinet meeting and instead attended a party caucus to discuss impeaching Mugabe.
Two weeks ago, former vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa was fired by Mugabe, which spurred military control of the country in a “coup not coup”.
The military currently has several cabinet ministers under detention as they intensify efforts to have Mugabe relinquish his power.
Read the full letter below:
President Khama writes an open letter to President Mugabe (November 21 2017)
Dear President Mugabe,
I am writing this open letter to you which I am aware is not the normal method of communication between leaders... #thread
Mr. President, I am writing to appeal to you to be sensitive to the wishes of the people of Zimbabwe and to do the honourable thing by voluntarily relinquishing power as the President of Zimbabwe.
My appeal is necessitated by an unprecedented situation currently unfolding in Zimbabwe whereby your own party, Zanu-PF, is calling for your immediate resignation and is in the process of instituting impeachment.
The people of Zimbabwe have for a long time been subjected to untold suffering as a result of poor governance under your leadership.
It is therefore my conviction that by vacating the Presidency, this will usher in a new political dispensation that will pave the way for the much needed socioeconomic recovery in Zimbabwe.
I therefore reiterate my appeal to you to honourably step aside, if you really care for them, as you profess, and if you cannot find it in you to do so,
..then as a Christian do so in the spirit of our Lord in order to usher in a new period going forward of unity, peace and prosperity for Zimbabweans and allow your country to be the economic powerhouse it is capable of being.
Yours sincerely,
Lieutenant General Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama
President of the Republic of Botswana
