Zimbabwe's Emmerson Mnangagwa: Key dates
Supporters cheer as they gather to welcome Zimbabwe's incoming President Emmerson Mnangagwa upon his arrival at Zanu-PF party headquarters in Harare on November 22, 2017. PHOTO | JEKESAI NJIKIZANA | AFP
What you need to know:
- Mr Mnangagwa Wednesday met South African President Jacob Zuma before embarking on his journey home.
- He will be sworn into office on Friday, ending days of uncertainty in the southern African country following an army takeover.
- The 93-year-old ruler’s resignation was greeted with wild celebrations throughout the country.
HARARE
Emmerson Mnangagwa, who will be inaugurated on Friday as Zimbabwe's next president, is a political veteran and party hardliner who for decades worked closely with Robert Mugabe.
Here are key dates in his career:
September 15, 1942: Born in the British colony of Southern Rhodesia but moves as a teenager with his family to Zambia, known at the time as Northern Rhodesia.
1960s: Joins the struggle for independence after military training in China and Egypt but is arrested and spends 10 years in prison.
1980: After Zimbabwe wins independence, appointed security minister in Robert Mugabe's first post-independence government. In this position, he oversees a crackdown on suspected opposition dissidents that leaves thousands dead.
1983: Directs a brutal crackdown on opposition supporters in the provinces of Matabeleland and Midlands, which leaves thousands dead.
2000: As justice minister, a post he has held since 1989, he announces moves to seize white-owned farms.
December 2004: Sidelined for the post of vice president when Mugabe appoints a rival.
2008: After Mugabe loses the first round of presidential elections, Mnangagwa allegedly supervises the wave of violence and intimidation that forces the opposition to withdraw from the run-off vote.
December 10, 2014: Is named vice president and deputy head of the Zanu-PF, putting him in pole position to one day succeed Mugabe.
November 6, 2017: Mugabe sacks Mnangagwa on grounds of disloyalty in a dispute over succession, triggering the country's worst political crisis since independence. Two days later he flees the country.
November 22, 2017: Returns triumphantly after Mugabe's shock resignation to take over as president.
