Will chair ruling party congress in December: Mugabe

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has told his countrymen on live television that he will chair the ruling party's congress in December to resolve problems afflicting the ZANU-PF, a media report said.

Mugabe's address on national television on Sunday evening came after the ZANU-PF's decision earlier in the day to recall him from the position of party leader and gave him until noon Monday to resign as the President or face impeachment proceedings, Xinhua news agency reported.

The 93-year-old had previously refused to step down despite being under house arrest since Wednesday after the military launched a takeover.

Earlier on Sunday, the Zanu-PF held a meeting of its central committee where they removed him as the head of the party and warned that he must resign or face impeachment. It also appointed his former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa as the new leader.

Mugabe's decision to sack Mnangagwa as the Vice President two weeks ago had prompted an extraordinary chain of events as the military intervened to block the 93-year-old President from installing his wife Grace in his place.--IANS

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