Defiant Mugabe: I will run again!

Parries calls for him to step down

By Nsikan Ikpe

Despite a growing avalanche of calls that he gives up his position as President, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe has restated his intention to run again in the forthcoming 2018 polls.

Though there are very many that would want the maximum dictator out of office today, there are however concerns that with the way things have deteriorated in the country presently, Mugabe’s eventual exit would like that of Saddam Hussein in Iraq open a floodgate of anarchy and chaos in the country and region.

But should he be elected in the 2018 poll, the old man who first came to power in 1980 would very well be on course to running the affairs of the Southern African ‘bread basket’ into his century years.

Mugabe himself reiterated his clear intention to continue to be the prime star of the Zimbabwean firmament upon his arrival in Zimbabwe, following rumours that he had been seriously ill and taken to Dubai for treatment.

The 92-year-old president, who is Africa’s oldest leader, looked jovial as he left his aircraft with security aides on Saturday, having left a regional summit on Tuesday.

“I had gone on a family matter to Dubai concerning one of my children,” he told reporters, without giving details.

Mr Mugabe then joked: “Yes, I was dead, it’s true I was dead. I resurrected as I always do. Once I get back to my country I am real.”

The Zimbabwean leader is expected to address a youth meeting at his party’s headquarters later on Saturday.

Reports that Mr Mugabe’s health is on the decline have become common, but he has often said he is as “fit as fiddle”.

He has repeatedly stated that he intends to run again in elections in 2018, and his wife, Grace, recently said he would rule from the grave.

Political opponents say Mugabe has brought one of Africa’s most promising economies to its knees since he came to power after independence from Britain in 1980.

His absence has raised the level of uncertainty in a country already in economic and political turmoil.

Frustration has been rising over the state of the economy and allegations of government corruption.

He has also recently lambasted judges in the country for treating opposition protesters with kid gloves, remarks that have further incensed the political opposition that is intent on forcing him out of power.