Latest on Zimbabwe Coup/Crisis

Thursday November 16

4.49am: Former Zanu-PF member Temba Mliswa says citizens in that country are happy that their lives have been placed in the hands of the military.

He said: “When the president of the country is no longer the president and there is a de facto president it brings instability. 

“As a result, you have the army, the last line of defence. From a constitutional point of view, the preamble of our Constitution has been very clear and it's important for people to understand that the army and war veterans have always been part of Zanu-PF. They are the founders of Zanu-PF.”
4.30am: Armed soldiers are checking every car in and out of the capital Harare.

A group of journalists claim an armoured personnel carrier with troops chased them when they realised they had been filming.

The Sky News team said they were convinced the troops might open fire, but luckily the shots did not come.

3.50am: Zimbabwe’s fragmented opposition has not publicly condemned the military move. 

Nelson Chamisa, the deputy head of the opposition MDC party, called for “peace, constitutionalism, democratisation, the rule of law and the sanctity of human life”.

2.55am: South African envoy to meet Robert Mugabe and the military.

Local media reported South Africa's defence and state security ministers, dispatched by President Jacob Zuma as regional envoys, arrived in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, on Wednesday night and were expected to meet both Mugabe and the military.

1.30am: Robert Mugabe “tarnished the jewel of Africa” after taking charge of a country left “over endowed for success" by British rule, Boris Johnson has claimed.

The Foreign Secretary has accused the President of allowing a corrupt elite to “pillage” the country’s natural resources leaving its residents poorer.

He said: "There is an educated population, plentiful wildlife and what were some of the best roads and railways in Africa. Throw all this together and you get a nation that is almost over endowed for success.

“Today, in one of Africa’s most fertile countries, many are close to starvation.”

Credit: express.co.uk