HARARE: The wife of 92-year-old Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said Friday that he would be the voters’ choice even after he dies, as she addressed supporters from the ruling ZANU-PF party.
Grace Mugabe, who is seen as a successor to her ailing husband, ratcheted up her colorful rhetoric ahead of the election due next year.
“One day when God decides that Mugabe dies, we will have his corpse appear as a candidate on the ballot paper,” Grace Mugabe told a party rally in Buhera, southeast of Harare.
“You will see people voting for Mugabe as a corpse. I am seriously telling you — just to show people how people love their president.”
President Mugabe has vowed to stand again in the election, but Grace could run if he dies before the vote.
Grace Mugabe, who was appointed leader of ZANU-PF’s women’s wing in a surprise move two years ago, is well known for her fiery speeches and verbal attacks on opponents.
In 2015, she led a campaign which led to the ousting of Deputy President Joice Mujuru.
President Mugabe, the world’s oldest national leader, turns 93 on Tuesday, with a celebration party planned for next Saturday.
Grace has previously pledged to push Mugabe in his wheelchair to election rallies if needed.
Mugabe, who has been in power since Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, has avoided naming a successor and his party is divided between factions jostling to succeed him.
Grace bemoaned the infighting, telling those seeking to succeed her husband: “Let’s not fool each other, let’s wait for God’s time.”
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Zimbabwe would even vote for Mugabe’s corpse: Wife
Zimbabwe would even vote for Mugabe’s corpse: Wife
Australian bushfires raze homes, cut power to tens of thousands
SYDNEY: Thousands of firefighters battled bushfires in Australia’s southeast on Saturday that have razed homes, cut power to thousands of homes and burned swathes of bushland. The blazes have torn through more than 300,000 hectares (741,316 acres) of bushland amid a heatwave in Victoria state since the middle of the week, authorities said on Saturday, and 10 major fires were still burning statewide. In neighboring New South Wales state, several fires close to the Victorian border were burning at emergency level, the highest danger rating, the Rural Fire Service said, as temperatures hit the mid-40s Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit). More than 130 structures, including homes, have been destroyed and around 38,000 homes and businesses were without power due to the fires in Victoria, authorities said. The fires were the worst to hit the state since the Black Summer blazes of 2019-2020 that destroyed an area the size of Turkiye and killed 33 people. “Where we can fires will be being brought under control,” Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan told reporters, adding thousands of firefighters were in the field.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the nation faced a day of “extreme and dangerous” fire weather, especially in Victoria, where much of the state has been declared a disaster zone.
“My thoughts are with Australians in these regional communities at this very difficult time,” Albanese said in televised remarks from Canberra. One of the largest fires, near the town of Longwood, about 112 km (70 miles) north of Melbourne, has burned 130,000 hectares (320,000 acres) of bushland, destroying 30 structures, vineyards and agricultural land, authorities said. Dozens of communities near the fires have been evacuated and many of the state’s parks and campgrounds were closed. A heatwave warning on Saturday was in place for large parts of Victoria, while a fire weather warning was active for large areas of the country including New South Wales, the nation’s weather forecaster said. In New South Wales capital Sydney, the temperature climbed to 42.2 C, more than 17 degrees above the average maximum for January, according to data from the nation’s weather forecaster.
It predicted conditions to ease over the weekend as a southerly change brought milder temperatures to the state.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the nation faced a day of “extreme and dangerous” fire weather, especially in Victoria, where much of the state has been declared a disaster zone.
“My thoughts are with Australians in these regional communities at this very difficult time,” Albanese said in televised remarks from Canberra. One of the largest fires, near the town of Longwood, about 112 km (70 miles) north of Melbourne, has burned 130,000 hectares (320,000 acres) of bushland, destroying 30 structures, vineyards and agricultural land, authorities said. Dozens of communities near the fires have been evacuated and many of the state’s parks and campgrounds were closed. A heatwave warning on Saturday was in place for large parts of Victoria, while a fire weather warning was active for large areas of the country including New South Wales, the nation’s weather forecaster said. In New South Wales capital Sydney, the temperature climbed to 42.2 C, more than 17 degrees above the average maximum for January, according to data from the nation’s weather forecaster.
It predicted conditions to ease over the weekend as a southerly change brought milder temperatures to the state.
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