Friday, February fourteenth, the UN says at least 22 people have been killed in a village in the Northwest region of Cameroon. Over half of those killed were children. No one has claimed responsibility for Friday’s incident but the opposition parties blame the killing on the government.
Zimbabwe: Robert Mugabe vows to stay in power for "a long time"
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President Robert Mugabe made his first public response to
a scathing statement by veterans of the country’s 1970’s liberation war. They
called him dictatorial, manipulative and egocentric.
The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association
long had been quick to defend Mugabe, even with violence.
Mugabe demanded new leadership for the association,
claiming Western countries have infiltrated it.
“We have ordered an investigation to identify authors of
the statement. ... The punishment will be severe,” he said to thousands of
supporters at the ruling ZANU-PF party’s headquarters in the capital, Harare.
Mugabe insisted he will not step down.
“As long as the party still wants me to serve, if I still
have the energy and still have the life, I will continue,” he said.
The surprise revolt by Mugabe’s aging corps of loyalists
comes after nationwide anti-government protests organized through social media.
Many in Zimbabwe are frustrated by a rapidly deteriorating economy, a currency
crisis and corruption.
One protest organizer, pastor Evan Mawarire, is now
staying in neighboring South Africa after Mugabe accused him of being sponsored
by the West.
The veterans’ criticism has unsettled Mugabe, said Eldred
Masunungure of the University of Zimbabwe’s political science department.
“This is a result of his failure to hand over power. The
succession war is driving towards a tipping point,” Masunungure said.
The veterans accuse Mugabe of dumping them for a more
youthful group associated with his wife, Grace, whose political power has
dramatically increased in the past two years.
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